5 Reasons Why Ice Hockey is Really Big in Finland

With Ice Hockey being a quite known and loved sport and also being by far the most watched winter sport in the world, it makes sense that in some places it has a greater weight than expected.

And that is the exact case in Finland, it may not be the national Finnish sport but when talking about it Finnish people can get excited, so, here are the reasons why Ice Hockey is really big in Finland

The Representation

We could understand the power that the Finnish ice hockey has by mentioning that their highest professional league (the Sm-Liiga) is considered as the second strongest league in Europe.

Leijonat Or The Lions

The Finnish men’s national ice hockey team, nicknamed as Leijonat (The Lions) is a highly respected team that is part of the Biggest six national teams in the history of the sport, making them a strong team worldwide.

World Championships

Throughout the years they’ve participated in the world championships and they’ve won the gold medal twice, in 1995 and more recently in 2011 beating their always rivals from Sweden, also they’ve won the silver medal 8 times and the bronze one 3 times, keeping their high spot.

Euro Power

Even though they’ve only won 2 Gold medals in championships, in Europe it is another case, during the Euro Hockey Tours they have collected a total of 9 Gold medals, 6 Silver medals and 6 Bronze ones, also keeping their place in the European Big Four.

Development Throughout The Years

Obviously one isn’t perfect at something since the beginning, from time to time people, teams and even sports get better and better, during the 1970s the teams received help from foreign coaches and new training installations and by the 1980s it was a success in Finland.

Finally, I can just add that all the love that has been delivered from the Finns to the ice hockey comes from the story behind it all, and the fact that it is something they are very good at, achieving things that not any team can really do.

The representation that the ice hockey gives them through the whole world and Europe is sure to be one that they appreciate and feel special about because one thing to know is that they’re the Best at doing it and that is what makes them love ice Hockey