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.
When the hockey SM League saw three consecutive championships last time, it started in a brutal way.
In 1999, Turku Palloseura won the first championship of its triple series Hannu Jortikan in the lead in the final series against HIFK. Even after the series, Jortikka said in an interview with that the series is not good for the sport.
– Without horns and teeth. This is my fourth championship as a coach. However, you have to understand that the world does not rise or fall on SM gold in the hockey league. I wish we as a hockey people would start talking. This has acquired characteristics that are not good for the sport, Jortikka stated to after the championship was decided.
In the final series, there were hot feelings, cold weather and, according to the journalist who wrote the story for Urheiluruutu, also “pointless pranks”. Jortikka says 25 years later that the final series was the hardest of his career.
– I have now (this season) read about all kinds of threats, intimidation, violence and judges. Isn’t the TPS-HIFK final one of the toughest ever? I would say even more brutal, Jortikka says.
According to Jortika, not much has been written about what happened in the corridors, booths and behind the scenes.
– Mercy was neither given nor asked for there. It was a remarkable final, Jortikka says.
However, he does not want to specify the matter in more detail.
– All sorts of things happened. Let it remain shrouded in obscurity, Jortikka says.
A special solution
The championship was decided by a strange goal. TPS Mika Alatalo shot a 1–0 goal in the third period from almost half the field. Later in his career, he was chosen as the best goalkeeper in the NHL Tim Thomas was amazed.
– The game was open until the last seconds, but Tepsi was just lucky then. Miikka Kiprusoff caught even the impossible ones. It has remained in my memory as the hardest final ever.
Ylen Urheilurutu’s final story about the decisive final can be viewed in the following video.
Risky Tappara is the early favorite
This spring, Tappara may very well be the next team to reach three consecutive championships. Hannu Jortikka, who watched the playoff matches, reminds us of Tappara’s routine and says that the Tampere team will go into the series against the Pelicans as early favorites.
– The Pelicans have surprised this year. They have a much better and more manly team than last year. Above all, the acquisitions after Christmas have clearly strengthened the team. The series will be even, but I think Tappara will be slightly stronger.
Jortikka, who has achieved six championships in his coaching career, sees that Rikard Grönborgin under coaching, Tappara has played much riskier and braver.
– They get a lot of chances in their own end, but they still have perhaps the best goalkeeper in the entire series. Christian Heljanko has brought a lot of points.
Transferred from Kärp to the Pelicans in the middle of the season Niklas Kokko has been one of the hottest topics of spring after defeating the Oulu team in the semi-finals. The youngster, who blocked pucks with 93.3 percent certainty in the spring, has surprised everyone, including Jortika.
– If we look at it critically, the youth competitions were not good for him and neither was the team. However, he has grown as he grows.
– The pressures have been tough and he has withstood them well. There is a tough battle between the goalkeepers.
Tapparalla has connections with TPS
There are similarities between Tappara’s current dynasty and the TPS dynasty of the past years. TPS shined in the 1990s in the new Arena, just like Tappara does now.
Success is and was also strong for both. During 13 seasons (1988–2001), TPS achieved eight championships and a total of 11 final places.
Since the spring of 2013, Tappara has been left out of the finals only twice. Now it has a chance for a fifth championship in a period of more than ten years.
Jortikka also sees a point of convergence in the Tappara and TPS dynasties. He recalls that TPS always had players ready to replace those who left for the NHL or Switzerland. Just like according to the news at Tappara at the moment.
Jortikka thinks, for example, that one of the reasons for the break of the Kärppie dynasty in the 2010s is that the junior mill from Oulu didn’t produce so many of its own players anymore.
– If we go to Tepsi and my time, more and more super players were added to the strong team all the time. Tappara has this gear that they get their own good players at the moment.
– I can’t see that Tappara will start to fail in the next few years.
‘s advance broadcast starts at Areena 45 minutes before each match. On Wednesday, Radio Suomi is included from 18:02.
Sat 20.4. Tappara – Pelicans at 17:00, Areena
Mon 22.4. Pelicans – Tappara at 18:30, Areena
Wed 24.4. Tappara – Pelicans at 18:30, Radio Suomi and Areena
Fri 26.4. Pelicans – Tappara at 18:30, Areena
Sun 28.4. Tappara – Pelicans at 17:00, Areena (if necessary)
Mon 29.4. Pelicans – Tappara at 18:30, Areena (if necessary)
Thu 2.5. Tappara – Pelicans at 18:30, Areena (if necessary)