A positive comment about Jokers?
Yes.
It seems confusing that such a thing can be written now. First time in a really long time.
Jokerit has been swimming in such deep, pitch-black and muddy waters for the last few years.
Harry Harkimo managed in his greed to practically destroy the Jokers completely. The sale of the team and the Ilmala arena to Russian oligarchs is one of the most shameful chapters in Finnish sports history.
After leaving the KHL, the mess around the Jokers resembled a badly made slapstick comedy, in which the main role was first played by Jari Kurri. After Kurri, another Harkimo, Harry’s son, jumped into the role of main clown without asking and unexpectedly Joel.
A moment ago, there were exactly two people in the world who didn’t understand that the name Harkimo doesn’t fit in with Joker’s new project.
The mournful hazing stopped when both Harkimos finally realized that hockey circles now trust them as much as boaters trust a wooden anchor.
From the ground up, in moderation, piece by piece
Now the Joker’s new rise is being built by a company where the names of those involved are guaranteed to excite fans and create faith in the future: Teuvo Teräväinen, Ossi Väänänen, Esa Lindell – and a bunch of others who haven’t dabbled in the Jokers’ dirty recent past.
It’s the best thing that’s happened to the Jokers in years.
Another great thing is Kerava.
Yes. Neat.
The Jokers’ return to the Finnish hockey map will likely start in Kerava, where the representative team under construction found a home arena for next season’s Mestis games.
What makes Kerava a positive thing from the Jokers’ point of view?
I came up with many answers.
One of them became the frontman of Old Chiefs, the Jokeri supporters’ association Pass “Pave” From Mähöwhen he was interviewed on the subject.
– Let’s rise from the bottom and see where everything (the Jokers) leads, Mähönen said.
And hit the nail on the head.
That’s exactly what the new coming of the Jokers has to be built around. From the ground up, in moderation, piece by piece. And of course without Harkimoi.
When a team aiming for the SM league with some schedule starts its journey from Kerava, no one will be able to acknowledge in the future that “that’s where the purchased team owned by NHL millionaires came from a passing lane”.
No, it didn’t come. Came from Kerava.
“I! We! We-ra-va!”
The next reason for Kerava’s insight is that the core group of Joker fans is known to have come from Eastern Helsinki. In other words, rather rough conditions. The famously angular Kerava fits that image perfectly. Anyway, Pasi Mähönen was born in Kerava!
And when, in the future, someone calls the Joker’s supporters from other places than Eastern Helsinki “train people”, they can accept it with pride. Yes, we came from Kerava!
If Jokeri’s new arrival goes well, it is clear that the team will play in Kerava only as long as it is necessary. But how great it would be for Pave and other Jokers supporters years from now to remember it through Kerava. Through when it all started again.
A new beginning may also remind someone of the Jokers’ previous visit to Finland’s second-highest men’s ice hockey league level.
In the 1988–89 season, Jokerit played in the 1st Division (now Mestis). The main star of the team was a person under twenty Teemu Selänne. Selänne scored 69 power points in 35 games. At the end of the season, Jokerit was promoted to the SM league. That was the start of Selänte and Joker’s astonishing rise.
The 1990s were also Harry Harkimo’s golden age in Jokers. He played an undeniable role in the club’s success story at that time. Unfortunately, Harkimo’s most recent “fame deeds” are remembered much better in Jokeri’s club history.
Finally, regarding Kerava, I offer a helping hand to Joker fans.
The slogan of the past years of the jester shirts was:
“I! We! Jo-ke-rit!”
Pave and partners, take another version alongside that next season:
“I! We! We-ra-va!”