Ismo Lehkonen wonders why the SM league is managed by people involved in the operations of small clubs such as Sport, KooKoo and SaiPa.
The Finnish Ice Hockey Championship announced on Thursday that its doors will remain closed at least until 2025. The league plans to completely reevaluate its licensing criteria.
The release hit Kiekko-Espoo, who won Mestis in particular, which is preparing to leave the league license in October. The club’s chairman, Ami Rubinstein, said that the club’s goal is still to play league hockey in the fall of 2024.
In the survey conducted by the players’ association, 98 percent of the players who stated their position are in favor of opening the series. 465 players answered the survey.
League President Heikki Hiltunen defended himself by saying that the members of the SM league, i.e. all 15 clubs, made the recent decision unanimously.
Hockey expert Ismo Lehkonen I think the decision is cowardly.
– I can imagine how all the clubs in Mestis, even in the Suomi series, feel. This was a kick right in the groin. After came a hook, a straight and then it was nati nati, Lehkonen thunders.
Lehkonen questions that there are representatives of small clubs in the management positions of the SM league: the chairman Hiltunen is also the chairman of the board of Vaasan Sport. The league’s new CEO Mikko Pulkkinen comes from KooKoo and sports director Jussi Markkanen From SaiPasta.
For example, Sport made losses of more than 100,000 euros in the second season. In the season that ended, the threat of loss was reportedly as high as half a million before players were traded.
– This is run by clubs that would be on the trigger themselves. Those who don’t have their own package, says Lehkonen.
– The big clubs seem to be only worried about what is happening in Tampere. They should realize that the gap between the top and the bottom is shockingly large and growing all the time.
Lehkonen has coached Hermes and TuTo in Mesti. He has a good memory of how he got to the current situation.
– I was part of the meeting where Sport was promoted to the league in 2014. The decision was made in the middle of the season and it was agreed in what order the team would be promoted from there.
– I wondered if a champion wouldn’t emerge from here. The answer was that you don’t get up and you (TuTo) take your turn. They say it would. That’s how the other clubs were silenced. Well, TuTo has been waiting for ten years now, Lehkonen laughs in disbelief.
According to Lehkonen, in addition to Mesti, the recent decision of the SM league will also affect the Suomi series, the A and B juniors, and actually the entire Finnish ice hockey: when there are no prospects for the future, people’s mental and physical resources are not enough to do the work.
According to the expert, the players should threaten the SM league even with a strike.
– Some generation has to do the dirty work at some point. Strike on and asses on the bench, Lehkonen loads up and adds that he doesn’t think the players’ association will go on strike.
The problems of the current series system also affect consumers who have bought expensive season tickets. Many teams sell their best players in the middle of the season if the chances for the playoffs are gone and there is no danger of relegation.
– The consumer can have an incredible influence on these things. The tip is not to buy a season ticket. Yes, it is beginning to be felt in the wallets of the decision-makers, Lehkonen states.
Lehkonen says that he does not believe that the SM league will open in two years.
Kiekko-Espoo has announced that it is willing to apply for a league place in 2024 and Jokerit for the 2025-2026 season. According to league chairman Heikki Hiltunen, there are active discussions with Kiekko-Espoo, but there have been no discussions with the Jokers this year.