Coach Jukka Jalonen’s team suffered one heavy loss for the quarter-finals in the duel with the Swiss, when captain Mikael Granlund took a one-game penalty kick after hitting defender Andreu Glauser in the face.
Mattila was almost knocked out of the game as a result of a collision with defender Sven Jung. After the collision with the Swiss, the gate in the corner of the goalpost unexpectedly opened and Fin’s leg got wedged behind the goalpost out of the field.
The 26-year-old fullback from the KalPa Kuopio team admitted that the situation scared him, but fortunately he survived without any consequences. At the same time, the threat of a nasty injury hung rather acutely in the air.
“I got hit, I knew it was going to happen. But I didn’t expect the door to open. It could have been a lot worse. That door should remain closed at all times. These situations are dangerous as hell. I don’t know whose responsibility it is,” explained Mattila for the newspaper Ilta Sanomat.
The Finnish daily also emphasized that none of the responsible people from the Prague arena came to apologize to the defenders for the incident.
Mattila will not remember this match well at all. He was on the ice when Kevin Fiala scored the opening goal. A long throw from Romain Loeffel caught the entire Finnish team by surprise.
“I had no idea that Fiala would go there. It was well played by Loeffel. Since I was on the ice at the time, it was of course my fault. I should have done better. But the same applies to the others,” Mattila was sorry.
WC in hockey 2024
The 87th edition of the Ice Hockey World Championship takes place from 10 to 26 May 2024 in the Czech Republic, the tournament is hosted by the cities of Prague and Ostrava.
2024-05-22 17:01:24
#hockey #Finnish #dismay #open #doors #Prague #apologize
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