Petra Nieminen suspended for one game for checking from behind
Finnish striker Petra Nieminen has been suspended for one game for checking Canadian Kristin O’Neill from behind at the Women’s World Championship.
The incident happened during a preliminary round game between Finland and Canada on Thursday. At 4:30 a.m. into the first period, O’Neill was skating in the corner to retrieve the puck when Nieminen came in from behind and checked it against the boards. Along with the one-game suspension, she received a 5-minute major and a conduct foul during the game, and Canada won the game 4–1.
This game being the first of the tournament for Finland, Nieminen hasn’t scored a goal in this tournament since leaving the match against Canada after just 4:30. She had a great year in everything she was involved in, including 26 goals, 29 assists and 55 points in 34 SDHL games for Lulea HF; three goals, five assists and eight points in seven games at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing; and four goals, six assists and 10 points in 12 games in all international matches. She has been important for Finland at previous world championships, scoring 12 goals in 27 games across five tournaments.
It’s a blow for the Finns at this stage of the tournament, losing one of their top scorers. Not only did they miss his attack on Canada with his ejection from the game, but they will also miss him against the United States in Saturday’s game. This puts them behind the eight ball against the two toughest opponents in the tournament, and it will be hard to recover from.
They will likely look to Susanna Tapani to carry the team’s torch throughout this period. She had the main assist on Finland’s only goal against Canada and had six goals, two assists and eight points in seven games at the 2022 Olympics, as well as 13 goals, 15 assists and 28 points in 45 games in eight world championships. tournaments.
