Perspective: Antti Pennanen’s bold solution was a complete success
The Lions faced the Czech Republic in their second match of the Finland EHT tournament on Saturday. The low-scoring battle ultimately ended in Finland’s victory in a shootout, 2-1.
The head coach of the Lions, Antti Pennanen, made a bold decision for Finland’s EHT tournament. Three young goalkeepers from Liiga were selected for the team. Pennanen justified his decision by stating that young potential goalkeepers should be given a chance to showcase their skills in the national team.
So far, the decision looks excellent. In the opening match against Switzerland, SaiPa’s goalkeeper Kari Piiroinen performed exceptionally well.
In Saturday’s match against the Czech Republic, HPK’s Kim Saarinen raised the bar even higher. Saarinen was undoubtedly the best player on Finland’s team in an otherwise lackluster performance.
The Lions opened the match effectively. Juho Lammikko scored the puck into the net in a classic manner right from the first longer offensive zone cycle.
Otherwise, the first period was dominated by the Czech Republic. Saarinen made ten saves for Finland in the opening period.
In the second period, Saarinen made several spectacular saves. The Czech Republic’s towering forwards pressed hard against Finland’s goal, but Saarinen remained superbly involved in the situations until the end, even though his own defenders provided little help. In the second period, Saarinen recorded an impressive 16 saves.
Saarinen remained unbeatable until the last minutes of the third period. The Czech Republic’s equalizing goal at 1-1 was scored by Andrej Sustr while the team was playing without a goalkeeper.
Saarinen made an astounding 38 saves in the match. In the shootout, he stopped five of the Czech Republic’s attempts. Finland’s successful shooters were Janne Kuokkanen and Jere Innala.
The contribution of the NOCCO Hockey Games’ EHT matches has been meager. The games have not been particularly entertaining, and based on them, nothing can be said about the state of Finnish ice hockey either. However, it has become clear that Finland can still produce young top goalkeepers with the potential to succeed internationally and in larger leagues.
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