Red Wings prospect Lucas Raymond spoke with HockeyNews.se’s Henrik Sjoberg this morning, discussing Sweden’s disappointing finish at the World Junior Championship. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:
Back on Swedish Soil: “Instead of winning, we were afraid of losing
Today, the Junior Crowns land on Swedish soil again after the quarterfinal loss to Finland at the WJC.
“It will take a while before we release this. Instead of wanting to win, we became more afraid of losing,” says Lucas Raymond to HockeyNews.se.
Sweden had a 2-0 lead in the WJC quarterfinal against the Finns, but did not manage to tie the knot. Instead, they conceded three straight goals, and were directly eliminated from the playoffs.
It was a heavy day for the Swedish team.
“Now we are just waiting to fly home, we go and wait out the clock in principle,” says Lucas Raymond when HockeyNews.se reaches him by phone a few hours before the trip to Sweden.
Raymond accounted for a world-class goal when he gave Sweden the lead on the power play against Finland, and in total, he accounted for five points (2 + 3) in five games in the championship.
“It’s been a boring day and frustrating, so it will take a while before we release this, but of course it was hard yesterday, and it will last a few days and now you just feel like you want to go home,” he says.
Is it something you feel you should have done differently against Finland, or was it just a tight game between two good teams?
“I think it was a mix [of the two]. We had a really good first period, then it became as if instead of wanting to win, we became more afraid of losing. If we had to replay the game, we would have done many things differently, but it’s easy to say in hindsight, and there are a lot of emotions in the moment. Finland pressed, but we were too passive and let them control instead of pressing,” says Raymond.
What was the conversation between [the players] like afterwards?
“Not much was said. It was very quiet and empty and sad above all. We have gone through a long process, and been away from home for a long time now, and to lose in this way…But you have to put everything in a bigger perspective,” says Raymond, who continues:
“We’ve been involved in something that not many people will ever experience, but of course it is empty for everyone on the team, but I think people can relate to that.”
[Coach] Joel Ronnmark was thrown in as the team captain for the Junior Crowns after most of the management staff was affected by covid-19. He was assisted by Anders Erikson.
“Joel has done a damn good job. Both he and Anders have done damn well and given us all the conditions and came in with a cruel attitude. I can imagine that it has been difficult for them to not be prepared or set on all of this, so all credit to Joel and Anders and all the other leaders from equipment managers to physio. Everyone should have damn good praise because they have done a great job.”
Yesterday, Aftonbladet reported that the players from Sweden had received threats after the loss against Finland.
“It’s completely deplorable. We are young guys, and I think most people understand how annoyed and sad and devastated we all were on the team after losing a game like this, and taking criticism is part of the profession, but when it comes to threats, it’s far over the limit, and it affects people mentally. It’s very sad to hear and I hope those who have been exposed do not take any action and try to put everything aside,” says Raymond.
Now the SHL is waiting again for Lucas Raymond, and Frolunda will meet Lulea on Thursday.
“You almost start to miss it a bit now. It will be great fun to come home to the team and continue that journey with the guys. Then we will see how the body and brain feel in the coming days,” says Raymond.
