North Karelia’s Polvijärvi is not a well-known hockey player. However, the municipality of slightly more than 4,000 people has, through a few twists and turns, become a two-time Finnish champion of adult ice hockey and a two-time champion of A-juniors.
Tiia Pajarinen admits that the path from Polvijärvi to Kiekko-Espoo and the finals of the women’s league has been long. It has moved through Outokumpu to Kuortane, then to Vaasa, before he moved to Espoo four years ago.
– I always said that I would go anywhere other than the capital region. But here we are! Pajarinen laughs and assures that he has settled in Espoo quite well.
Pajarinen, who turns 25 in April, has been part of Kiekko-Espoo’s playing lineup since the beginning. For this season, the people of Espoo also got a national team goalkeeper who played at Mercyhurst University between the posts Jenna Silvonen.
The head coach Sami Haapanen characterized the acquisition as a gem and said that the team had strong plans for Silvonen, but things turned out differently. Silvonen played one match in the regular season and after that the season was over. Pajarinen and Minja Drufva after this, bore the responsibility for prevention.
The Espoo team’s starting points for the season were very different from before. While the reigning champion had been able to carry even the pre-favorite on his shoulders for the last three winters, now the team had undergone a clear rejuvenation surgery.
In the regular season, HIFK and KalPa wedged ahead of the Espoos and in the first two rounds of the playoffs, Kiekko-Espoo got into a real grind, first against Kuortanetta and then against KalPa. The people of Espoo rose from the chasing position time and time again and after no less than five matches that went into extra time, they already secured their fourth consecutive final place.
According to Pajarinen, the team has welded together well during the past season.
– The best thing about this team is the unity and the fact that everyone here has the same goal and works towards it all the time. That kind of growing together has been the coolest this season, he says and believes that it is the key to why Kiekko-Espoo could lift the championship trophy this spring as well.
Winning saves and overtime wins
The goalkeeping game is always one of the important corners in the finals, and both Kiekko-Espo and HIFK have this department in order. of IFK Kia Lahtinen has been the season’s top saver, as his save percentage was 93.6 in the regular season and 96.7 in the playoffs. Pajarinen, who was responsible for blocking in the playoffs, had the corresponding readings of 92.1 and 93.4.
According to Haapanen, Lahtinen has been a reliable and reliable goalkeeper, but the 19-year-old defender is still inexperienced in finals.
– In a certain way, IFK’s goalkeeper game has not yet been tested in the playoffs. When you look at the results with which they have marched forward, they haven’t been in a terrible mess, says Haapanen.
Head coach of HIFK Saara Niemi has been satisfied with Lahtinen’s moves and his team’s goalkeeping situation, but at the same time is aware that it is also part of the opponent’s strengths. In his opinion, the goalkeeper’s play has been one of the big reasons why Kiekko-Espoo is playing in the finals again.
– Pajarinen has made those winning saves, and also won many overtimes for his team. But we have been able to meet good goalkeepers, for example also in HPK Nora Räty stretched and banged. We haven’t found any trolls in the opponent’s goalkeeper game yet, Niemi assures.
HIFK’s early favorite and proud of it
HIFK and Kiekko-Espoo also met in the finals last season. At that time, the pre-favorite Kiekko-Espoo won the first two matches with clear numbers, but after that the Helsinki team gave Sami Haapanen a good night’s sleep by leveling the series at 2–2. In the fifth and decisive match, Kiekko-Espoo won again by a large margin 8–3 and took the 16th championship for the people of Espoo.
This season, the sled has swung in the power relations of the teams to the side of Helsinki and the team won three of the four meetings. Saara Niemi would like to end HIFK’s five-year project at the championship party.
– We are now favorites and we are proud of that, because it means that we have done good things and deserved that place. The people of Espoo have experience in these places and they have a culture of winning. I believe that we will be able to play to our strengths just by doing the basics, Niemi assures.
According to Niemi, efforts have been made to increase the mental capacity of the players throughout the season. With younger players, the execution is choppy, as they do not have the experience of how to reset situations. Experienced captain of the team Karoliina Rantamäki45, the legendary words have echoed according to Nieme after every game: “Five minutes can be a good feeling, but when you step out of the booth, the focus is already on the next day.”
Both teams have wide material, but IFK’s attackers have been rampant in the scoring market. Michaela Pejzlova led the points market in the regular season and have also brought firepower Emilia Vesa, Sanni Vanhanen than Julia Liikalak too.
Kiekko-Espoo relies on the puck playing, as it has relied on all season. According to Haapanen, IFK is such a strong team overall that looking for individual weaknesses is like looking for a needle in a haystack. In his opinion, it is more important to invest in the fact that your own team is ready to give their all.
– If we stay on the puck, it will be difficult for IFK to score goals. It is a big job and requires everyone’s contribution and success, but I believe we are ready, says Haapanen.
– Let’s go with our own strengths and believe in our own doing. That’s where it’s coming from, if it’s going to come.
Best games ahead
In the KalPa series, Kiekko-Espoo played four games in five days and traveled 2,500 kilometers at the same time as IFK visited Hämeenlinna once. However, Tiia Pajarinen couldn’t wait to play again.
– The season is long, but these are the best games.
Pajarinen admits that the position of the underdog is somehow easier than the pre-favorite, but he still tries to focus only on his own play, because pre-sets have no effect on that.
– I think we’ve improved in every game and we’ve gotten our game rolling. We have to continue in the same way. Everyone has believed that we will reach the final, so why not try to get to the end, says Pajarinen.
In the opinion of Sami Haapanen and Saara Nieme, even the pre-favorite or underdog status disappears as soon as the puck hits the ice. After that, only that match, set or game minute matters.
The first final match will be played on Saturday in Pirkkola and the second in Tapiola, but the third match will be played in the Helsinki Ice Hall. Pirkkola can accommodate around 800 spectators, but “Nordis” can accommodate more than 8,000.
– The fact that the finals are also local games gives an additional boost. If the finals themselves don’t ignite, then these local games will certainly ignite, Haapanen assures.
FINALS SCHEDULE (3 wins)
Saturday 18.3. at 4:30 p.m
HIFK – K-Espoo
Sunday 19.3. at 4:15 p.m
K-Espoo – HIFK
Tuesday 21.3. at 18:00
HIFK – K-Espoo
If necessary
Thursday 23.3. at 18:45
K-Espoo – HIFK
Saturday 25.3.
HIFK – K-Espoo
BRONZE ATTACK
Saturday 18.3.
KalPa – HPK 12.00