The Ilves of Tampere, who together with Tappara are among the biggest champions of the ice hockey SM league, responded to a real storm warning on Monday by grabbing a star defenseman Sami Nikun.
The talent who arrived from JYP in Jyväskylä has forged real top performances for the defender this season 11+26=37, i.e. almost a point per game pace. Ilves already has a firepower pack that is targeted by, among other things Adam Clendening and Arttu Pelli.
Urheilu’s ice hockey expert Top Nättinen says that Ilves was still worth getting a puck defender like Niku out of the reach of the worst rivals.
– After all, they have a tough opponent, but if the top of the defenders’ points market becomes available and the goal is the championship, it would be foolish not to take advantage of such an opportunity.
Nättinen sees Niku’s choice as being influenced by, among other things, the pursuit of the first Finnish championship, the role of attacking Pak and financial factors. Also the head coach Antti Pennasell has a big impact.
They were about to win the World Youth Championship gold for Finland from the Helsinki Games eight years ago. Pennanen is also a future national team coach and Niku is a potential World Cup player.
– I believe that everything affects everything. Of course, shared history helps. Because of the previous history, getting to know each other is much faster and we get straight to work. Niku benefits from being under the eyes of the future national team coach, Nättinen believes.
Racing gear
Naming Niku sends a strong message to Tappara from Tampere and, for example, Helsinki IFK. During the season, Tappara has strengthened its team with, among other things, a defender Olli Juolevilla and his termination decision with fainting Petri Kontiola.
HIFK, on the other hand, bought a lot of star acquisitions already last summer. Among other things, Haavi grabbed second place in the points market in the regular season last season, Jori Lehterä Brave, greedy for money Joni Ikonen and a defender with NHL experience Petteri Lindbohm.
– Niku fell into my arms beyond all expectations. Just two weeks ago, it would have been unthinkable to get him. Came from outside the traditional arms race.
– Someone would have taken him anyway. This is a good signal from Ilves that he wanted to come to them, Nättinen adds.
Nättinen says that Tappara and Ilves have screwed their team in slightly different places.
– Tappara has refueled a little width, Ilves takes the star. Niku gets more column space than Tapparan Luke Witkowski. However, it has the same idea: let’s strengthen the team so that it would be Finland’s championship team.
“Painted silly picture”
It bothers Nätti that in the Finnish hockey discussion, the acquisition of Niku is considered some kind of threat. There would be some friction in the already tough defense.
– Of the other puck defenders, Pelli or Glendening gets injured and then they are upset when Sami Niku was not taken. If, as an athlete, you commit to pursuing the Finnish championship, you must be prepared for the fact that the competition will be extremely tough.
– Players can come to your place of play. If you’re not ready for that, you’re in the wrong place. If you want to be the best in this series, you have to be the best. With the right role and positive rotation, this is a great opportunity.
Nättinen has noticed that with the JYP saga, a wrong image of Niku is being created.
JYP’s new head coach Mikko Heiskanen benched Niku in the HIFK match played two weeks ago. Later it became known that Heiskanen did not want the star defender to arrive at the hall the next day.
– The fact that getting the top scorer of the SC league defenders and one of the best players in the series would somehow be a threat. I refuse to accept. Niku is not as energy and space-consuming a player as it has been made to understand.
– This is JYP’s problem, not Sami Niku’s. If Tienaa earns the amount that Niku earns, is a national team defender and a point per player, would anyone be humbled in such a situation? I highly doubt it. A silly picture has been painted that he is, as a person, something that he is not.
Big failure from Kärpi
Another of the SM league’s recent talking points has also come to an end. Oulun’s Kärpät said earlier this week that the club does not want to offer a place for a hot player To Nick Ritchie.
The Canadian signing shook up the SM league with many questionable exploits. In addition, the former NHL player did not succeed in producing results.
Ritchie’s most flagrant overshoot was seen in the match played on December 29 against Turku Palloseura. Ritchie punched the defenseless Markus Nurmea several times in the neck.
The disciplinary delegation suspended Ritchie for eight games for the incident and stated that the behavior in question does not belong in hockey.
Kärpät got a new sports director last year, Mikko Myllykoski. Nättinen says that the acquisition of Ritchie was a big failure from Kärpi.
– The acquisition was strange. It was incongruous. He wasn’t a signing that fit their template. Mikko Myllykoski has been in the house for a while. Was it more about gaining credibility than the factor that welded the team together?
– If you think about game-related things, he was completely off the hook. In the Markus Nurmi case, he received a well-deserved sentence. I was pretty sure after that this was the end result. It just took too long, says Nättinen.