Leading the points exchange in the SM league Anrei Hakulinen got hit by the puck in his hand in the second period of the EHT home tournament match against Switzerland. Rauman Luko’s sports director Kalle Sahlstedt confirms that the star striker’s hand has undergone surgery.
– Now we just hope that everything goes well in the rehabilitation and one day he will jump back into the box. I guess no one can say yet when he will return. It would be a positive thing if he still played this year, says Sahlstedt.
The Ice Hockey Federation pays compensation per game and salary to the club if a league player is injured in national team games.
– I don’t know the exact amount, but there is a formula for it. Our CEO was looking into the matter when I just spoke with him.
– I think it’s a fair game, the club gets damages in proportion to the player’s salary. When a player is out for one game, it is always x amount. And when the player is out for ten games, then it is x times ten, Sahlstedt explains the compensation patterns.
Lukko has scored 21 equalizing or leading goals this season (4 equalizing, 17 leading). Hakulinen has scored or assisted in these goals that occurred at a critical moment in terms of the outcome of the game league data (you switch to another service) according to almost half.
– Of course, those payments do not make up for the fact that our top player is on the sidelines. The player market is now so dry, there is practically no player available even to replace Hakulinen.
In addition to Hakulinen, Raumalaisita has an attacker out of the lineup Josh Kestner.
– All autumn we have been following the player market with an eye to see if we could find a player that would be right for us, when there is an opportunity to acquire one player in the budget, reveals Luko’s sports boss.
In the future, wrist guards will stick
Walter Merelä received a skate cut on his wrist in Saturday’s match against the Czech Republic in the Turku EHT tournament.
Tappara’s responsible coach Jussi Tapola tells that Merelä, the team’s top scorer and the one who hit the most winning shots in the SM league, has undergone surgery and received good treatment. According to Tapola, he will be sidelined for at least a couple of months.
– An unfortunate situation that you have to live with, however. It means that other players have to raise their level when such a top player falls out of line. If this happens, i.e. the others perform at a better level than before, then it only strengthens the team.
Tapola says that, at least in Tappara, there has been no talk so far about players’ wrist guards, which would prevent the nasty cuts in the hand area of recent times.
Less than a week ago, on November 9, the NHL saw an injury somewhat similar to Merelä’s, when the Edmonton Oilers Evander Kane fell on the ice while chasing the puck. As a result, Tampa Bay Patrick Maroon the skate sliced Kane’s wrist open. Kane’s sick leave has been estimated to be 3–4 months.
– I believe that these Kane and Merelä events will raise the issue among the players as well. I personally hope that the players would protect themselves as well as possible – at least for the places where skate cuts are possible.
Tapola recommends everyone to use cut protectors for the feet.
– I have one experience about it. Clay woman Custard (Brother Matti) once got a big wound on his leg, which also required him to be absent for a couple of months. Neck and wrist protectors are also necessary equipment. I believe that all coaches and club managers hope to use them.
Tappara’s coach admits frankly that the national team break is always a bit contradictory, at least for him.
– From Huili’s point of view, it is good that there will be a break and the players’ minor injuries can be fixed, but from the point of view of the game, the coach is a little worried about whether the things we have practiced and talked about all autumn have remained in the back of our minds.
Lehterä is an advocate for wrist guards
Tapola cannot say how many Tappara players have the aforementioned protections.
– Jori of Lehterän has told me that wrist guards are good these days and don’t hinder gaming at all, as long as you get used to them first. He would be a good role model now. When such a top player uses them, why can’t many others do the same.
At least Tapola does not want to limit the number of national team players, but rather hopes that there would be even more players from his own team in the representative crew.
– I don’t see a difference in whether a player is injured in the national team or in our game. It always hurts. I personally think that it can happen in training or even in civilian life. The national team is important to the players and one could say that it is also important to hockey as a whole. Injuries must not bring conflict, but cooperation is the benefit of the entire Finnish ice hockey.
Tapola notices that the cooperation between the clubs works perfectly Jukka Jalonen and Jere Lehtinen led by Leijon. Even now, Tappara’s players (Lehtärä, Savinainen, Mikael Seppälä) did not play in the EHT tournament on Sunday against Sweden, but were able to leave earlier for Switzerland, where the club has an important CHL match against Davos on Tuesday.
Luko’s sports director Sahlstedt points out that players are rotated in the national team, and no one is burdened unreasonably. However, he adds that it is a different topic of discussion, how many national team tournaments there should be throughout the season.
– The EHT tournaments are an integral part of this European disc calendar. There’s always someone hurting themselves, there’s nothing you can do about it. Now it hit our player. Shit! There’s no point in lamenting about it any more, says Sahlstedt.
The next EHT tournament will take place in Switzerland a month later, on the 15th-18th. december