The final series finally got the atmosphere and drama arc it deserved, writes Simo Arkko of Urheilu.
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.
LAHTI. The puck falls on the ice. The Lahtelai audience immediately starts a collective shout. Fanipääty starts and the rest of the audience continues.
– Lahti is screaming!
– Pelicans!
This collective cry is listened to for 49 seconds, when the Home Audience explodes into a deafening scream for the first time. Aleks Haatanen a great individual performance takes the Pelicans to the lead.
After barely two minutes of play, the puck is in Tappara’s goal again, when Nathan Schnarr ventilate Haatanen’s preliminary work.
Lahti is screaming! Pelicans!
Halli sizzles even harder. The atmosphere is electric and infernal. The kind that hasn’t been experienced in the final series for a few years.
Even the rejection of the goal does not silence the Lahti crowd. From the opening set, it was present in all situations. In breakdowns, tackles and goal posts.
This was expected. The final series finally got the atmosphere and drama arc it deserved.
Pelicans led the match 2–0 at the start of the second period, but were in the shadow lands in the finals Anton Levtchi tipped Tappara to the lead.
Haatanen, the second character of the match, tied the match 40 seconds before the final buzzer of the third period. The ice rink in Lahti burst into screams again.
Haatanen certainly felt all the emotions in the match. Earlier in the game, he had sat in the ice during Levtchi’s second goal because of his stupid attack head ice.
We only had time to play the overtime for less than a minute, when Nicholas Baptiste blasted the puck into the top corner. Tappara won 4–3 and leads the series 3–1. The series is interrupted on Sunday.
In the fourth final, parts changed from previous matches. Kirvesrinna still defended strongly and hard, but in the offensive game the parts changed.
Earlier, the Pelicans had trouble getting in front of the goal. Now Tappara had big problems breaking into the middle. The Tampere camp even started to show signs of frustration.
Tappara froze and was lost for a long time.
In the third set, Levtchi emerged in an unimaginable way and just when the team needed it the most. He had previously finished the final series without power points.
The final series of the SM league showed the following three things at the same time for a long time: Feeling, atmosphere and consistency.
In Lahti, the spectators could enjoy each of these.
It’s really good for the SM league that the finals series has finally ignited the flame it deserved after a long time.