First day offered 6 intresting games in Helsinki. Here is recap from all games.
Valtteri Viitakoski made the difference
Valtteri Viitakoski was the biggest hero of the first World Floorball Championship game in Helsinki when Canada won Singapore 9-8.
Canadian forward did four goals and got one assist. He was naturally happy after victory.
– Great start from us to tournament. It was tight battle but somehow we found right emotion to battle. I’m happy that I could help my team with my goals, Viitakoski said.
Poland rises to victory
Poland got their first win in Helsinki with 8-6 victory over Thailand. Points didin’t came easily: fans saw exiting triller and lot’s of twists.
One of the Polish heroes was Mateusz Antoniak, who did two big goals in third period.
– Great victory from us. Thailand played well but we managed to win the game, Wojciech Malajka said.
Sweden was impressive
Sweden started their tournament with style when they won Latvia 11-1.
Latvia fought in the beginning of the game and Morics Krumins did the first goal. After that Sweden took the control of the game.
One of the heros was Alexander Galante Carlström who did two goals.
– It was important pleasant start to the tournament. We will play already tomorrow against Finland but we will be ready, Galante Carlström said.
Triple hattrick for Slovakia in victory over USA
Slovakia put in their best performance against USA in the second group C match on Friday. The game started with Slovakia in command as the score was 3-0 after just 6 minutes of play. Slovakias good start was broken with a power play goal and a few scoring opportunities for USA in the first period but Slovakia was able to secure a 7-1 lead before the first break.
In the second and third period Slovakia was able to score 8 to make the final score 15-1. Three Slovakia players ended up getting a hattrick: Michal Dudovič, Matus Gajdoš and Ladislav Gál. One of the hattrick heroes Ladislav Gál said after the game:
– It’s really good to win big in the first game and also with a great performance. It takes away a lot of pressure.
Comfortable win for hosts Finland against Denmark in the opening game
Finland opened their tournament before a crowd of 2665 against Denmark after the opening ceremony in the main arena at Helsinki Ice Hall. The game was as expected: a comfortable victory over “a challenger side” with just a few opportunities for the visitors in the defensive end. Finland goalkeeper Lassi Toriseva had to make only 6 saves in total. The final score was 7-0 for Finland.
Finland is to play against the archrival Sweden tomorrow. Top scorer Peter Kotilainen with one goal and two assists was confident before the Sweden game in a post-match interview:
– It’s going to be a tough match but we’ll go out there and enjoy ourselves.
Czechia strong against Germany
Germany faced a top four side Czechia in the late night match on arena 2. The game was a 0-0 tie for the first twelve minutes until the favorites Czechia opened the score. Germany got a chance to get one back at the start of second period with a penalty shot attempt. Julian Nihlen was unable to take advantage of the opportunity though.
The game ended in a 0-11 win for Czechia with Mikulas Krbec being the top scorer with a goal and three assists. The Czech team had a strong preparation period for the WFC with placing above Switzerland and Finland in the Euro Floorball tournament in November. Head coach Petri Kettunen had this to say after the game:
– We didn’t have a warm camp this time but had good training camp close to Prague and are relatively well prepared.