The Ice Hockey Championship’s decision to freeze the teams playing in the series is shocking. With the decision of the SM league’s general meeting, the league’s doors will remain closed for at least two years, when the SM league wants to reevaluate, among other things, its criteria for places in the series.
The SM league has been a closed series for ten years now. It was not possible to drop out of the series, but it was still possible to get there by applying for a license separately.
The opening of the SM league has been talked about for many years, but with the new arrival of Kiekko-Espoo and the Helsinki Jokers, the discussion has intensified. Kiekko-Espoo has publicly stated that it will apply for a place in the SM league in the fall and that it wants to play in the Finnish premier league from the fall of 2024.
The Players’ Association took a strong stand on the SM league’s decision on Thursday and said that the players wanted the SM league to be open.
On Friday, the Ice Hockey Federation agreed with the concerns of the Players’ Association. According to the ice hockey association, it is difficult to see that the current league system could function for very long in its current form.
Tappara has been in the medal games of the SM league ten years in a row. One of the architects of its success has ended his time as head coach at the club in the previous season Jussi Tapola. He won four Finnish championships as a coach in Tappara and was also the sports director for several seasons.
The decision of the SM league surprised the golden finger. Tapola wonders why the SM league’s decision-making has been delayed.
According to Tapola’s understanding, the preparatory work for the SM league should have started already last season with the new CEO Kati Kivimäki under. Kivimäki stepped aside as CEO this spring.
– Why do you need two years here? Have these issues not been considered at all during the last year? Or do you just not dare to make decisions? Tapola asks.
He also reminds that the situation of Kiekko-Espoo and the Jokers has certainly been known before.
In the public debate, many have already had time to say that they support an open series.
However, the new series system has been a question mark.
One model has been the A and B series played within the SM league, where 10-12 clubs would play in both. President of the Ice Hockey Association Harri Nummela considered the option to be considered and reminded of the possibility of moving up and down from the leagues.
Tapola would certainly see the much-talked-about series of two SM leagues as a better solution than the current situation. He still wonders if the series could have a different number of teams. For example, so that there would be 12 teams in one series and 8 in the other.
However, Tapola would change one thing for the upcoming season.
– For the next season, there should at least be some kind of rule change, so that clearance sales cannot be done in the middle of the season. It is a travesty of top sports that the team is emptied in December-January and then makes a good financial result. After all, those games aren’t really interesting for anyone, Tapola states.
Kapanen has seen clearance sales in Finland and pressure boilers in Sweden
Kimmo Kapanen was KalPa’s sports director between 2009 and 2017. Kapanen knows about the clearance sale of SM league clubs, because KalPa did it in the spring of 2014.
What does he think about clearance sales now?
– At least we can honestly say that we succeeded in the clearance sale and in building a new one. Three years after the clearance sale, we were in the finals. However, it has really happened a lot in Finland that the same teams do clearance sales year after year and nothing changes. In my opinion, it is no longer a terribly profitable activity in the big picture, says Kapanen.
At the time, KalPa explained the background of its clearing sale solution to partners and supporters.
– You can’t bang the braces at all. It was a shitty situation. Everything went to hell. Everything was rectified and the club got back on its feet, but you can’t indulge in clearance sales any more than you can, Kapanen continues.
Now Kapanen has been the sports director of Timrå IK in the Swedish premier league for a year. Kapanen states that an open series like the SHL was a new world for him. The SHL includes as an essential part the threat and pain when there is a chance to drop out of the league.
After the first five rounds of the series, Timrå was constantly stuck in the playoff spot, so the pain never had time to grow incredibly big. Kapanen didn’t have to strain his armpits while they were wet.
The pressures were still present for as long as it was mathematically possible to fall down the ladder.
However, Timrå had played the qualifiers in the previous season. According to Kapanen, you could feel the tension in the office. According to the Finnish boss, expressions tightened after a few defeats.
– When the preservation was resolved, the expressions of the financial officers in the office turned reasonably happy. They didn’t have to stress anymore, Kapanen opens.
In Finland, it is often said that relegation to Mesti would be a disaster and even a death blow for current league clubs. At the same time, Sweden and its qualifiers are followed with admiration.
Kapanen reminds that relegation has big consequences in Sweden as well.
– Now Brynäs fell. It is said that seven million euros were lost from its turnover. It affects everything you do. There will be yt negotiations. Let’s lighten the organization, Kapanen illustrates.
Kapanen says that the threat of relegation was present in monthly meetings with Timrå’s financial staff. In the meetings, an alternative budget for the upcoming season from the league level down to the Allsvenskan was on display all the time.
– It was harsh to see it. Here, in a bad season, the consequences can be that the turnover is 60 percent and the player budget is 75 percent lower. We will start building the new season without any player contracts, says Kapanen.
Not all SM league clubs would clear one of Sweden’s ranks
In Sweden, too, there are currently discussions about reforming the series system. Currently, the last two teams in the SHL are playing in the qualifying series. The loser drops directly down the league ladder.
Renewal is being discussed, but at least the next season will still be the same model.
Kapanen is not going to advise the teams operating in the SM league, because he also wants to remind you of one difference in the license criteria of Finland and Sweden.
SHL must have a certain percentage of turnover as equity. The proportion for up-and-coming teams is initially smaller, but in a few years it will increase to the same as other teams, i.e. to ten percent.
– If Finland had the same rule, there would be quite a lot of teams in liquidation. They wouldn’t necessarily get a license, Kapanen reminds.
However, he hopes for one thing for both Sweden and Finland. Kapanen would like to see the other series levels be more vibrant and be updated. It would remove the troll around the fall.
According to Kapanen, the difference in TV and marketing money in Sweden is tenfold.
– It’s a shocking difference. I would hope that Allsvenskan’s money would increase at the expense of SHL. I would think that the SHL teams would still manage and we would make the Allsvenskan even more competitive, Kapanen says and says that the increase in SHL TV money will help the clubs.
Kapanen can’t say what would be the best model in Finland in the future, because he can’t say what would be best in Sweden either. In any case, he considers the open series to be really good in terms of sportsmanship.
However, he longed for more ready-made solutions before the demands start to be rolled out publicly. Kapanen brings up, for example, the Players’ Association, which demanded an open series, but did not offer a model for it.
– I would hope more that it would be brought to the table ready-made. It’s really easy to criticize, but something constructive is needed. There should be some reason and destination, he emphasizes.
In principle, he considers the product and brand of the SM league to be good. However, the club boss would like clearer communication.
– The SM league gives hellish opportunities for negative shouting from all sides. Then, when we come out, we clearly come out, what is to be done. Now it seems that every now and then someone comments on something and it just damages the product. Why is it given a place? The SM league needs to do more work for the exits, Kapanen states.