The Pelicans have a significant problem to solve, writes Urheilu’s Simo Arkko.
Simo Arkkourheilhu journalist
follows the SM league finals moment by moment on its website. The Hockey Tour broadcasts every league final live. All finals will be heard live at Areena, the third final also on Radio Suomen’s soundwaves. The preliminary studios of the ice hockey round can be enjoyed in video form for the first time in the finals.
TAMPERE. Nothing changes. Tappara dominated and its supporters slowly warmed up at the opening of the finals.
When Brother Matti Savinainen scored a 3–0 goal in the final set, the Tampere audience of 12,144 people also got excited to celebrate the goal more violently.
The level of demands of Tappara, which Savinainen, who has achieved four championships, has been maintaining at the club for a long time, was visible on Saturday.
Unlike the Pelicans, Tappara was ready right from the start. Although the foot lifted off the gas at moments as the match progressed, the game was still extremely dull.
In contrast to previous finals, the opening final also saw something new. Tappara’s young stars emerged Oiva Keskinen20, and Peter Puhakka23, and the third link in the chain Nick Halloran26.
The trio played for the Pelicans’ stars Ryan Laschia37, Patrik Carlsson36, and Lars Bryggman31, against almost the entire match.
The result was overwhelming for experienced players. Keskinen’s chain scored two goals in the opening set, both against Carlsson’s chain.
Players with skating power bluntly took advantage of the Lahti trio’s slowness. In particular, Bryggman and Lasch’s speed was lost in their own end.
From time to time, Tappara’s youth chain even mocked Pelicans’ stars.
At the beginning, the central ones were particularly eager to counterattack. Already from the first counterattack, there was an uproar, when Bryggman remained completely in the role of a spectator. Puhakka skated 60 meters to the other end and completed a direct attack at the end of Halloran’s pass.
With Carlsson’s chain on the ice, Tappara attacked even after a long rotation in his own area. It produced scoring opportunities and wore down the Pelicans’ defenders.
The Pelicans’ problems at the beginning boiled down to weak passes. Whereas Tappara’s players were able to operate with the puck reliably and reliably under pressure, Pelicans were in big trouble.
Passes ran away, and the Pelicans couldn’t press at all. When it tried, Tappara quickly countered. Young Niklas Kokko had to fend off several dangerous goal posts in the match.
As the game progressed, Pelicans got passes better and Tappara withdrew. Carlsson’s chain also woke up and stayed on the puck for a long time.
However, the people of Tampere defended their own goal very confidently. When the goal had the best goalkeeper in the SM league as the last lock, Christian Heljankothe people of Lahti didn’t get to celebrate.
In Lahti, the situation can change when the head coach of the Pelicans Tommi Niemelä may send his player to the rink last.
However, the Pelicans have a significant problem to solve even this. How does the team find space in the extremely accurate Tappara defense?
On Saturday, it broke the copper only in the last seconds of the match. Way too late.