Ville Nieminen crushed the Lions on Viaplay: “I don’t know what has been done there”
The Lions’ journey in the World Championship group stage ended in defeat. Finland suffered a painful 2-4 loss against Switzerland on Tuesday.
In the Viaplay studio, expert Ville Nieminen fiercely criticized the Lions. During the first intermission, he referred back to the Olympics held in February while analyzing the Lions’ performance.
– First of all, you are on the ice for 53 minutes against Switzerland in the Olympics. Then you get to 2-2 with a goal from Sebastian Aho and equalize with no goalie, and you win with Artturi Lehkonen‘s overtime goal. Isn’t that a message that this opponent is quite tough and has that home crowd behind them? Was this [the Finnish team] overcoached, or were the players overprepared, but it was clear that they were lacking in game readiness. The game came right at them, Nieminen fired.
– You don’t play top games by giving the opponent two goals upfront.
In the second period, the Lions equalized the match to 2-2, but Nieminen still wasn’t convinced. He criticized especially the long passes from Finland’s midfield.
– Really poor hockey right from the first shift. I don’t know what was done during the first intermission, Nieminen assessed.
– The team came into this period really poorly.
The match was quite even, but Nieminen firmly believed that the better team won.
– Switzerland was more at the upper limits of their abilities today, they were luckier and deserved their victory, Nieminen said.
– Both teams have their areas for improvement, but the Lions have a few more.
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