The ice hockey championship league season starts on Tuesday, but the first match does not arouse any kind of emotions, writes Urheilu’s reporter Simo Arkko.
Simo Arkko Sports journalist
The first broadcast of the ice hockey round will be heard on September 13 on Puhee and Areena. The round of six matches will be followed from 17:45.
The ice hockey championship league season starts on Tuesday, but the first match does not arouse any kind of emotions.
The SM League decided to deviate from the practice known in recent years, where the finalists start the season with a mutual encounter. Then the Finnish champion also got to raise the championship banner to the ceiling in a festive way.
This time, in the opening round, Lukko and HPK fight for superiority. All credit to the people of Rauma, but the legendary Lace Tournament that starts the training season attracted much more interest than the opening match against the people of Hämeenlinna.
In the bigger picture, there is no greater interest in either team.
The teams do not have the brightest stars of the series, and they do not belong to the pre-planned top teams. Lukko can reach the top six, but for HPK tenth place would be a big success.
Competition manager of the SM league Arto I. Järväla reasoned In an interview with Iltalehti, that starting on Tuesday was Luko’s wish. According to Järvelä, Lukko wants to play a lot at the beginning of the season and clear space for possible Champions League playoffs.
According to Järvelä, for example, playing a full round on Tuesday did not suit the television partner.
However, it is special that the SM league follows the wishes of one club when it should maximize national interest in the sport and the start of the season.
Last season’s finalists Tappara and Pelicans would have really offered that. Tappara has been a very interesting team for a long time, the Swedish coach who has achieved world championships Rikard Grönborgin thanks to.
He is expected to make Tappara’s playing more active compared to before. It may be that the “handle-like” Tappara will be a memory only after this season.
The Pelicans, on the other hand, significantly strengthened their team, including a superstar By Ryan Lasch. Also Olympic champion and world champion Jussi Olkinuoran the excerpts will surely be of interest all over Finland.
Now this opportunity was missed.
The dream scenario would be for the SM league to start with a full round of seven matches on Friday or Saturday with local matches. Tappara–Ilves, Lukko–Ässät, KooKoo–SaiPa, Jukurit–KalPa and so on. There would be “full noise”, food, drink and circus fun.
Lower down the league ladder, Mestis, on the other hand, knows how to maximize publicity, because the series kicks off on Thursday, September 21, with the meeting between Kiekko-Espoo and Jokerie. This match in the arena with almost 7,000 spectators was already sold out more than a month ago.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this match also beat the opening of the SM league in the television viewership figures. Hardly even the television partner wants the season to start with such an anti-climax. Is this a match with which the SM league wants to sell its series?
There is also one positive thing about the puck fans. The websites that have traveled during the opening matches of the SM League in recent years are unlikely to crash this time.