“An unnecessary tackle by me” – Sport – svenska.yle.fi

Finland’s U18 national team opened the home World Cup with a victory over Latvia. Smålejonen dominated the match but wasted scoring chances and won by only 3–1.

The very first change showed how the match picture would look in Espoo. The small lions were constantly cut before the Latvians, who laid down in hedgehog defense to keep the numbers down.

Finland’s advantage paid off halfway into the first period. The first five with league meritorious Konsta Helenius, Aron Kiviharju and Emil Hemming as guiding stars were outstanding and were behind the opening goal.

Helenius won the draw in the offensive zone, Kiviharju delivered the puck to Hemming who shot directly at the pass. 1–0 to Finland.

– It was nice to score a goal. It always gives a nice boost, says Hemming to Yle Sporten.

The goal shooting was lame

It was never a question of whether Finland would win the match, rather it was about how large the margin of victory would be.

The longer the match went on, the more flattened and tired the Latvians became in the Finnish mangle. The goal chances were plentiful for the home team, but the finishes were usually blunt.

Heikki Ruohonen and Tuomas Suoniemi still managed to net and brought Finland up to a three-goal lead.

– All four chains had opportunities to score, but Latvia’s goalkeeper was really good. The goals will probably come in the future. It won’t be this difficult throughout the tournament, says Hemming.

In the closing stages of the third period, Saku Koivu’s son, Aatos Koivu, was sent off with a match penalty for boarding. He was remorseful after the match and stated that his intention was not to hurt the Latvian player.

– I wanted to complete the tackle but the opponent turned his back at the last moment. I was a bit late to the situation. It was entirely my own fault. Hopefully I won’t get banned. It was an unnecessary tackle by me, admits Aatos Koivu.

Latvia managed to break Petteri Rimpinen’s clean sheet during Koivu’s sending off but Finland had no problem keeping it out.

The small lions go for gold

Finland was without a medal in the U18 World Cup last year after a quarter-final loss to Slovakia. This year’s edition of Smålejonen does not intend to settle for playing for the medals.

– We want gold. That is our big goal. We have a good feeling in the team. We can go all the way, says Hemming.

The U18 WC is played in Espoo and Vantaa and the tournament has the potential to be a nice Finnish ice hockey party. Two of Finland’s five home games are already sold out, and the crowd figure of 4,029 against Latvia on Thursday was no shame either.

– It was a fantastic atmosphere with 4,000 spectators. I look forward to playing here as there are 2,000 more people in the stands, says Emil Hemming.

Finland’s home World Cup continues on Friday with a match against Norway. The clash should be an excellent chance for the Smålejonen to improve their goal shooting.