In Turku this spring, there is a lot of floorball addiction. The TPS women’s team celebrated their second consecutive Finnish championship in the F-League of floorball. The women’s team did not lose a single match at home during the season.
TPS has a chance for a double celebration, as the club’s men’s team plays in the final series against Nokian KrP. For TPS, who won the first leg of the series, the championship would be the first at the men’s level.
TPS’s background team includes Finland’s most famous floorball fan: Tero Töyrylä. As a supporter of TPS, he got used to the league qualifiers in floorball.
– Has been eliminated from the league place and the playoff place. Now we are here, which is great, Töyrylä is happy.
Töyrylä says he planned his vacation around indoor basketball games.
– The boss would have wanted the vacation days in advance. However, I will announce them gradually as the game program becomes clear. Especially on away days, I want a vacation.
Captain of the TPS champion team Jenna Saario was watching the second final match between TPS and Nokia in Turku.
– Terribly exciting! It would be easier to be there playing, Saario enthuses.
With both teams of TPS, Turku has become a kind of capital of floorball in Finland.
Why?
– Long-term work has been done here and TPS as an organization is committed to this. It is great that there is success on the women’s, men’s and Juniors’ side.
Cardboard heads
Töyrylä has brought a culture of fierce fandom to TPS games. He has a lot of stuff with him.
The Turku audience threw white towels in the 2nd final match held on Sunday. The TPS player who started waving the towel in games Kasperi Kantonen had organized with the fans more than a thousand towels to be waved in the stands.
However, towels are not thrown in the ring.
– Not thrown. We collect them all and continue with them, Töyrylä laughs.
Finnish sporting events have seen more cardboard heads representing athletes in recent years. For example, at the 2016 World Youth Hockey Championships in Helsinki From Sebastian Aho, Jesse from Puljujärvi and Patrik from Laine there were cardboard versions.
In the Sweden match held at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium last summer, the corresponding cardboard heads were the EC golden hero Wilma from Murro and Top from Raitase.
Töyrylä brought the phenomenon to sports stands about 15 years ago.
– I am known in some circles for these cardboard heads that I invented 15 years ago. I don’t think anyone else had brought giant cardboard boxes to any sporting event before.
According to Töyrylä, cardboard has become an annual tradition.
– Every year you have to renew the repertoire. I gave away the old heads as I have new versions of them.
TPS young fans Justus Hyvönen mixed On Frans Varjos enough credit for TPS’s chances in the men’s final series.
– TPS has such a good defense and goalkeeper situation. Yes, tepsi will take this, Hyvönen believes.
The thriller ended with Nokia’s party
However, in the end, the second final match turned out to be the party of the visiting team Nokia. Hero player by Henri Johansson with an overtime hit, Nokia tied the series at 1–1. So the match went to overtime like the first final.
There was no shortage of hot feelings in the match. The match was interrupted at the end of the opening set for several minutes, when first Nokian Lauri Alkki tackled TPS Peteris Trekse and immediately after Nokia Valtteri Viitakoski got hit in the face by TPS Jere Niemelän from the racket.
Viitakoski returned to the rink in the second set with a white bandage on his head. Alkki got kicked out of the situation, but Niemelä avoided the Sankios.
Then Niemelä shook TPS to a 2–1 lead with the superiority of two men.
Nokia’s star defender Miska Mäkinen brought Nokia level in the second set, and when TPS and Nokia both scored once in the final set, the game went to overtime.
The third part of the final series will be played on Tuesday at Nokia. Four wins are required for the championship.
TPS–Nokia and. 3–4 (2–1, 0–1, 1–1)
04.54 1–0 Hautaniemi (Ojala) yv
05.48 1–1 Kovanen (Rantala)
15.39 2–1 Niemelä (Kailiala) yv2
32.07 2–2 Mäkinen (Kovanen)
57.26 3–2 Trekse (Niemelä)
59.19 3–3 Jonaeson (Rantala) im
62.23 3–4 Johansson (Arkkila) and
Goalkeepers
Fälden, TPS 7+9+5+0=21
Tuomala, Nokia 5+4+5+0=14
Audience: 1,878
Wins 1-1