Finland eliminated from WJC, sacks coach

After three straight losses including a shocking loss to Denmark the reigning champions Finland are already eliminated from the tournament and is forced to play in the relegation round aginst Latvia. In this situation the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation has decided to something very drastic and change coaching staff during the tournament.

The current head coach Jukka Rautakorpi who has been critized to coaching his team in a too old school and defensive way is replaced by Jussi Ahokas. Ahokas who lead Team Finland U18 to gold in the U18 World Championship where he coached several of the players on the current Finnish roster was supposed to take over for the upcoming season but will now take over with immediate effect. Finland's team captain Oli Juolevi has also confirmed for Finnish TV channel Yle that has the players haven't been pleased with the coacing approach and that the young players needed a more relaxed and joyful approach.

Ahokas was already in place in Canada as a TV expert and was available for the drastic change. Finland will play Switzerland today before the relegation round against Latvia starts on Monday.

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