Florida Panthers: Lammikko and Finland Take Gold at 2019 IIHF Worlds

Despite heading into the tournament with a limited roster, both Juho Lammikko and Team Finland silenced the doubters with a gold medal finish.

To say that Finland’s triumph is a surprise would be an understatement, to say the least. Not many had the Finns coming up big, given the limited talent they had on their roster.

Despite not owning the amount of “big guns” that the Canadians and even Russians brought to the tournament, it still didn’t affect the way that the Finns planned to play.

In their opening game against the Canadians, Team Finland shocked one of the tournament’s favorites, taking the game by a score of 3-1.

In their second game against the Slovaks, the Finns continued to keep the ball rolling, cruising their way to victory in a 4-2 fashion.

Heading into their third group match against the United States with a 2-0 record, the Finns unfortunately dropped in overtime, 3-2.

In their fourth game against the Danes, the blue and white got back to their winning ways, beating out Denmark in a two-goal display, 3-1.

Like the previous game against Denmark, Juho Lammikko didn’t play against the Brits (injury) – which didn’t matter in the slightest – as the Finns prevailed comfortably, winning 5-0.

Against the French “Lammikko-less,” the Finns went on to record their second straight shutout of the tournament, blanking their opponents by a score of 3-0.

In their final group match against the Germans, the Finns were upset en route to a 4-2 defeat. Considering Finland already booked their spot in the quarterfinals earlier, the game proved meaningless, despite the result. Lammikko also returned to action in this match as well.

Booked a date with the Swedes in the quarterfinals, Team Finland edged out their Scandinavian rivals in overtime, pulling through victorious in a 5-4 fashion.

Meeting the Russians in the semifinals, the Finns were undoubtedly labeled the underdog for this fixture. However, like all knockout games, it only takes one perfect performance to advance, which is exactly what Finland brought on that day.

In grueling style, the Finns pulled off the upset with a goal and perfect defending, proving that the Russian’s offensive firepower wasn’t needed to advance to the finals.

Meeting Canada for the second time in the tournament, the Finns, once again, were dubbed as the underdogs. However, like the game before, the Finns totally brushed off their title, pouring everything they had onto the ice.

It proved successful as Team Finland came out victorious, defeating Canada for the second time in the tournament by the same scoreline (3-1).

Now, you’re probably wondering why Juho Lammikko wasn’t mentioned much. You see… while participating in seven games, Lammikko failed to register a single point.

Although, it’s worth mentioning that while Lammikko didn’t produce offensively, that simply wasn’t his role given his assigned playing time.

Going into the tournament, Team Finland deployed Lammikko as a bottom-line grinder, expected to eat up the clock and work the puck down low in the opposition’s corner, all while playing extremely limited minutes.

Regardless, Lammikko played his role quite perfectly, doing everything that was asked of him from his coaching staff. The moral of the story here is that each player on that Finnish roster had a role to play and they all executed fantastically, hence the gold medal finish.

Like his teammates, Juho Lammikko had a role to play and while it may not have been pretty or the most exuberant, it was critical in Team Finland’s triumph.