Is it even harmful to… | Sanny Lindstrom

Tre Kronor did what was expected and cleaned up Hungary without any major problems.
But seriously.
Are these types of games even good for hockey?

I fully understand the difficulty of playing in these types of matches. At the same time as it is a WC, which in itself is big, it is a match against an opposition that is by far the worst that the Swedish players have faced in a competitive context this season.
When you as a player get an excessive amount of time with the puck, it usually becomes quite saucy, bland and lacks pace and energy.
Even trying to analyze these types of matches, see patterns and judge which players stood out feels unnecessary. I still think that the image I had of this group and its coaches was strengthened today.
After a sleepy first period, Tre Kronor came out in the second period and did the job in the game without the puck in an exemplary manner. Everyone did the job, went full speed in the backchecking and took pride in the defensive job when it was required, even though the game had long been decided.
Hungary thus fired zero shots on goal in the final 40 minutes. That should suffice as an analysis and makes it clear how incredibly large the class difference was between the teams.

It was otherwise fun to see the chain with Lucas Raymond, Jonatan Berggren and Leo Carlsson rewarded for their playfulness. Every point and every smile is so important going forward. Partly because the players in question are a big part of Swedish hockey’s future, but also because in the future in this championship there will be matches against more worthy opposition and then these points have strengthened their confidence.

The big question is, are these types of matches good for hockey or are they even downright harmful to the sport?
It is, after all, a World Cup we are talking about, even if hockey will never have a championship with the same status as football.

Since Russia started the war of aggression against Ukraine, the Russians, along with Belarus, have been rightly banned from the World Cup. This has meant that two other nations from the B group have had the chance and I can clearly state that hockey unfortunately does not have the breadth to fill out a WC with 16 nations. Unfortunately.
Even before Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, I was of the opinion that the World Cup should be reduced to 12 or a maximum of 14 teams.
After watching Tre Kronor play against Hungary, which at its height would be a bottom team in the hockey allsvenskan, it hardly strengthens the WC which is already a championship that many people want to throw crap at.
If we had also reduced the number of teams, I also think that more NHL players would have been able to imagine playing.
That, if anything, should be heeded by the International Ice Hockey Federation.
It is actually downright harmful to hockey to show off from this side.
That is my firm opinion.

Thank you for taking your time

Sunny