Kalervo Kummola believes that there would be support for the return of the Jokers to the Finnish Championship. In his opinion, it is unlikely that the World Hockey Championships will be played in the Helsinki Arena this spring.
Jokerit from Helsinki, who plays hockey at KHL, announced today that it will be leaving the season. The Jokers were due to start the KHL playoffs next Tuesday against Spartak Moscow. According to the Joker’s press release, it would be impossible to continue the season in the current global situation.
Kalervo Kummolan I don’t think there are two words about whether the Jokers made the right decision.
– Absolutely the right solution in this situation.
Kummola says he doesn’t know the details, but understands that the decision was also athletically difficult. The 2020 season was interrupted, then because of the corona pandemic.
Last season, the Jokerit fell in the opening round of the playoffs. Now the Jokerit was the second in the regular season of the Western Conference.
– Jari Kurrin There was a conversation with (chairman of the board of the Jokers) over that, and he said it was then an easy decision in the end, says Kummola.
The Jokeri head coach has been on the same lines Lauri Marjamäki and player Jesse Joensuu. Marjamäki stated that no one thought that the Jokerit would continue to play in this situation.
If the money taps close, the KHL connection will be disconnected
The Joker’s bulletin was only about this, but what is the future of the club at KHL? Joensuu wondered not to see how the Jokers would play KHL in the future. The 34-year-old striker said he knew KHL is more or less Russian public relations because many clubs are making big losses.
– Even if the Jokers continue somewhere, the Jokers we have known now will end, Joensuu believes.
Kummola, who served as chairman of the Finnish Hockey Association 1997–2016 and vice-chairman of the International Hockey Association II–20F in 2003–2021, is on the same lines.
– Russia has cut off its relations in many directions here. I think it’s hard to imagine playing at KHL in the next few years, Kummola inches about the situation with the Jokers.
Could it be a matter of the near future that the Jokers have to think of a new series?
– Of course, playing at KHL has so far caught up with Russian funding. It is clear that if that connection is lost, the KHL connection will also be lost. It is premature to speculate very far. Personally, I have hoped that the Jokers will one day return to the SM League. I think that after these years the atmosphere is such that they could be accepted there, Kummola reflects.
There are enough question marks – one of the biggest is the Helsinki Arena
Chairman of the SM League Board Heikki Hiltunen comments on the possible return of the Jokers to the SM League on Tuesday. He said he was open to the matter, because “everyone knows that the Jokerit as a brand would be an interesting alternative for the Finnish Championship League and Finland’s top hockey”.
The departure to KHL in the spring of 2014 caused a break between the Jokers and the league clubs. Jokers and Finnish league clubs did not play practice matches until 2020, in addition to which it was not allowed to change players.
Kalervo Kummola, how do you justify the assessment that the Finnish Champions League would be ready to take back the Jokers?
– It is not my job to justify, but what I have smelled of the atmosphere can be two-way opinions. However, I think the Jokers will bring quite a lot more interest to the SM League. The second thing is then what happens to the Helsinki arena. There are many kinds of question marks in the air, Kummola points out.
The arena in Helsinki’s Ilmala is a significant factor in the palette. The arena has been partly Russian-owned since 2013.
The arena is owned by Helsinki Halli Oy, whose main shareholder is Arena Events Oy. Arena Events Oy owns 45 percent of the arena’s shares. The chairman of the boards of both companies is a Russian businessman Roman Rotenberg. She is Gennadi Timtshenkon in addition to the largest owners of the arena.
Roman Rotenberg’s father is Boris Rotenberg and uncle Arkadi Rotenberg. Timtshenko and the Rotenberg are known for their close relationship with the president Vladimir Putin. The United States and Britain have put businessmen on sanctions lists.
The Finnish Hockey Association said on Friday that it would lower the Lions’ shirts and championship pennants raised to the ceiling of the Helsinki arena. In addition, Hartwall, the name sponsor of the Helsinki Arena, said yesterday that he was investigating the possibility of withdrawing from the agreement. Hartwall has been the hall ‘s title sponsor since the arena was completed in 1997.
“This will certainly not be forgotten” – next year’s World Championships for men and the World Cup for young people will be held in Russia
Finland will host the Men’s Ice Hockey World Championships soon, in May. The A-block matches are scheduled to take place in the Helsinki Arena, but Kummola believes that this may change as well.
– The Hockey Association has already taken the shirts of the national team players out of there. It’s pretty unlikely to be played there if no miraculous changes happen. In that case, there are contingency plans.
– There are a little bigger things going on here than hockey. It is hoped that the situation will calm down, Kummola reminds.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) has already canceled its race from Russia for the rest of the season, and the September F1 race from Sochi has also been canceled. The 2023 World Hockey Championships are scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg and the World Championships for under-20s in Omsk and Novosibirsk, Russia, at the turn of next year.
Kummola says that the realization of the Games in Russia is a question mark, but it is still too early to anticipate.
– This will certainly not be forgotten. The rest of the world is now quite united. There are terribly no approvers of these Russian tricks.
The question has also been raised as to whether Russia, as a team, can participate in sporting events, such as the World Hockey Championships in Finland. Kummola, who has done immeasurable work on hockey, does not want to start outing steep solutions.
What would it look like if Russia were involved in the World Cup after taking such action?
– My personal opinions have not been personal for a long time. They are always interpreted as something else, so I leave the comments to others in this regard, Kummola replies, but says that the situation is difficult.
Can Russia participate in the World Championships in Finland this spring?
– That is a difficult situation, of course. On Monday, the board of the International Hockey Federation will meet to see if this is also being discussed there.
– After all, this situation cannot be much more severe than it is now. But I don’t go on to make performances for others.
What is the decision-making chain about whether Russia can participate in the Games?
– It is difficult for the Finnish Hockey Association to make a decision alone. Yes, it is largely a decision of the IIHF. Of course, we also need to keep an eye on what politicians are doing in between.
Russia is a major hockey country and hockey is also known to be an important sport for Putin. According to Kummola, if Russia were to be excluded from the World Cup, for example, it would be the hardest solution ever made in hockey.
Kummola says that he remembered the night before the 1969 World Cup was moved from Prague to Stockholm. In August 1968, the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact had occupied Czechoslovakia. At that time, therefore, the Games were moved out of Czechoslovakia, but the Soviet Union was allowed to play, and won gold.
– There are no similar closures in hockey other than South Africa due to apartheid.