Canada's Aaron Ekblad calls out Finland for diving: 'It's cowardly'

·Writer

May 12, 2018 at 7:45 p.m.

Aaron Ekblad didn’t hold back in his post-game comments following Canada’s 5-1 loss to Finland at the world championship. (Getty)

Team Canada defenceman Aaron Ekblad was none too pleased with what he considered to be a blatant display of disrespect by the Finns at the IIHF World Championship on Saturday.

Following Canada’s 5-1 loss to Finland, a game which saw the Canucks penalized 11 times, Ekblad made it known how unhappy he was with some of the so-called antics he felt were being pulled on the ice.

Ekblad when asked abt Can lacking discipline in loss to Fin. Accused Finns of diving, “diving isn’t part of the game. I think it’s cowardly”
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 12, 2018

“Discipline is definitely a factor, but I think I speak for a lot of hockey players — diving isn’t part of the game. I think it’s cowardly, and it’s tough when players are playing that kind of dishonest game,” he told TSN’s Darren Dreger when asked about the importance of discipline against an opponent like Finland.

Ekblad showed visible frustration as he chewed out the officials after receiving a tripping penalty late in the second period. Asked if he felt there was a dive on that play in particular, he said, after a brief hesitation, “you can make your own inference there.”

Canada recorded 22 penalty minutes in the loss, while Finland tallied 16. The Canadians now sit fourth in Group B with two games remaining in the preliminary round.