Tappara’s Ben Thomas’ tackle on Ben Blood spoke volumes in the second final game of the hockey SM league. Blood thought Thomas’ tackle was “dirty”.
In the finals of the Ice Hockey Championship League, emotions heated up already in the opening set, when the Tappara defender Ben Thomas left the big doors to take a shower from his tackle to Ben Blood.
Blood, Pelicas’ pack-kicker, had tackled a moment earlier Casimir Jürgensia. Thomas entered the situation as the third player, and rumbled Blood to cancel.
The tackle hit Blood in the head.
The American lay on the ice for a while until he staggered into the locker room.
Blood said he had trouble breathing after the tackle.
– It was a dirty tackle. If I had tackled like that myself, my head would be on display in this hall. I’m thankful to God that I wasn’t hurt worse, Blood commented after the game.
The SM League announced after the match that Thomasin Taklaus will not proceed to disciplinary proceedings.
Blood returned to the second batch of ice and got Tapparalle on the ice again. It got it Maksim Matushkin to acknowledge Blood.
– It was a great conversation when Blood fell and Tappara got the hang of it. Matushkin told Blood that what the hell, at the end of the last episode you almost died on the ice and now you’re pushing to go again, C More’s editor Siim Liivik said from the side of the rink.
– He said something like I died on the ice or something like that. But I told him hey, I got knocked out. I think he lost his temper. These are the playoffs and the stakes are high.
Blood has also struggled a lot in the final series Veli-Matti Savinainen with.
– They have been good struggles. He’s a big guy and I’m even bigger. It’s fun and I love to do it. I can see that’s one reason the supporters are here. They are good fights and I love them.
Strong promise for the next games
However, the cooldowns that Blood acquired for the opponent did not produce the desired result for the Pelicans. The people of Lahti did not manage to break Tappara’s good underpowered play.
Tappara kept Pelicans scoreless and won the match 2–0 with goals from Otto Rauhala and Waltteri Merelä.
Tappara leads the series with a 2–0 win, and the Pelicans are in a tough spot on Saturday when they visit Tampere.
Four wins are required for the championship.
– We must continue, we cannot be discouraged. I can see that we would have deserved more tonight. But that’s hockey and playoff hockey. I’m proud of us. We didn’t quit, we kept fighting and I’m proud of these guys.
In an interview, Blood promised in an emotional voice what kind of Pelicans will be seen when the series resumes on Saturday.
– You won’t see a team that plays harder than the Pelicans during the rest of the season, Blood said.