HabsCast Hockey Blog

Preview: Playoffs in Finland

The Pelicans from Lahti have been extremely good this year. Here on the attack against TPS (wearing white jerseys), in a 3-2 win (06.03.2007).They will continue to play in the playoffs after defeating Turku in the first round.

In Finland, the playoffs have already begun with teams full of new talent and veterans that are on fire. Every fan is waiting for their team to win. Surprisingly, all of the of the teams who managed to be in the playoffs, have good chances to win the championship and the level of intensity seems to be so high on every team which include The Pelicans (Lahti), Tappara (Tampere), HPK (Hämeenlinna), Blues (Espoo), HIFK (Helsinki), Jokerit (Helsinki), and finally Kärpät (Oulu). The end of the year looks bloody and exciting.

The team that’s considered as the strongest is Oulun Kärpät (Kärpät stands for “the stouts”, but these weasels have sharp claws and teeth!) who have won consistently throughout the regular season, winning more games than losing (8 wins out of 10 last regular season games) and is at the top of the League in regular season points. They have already won two playoff games against the Pelicans from Lahti. The goalie of Kärpät, Tuomas Tarkki has achieved a shutout in both of these games. The reason for such success is due to the good coaching by Kari Jalonen, the mixture of good young players and veterans like Juha Matti Aaltonen and Hannes Hyvönen, a good economical position, and a strong support of the whole north of Finland. Even when they lost, a big part of their major players that have moved to the NHL in the past year like Niklas Backstöm (Minnesota Wild), Lasse Kukkonen (plays now for the Philadelphia Flyers), and Petr Tenkrat (Boston Bruins), the team has managed to get good new players like the goalie Tuomas Tarkki to fill the gap. This team virtually represents the North of Finland, for all the other teams are located in the southern part of Finland. The city of Oulu is crazy about hockey (it is nearly a religion) and the fans produce enormous pressure on to any coming team who dare to put a skate on the ice of the Oulun Energia Areena (home rink) or ‘Raksila Areena’ as everybody calls it. The team has won 2 championships in the past 3 seasons and is aiming for their fourth overall. Today, everybody in the region, the radio, and commercials support shouting: “Poika Pohojoseen!”, which means “Bring the Cup back home!”.

The other strong contenders are the dear rivals of Oulu and the Jokerit from Helsinki who had already faced defeat as they got beaten by the “stouts” in the finals of the 2004-05 championships. They have good players on the lines including Jani Rita (who has played in the NHL before in the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers) and Petri Varis. Coached by the coming Team Finland coach of the year 2007, Doug Shedden. They will be a hard team to beat.

Their other rivals are HIFK, the other Team of Helsinki who battle with Jokerit for the city. Although they are lower in the standings, they a have strong defense led by Jere Karalahti and good coaching by Paul Baxter who was part of the coaching team of the Calgary Flames between 1989 and 1992. Baxter fits very well to the spirit of the HIFK, as the team is known to be very physical, giving all it has in every game (HIFK’s play similar to the North American style). HIFK will have to rely on its known style and coaching to play the best hockey.

The surprise (more or less) is the Pelicans of Lahti who have managed to beat Turku (TPS) in the first playoff round and who show strong style of play. With also a variety of players, this team is coached by the known Hannu Aravirta, who has coached Team Finland for many years. He was a big factor to bring back the team from the low end of the standings of last year to a playoff spot. This will be an interesting team to face. Their opponents, now in the second playoff round, will be the Oulun Kärpät (they have lost two games already and haven‘t managed to get the puck behind Tarkki).

Other teams like Ilves and Tappara (both from Tampere), both rivals battling for the city, will be interesting to follow as they have both had good season. HPK will have to struggle and fight to defend its title as the Finnish elite league champion with the coach Jukka Jalonen, the assistant coach of Team Finland of 2007 helping Doug Shedden. Let’s not forget the team from Espoo Blues who have a new Austrian goalie, Bernd Bruckler who had a save percentage of 95.5% in February……

It is expected to be a tight, emotional and bloody playoffs this year. It’s going to be a treat for all of the fans who travel sometimes hundreds of kilometers to support their team to the last breath, to the last minute, to the last shot. ….

“Poika Pohojoseen!!!!”

Websites
Finnish Elite League (www.sm-liiga.fi)
Oulun Kärpät (www.oulunkarpat.fi)

Sources
http://viikonkuvat.sm-liiga.fi/index.php?a=show&image_id=74&v=10

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