According to Urheilu’s expert Topi Nättinen, nothing good can be said about SaiPa at the moment. There is also a big threat in the future.
Ice hockey tour live on Saturday at Areena from 4:30 p.m. Simo Leinonen and Topi Nättinen in the studio. Listen here!
In the Ice Hockey Championship League, SaiPa made sad league history on Friday, when SaiPa lost to KalPa ugly with 1–6 goals.
SaiPa has now lost 23 consecutive matches without a victory in regular time. It is a new record in the SM league. Previously, TPS had played 22 matches without a victory in regular time in the 2014–2015 season.
SaiPa’s head coach Ville Hämäläinen didn’t come to the press conference at all, because according to SaiPa, the game meeting after the match dragged on for a long time.
Urheilu’s ice hockey expert Top Nättinen uploaded direct words about SaiPa’s situation in the Ice Hockey Tour.
– Nothing good can be said. SaiPa is the most insignificant and absent team for a long time, Nättinen said.
According to Nättinen, SaiPa is currently always an “automatic win” for all opponents. The expert reminds that SaiPa’s existence has been threatened for a long time and referred to financial issues as an example.
– At some point, the audience will probably reject it. Records are being broken in the wrong direction, Nättinen described.
SaiPa has collected 22 points from 36 matches. 60 matches are played in the regular season of the SM league. If the pace of points continues the same, SaiPa will be left with 36–37 points.
– As long as you show up and can manage to sweat, you should score 50 points during the season. It’s really sad that the injection cream starts with three, Nätttinen underlines.
The expert also directs his words to the management of the SM league.
– We should think about how to justify the existence of SaiPa. How SaiPa has a league license and so on, Nättinen describes and tells how SaiPa’s situation is almost speechless.
– Words are not enough. Don’t want to hit the beaten anymore.
The qualifying games will probably return to the SM league next season. Nättinen paints a really dark picture of SaiPa’s future.
– This way, SaiPa will be written out of major league hockey. It’s unfortunate to say this, but if this trend continues, it’s fine, says Nättinen.
Since 1996, SaiPa has played continuously at Finland’s highest league level in the SM league. In 1999 and 2014, SaiPa reached the bronze medal matches, but there were no medals. The only SC medals are the 1966 SC bronzes.
You can find the league table of the SM league here.