They used to be able to overtake Italy or Austria. Do you see it happening these days? Yes, there is more room but at the same time, the gap between Poland and the pack contending for elite increased unless Poland starts to import it up. Their goalie situation is getting really bad, without adequate goaltending you can't even contend.
It's less about the shape and more about the size. As surprising as it may seem for a country that's crazy about hockey, there are only three arenas in all of Finland that can house 10,000 people or more (and the figure used to be two before the new Tampere arena). The third one, located in Turku, was built in 1990. The average rink in Finland draws some 5,000-8,000 spectators, which is fine for your regular Liiga game, but they tend to be a little on the small side for a marquee event like the WHC, especially in a country that's as crazy about hockey as Finland.
It's not so much about overtaking Italy or Austria, it's about beating them in an individual game which is essentially what the qualification to the elite division comes down to. Just in the last Olympic qualifiers Poland managed to beat both Belarus and Kazakhstan, which many would consider better than Italy and Austria.
It's definitely also a shape issue, many buildings are old and even if they have been renovated the facilities often remain fairly spartan, VIP and media spaces may have been upgraded to be adequate for Liiga but aren't necessarily entirely up to modern major event standards. Some buildings also don't allow a standard-size rink.
Without a question some of the arenas in active use have seen better days, but there are still enough barns in good enough condition that size is the more immediate issue. Of course, if push comes to shove, having a secondary venue that only draws 8,000 or so people will do. Regardless, FIHA would likely prefer having the Helsinki Arena at their disposal for this purpose, even while the Tampere one will remain the main venue for the foreseeable future.
Gord mentioned in the other tweet that Hungary showing support to Russia since its likely Russia/Belarus will be banned from 2023 worlds as well.
The 2016 WJC was great though. But only because tickets were cheap and there was a lot of families.
