Damian Clara had a lot to do. © APA/afp / JULIEN DE ROSA

"We have no need to be ashamed"

After convincing performances against Sweden (2-5) and Slovakia (2-3), Italy's men's national ice hockey team suffered a humiliating 0-11 defeat against Finland on Saturday afternoon in their final group stage match. Despite the loss, the disappointment was not overwhelming.

February 14, 2026

From: kp

Italy's national coach Jukka JalonenThe coach, who led his home country of Finland to Olympic gold four years ago in Beijing, took the defeat in stride: “I knew it could be tough today. Especially against a team like Finland, which I know very well. We simply ran out of steam, but that was because we had played two very intense games against Sweden and Slovakia. We lacked everything, from skating to attention to detail, but I'm convinced it was only a question of physical condition and had nothing to do with our mental or tactical state. Now we have two days to recover as best as possible and prepare for what is, for us, the most important game of the Olympic Games.”

"Unfortunately, we lacked the energy today. We gave it our all against Sweden and Slovakia. We also quickly fell behind 0-3. The Finns kept up the pressure until the very end and never let up. Despite the clear defeat, we have nothing to be ashamed of. The most important game is on Tuesday," said the goalkeeper. Damian Clara, who gave up his place to Davide Fadani after 40 minutes and with the score at 0:6.

The battery was dead.

The analysis of Italy's captain Thomas Larkin The assessment was similar: “We were not only physically tired, but also mentally drained. The first two games, in which we sometimes played above our usual standard, took a lot out of us. Finland was the best team so far, and they never let up. Despite everything, we've had a very good tournament so far. It's not over yet. Now we need to recover and recharge our batteries so we're ready for Tuesday. It doesn't matter who we play in the round of 16. There are no easy opponents here.”

Italy had a very difficult time against Finland. © APA/afp / JULIEN DE ROSA

"That's not a good feeling," he concluded. Dylan di Perna"They are obviously a good team, so I have great respect for them. I believe we are better than what we showed today, but the fatigue set in quite quickly. Therefore, the game became increasingly difficult as time went on."

"That was probably the only one-sided game where goal difference played a major role," said the superstar. Mikko Rantanen, who set up three goals, and added: “We knew that goal difference was important because Slovakia won the group. We also knew how important a good goal difference is for second place in order to qualify for the quarter-finals.”

Mikael Granlund with an acrobatic stunt. © APA/afp / JULIEN DE ROSA

His strike partner Mikael Granlund, who captains the Finns, echoed this sentiment: “It’s never fun when a game gets so out of hand. But we needed to score a lot of goals today, and we did, so that’s good.”

In addition to the three group winners, the best runner-up also secures early qualification for the quarter-finals, while the remaining eight teams will compete in the round of 16 on Tuesday.