– Where is our IFK?
The question was asked by the supporters of Helsinki IFK embroidered on a large sheet on Wednesday of this week. And as a protest, they remained silent at the beginning of the match for five minutes.
The question is apt and insightful in many ways.
The quick answer is: HIFK is in crisis. This was also stated out loud in the Ice Hockey round.
However, everyone who follows the SM league already knows that. The people from Stadion, who started the season as big – maybe the biggest – favorites for the championship, will have to fight hard at the end of the regular season to reach the top six.
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Sports director Tobias Salmelainen stuck his claws into IFK’s almost bottomless money chest and bought a lot of experienced and meritorious players for this season. The head coach Ville Peltonella had to have one of the best teams in the club’s history in their hands.
Had to.
Of the top purchases, only the golden helmet Jori Lehterä has been what was expected. From IFK’s point of view, it’s downright scary to think what the team’s ranking would be at the moment without pass machine Lehterä.
The amount of injury does not qualify as an explanation
Of course, it must be remembered that IFK has had a lot of bad luck this season. Experienced Sami Lepistö suddenly had to end his career, Leo Komarov was badly injured just before the start of the season, the teenage star Aron Kiviharjun kneecap disintegrated during training. And so on.
The list of those dropped from the lineup is breathtakingly long. The captain just took over for the sick person Ilari Melartcoming to mend the injury Oskari Manninen and Teemu Tallberg. The trio will not play again this season.
But still. Injuries alone cannot explain a poorly run season. They come for every hockey team, more or less.
It’s worth noting that HIFK has injuries every year. That’s why the club has a lot of questions about why this is happening. It can’t be just a coincidence.
Where is the identity?
HIFK is in crisis because it lacks something vital for a hockey team: identity.
It is also revealed in the fans’ question. Where is IFK? Yes, where? Where is the game backbone of the team, where is the essence of playing, the soul, everything that could identify HIFK?
You can see from Peltonen’s team that, like its coach, it is unyielding. But so is Pori Ässä. Or Vaasan Sport. A major club in the SM League should be much more than the famous tenaciously fighting crowd.
What kind of hockey does IFK currently play? I asked a few experts. The answers can be summed up in the following words: slow, fluctuating, cautious like a civil servant, annoying, confused.
That is, something completely different from the teams ahead of IFK in the standings.
Experts and others familiar with the SM league see it clearly: the competitors have a considerable advantage in terms of playing style compared to IFK.
Although Tappara is still looking for its new identity, when the team is being taught away from old, stubborn ways of playing, but still the kirversintas are making a strong enough result in the form of series points.
The most brilliant example of identity is the season’s sensational team Mikkelin Jukurit. Olli Jokinen looking at the team led by extremely powerful skaters, who play vertically in every area of the rink, you realize what a bright game identity means at its best – and what it can achieve.
IFK has no identity. So it is missing the most important thing.
By the way, Jukurit also set a model for how to act when the team is missing as many as five top scorers.
Niko Huuhtanen, Patrik Puistola, Pekka Jormakka mixed Ondrej and Michael Kovarcik left for the national team’s trip this week, but nothing changed in Jukurei. Tappara crashed on Kalevankanka in show style.
Identity carries.
An unlikely lightning strike
While writing this comment, my own text started to feel somehow familiar. Then I remembered that I had scribbled about the same topic almost a year and a half ago.
It was startling to see how the same problems still haunt IFK. The red thread is missing, even broken. The traces still lead to sports management.
But the lack of identity and lack of success does not seem to faze IFK. An extension contract extending to spring 2026 was signed for Peltone. Salmelainen will also continue in his position.
It is certainly possible that lightning will strike the Nordenskiöldinkatu hall in the final few meters of the regular season and IFK will start playing like a champion candidate. It’s worth remembering that the team has been put together specifically for the spring games.
However, that scenario now seems extremely unlikely.
At this rate, fans will have to ask several more times during the spring season where their IFK is.
It’s lost.