The striker was unexpectedly left without a further offer from Geneve-Servette, but other clubs were in line after him. Offers also came from Sweden and Germany, but the career continues in Lausanne.
Henrik Haapala, 29, signed a one-month contract with the Swiss premier league club Geneve-Servette in September and made a strong mark. Performances of 3+7 for nine matches were surprisingly not enough for an extension contract offer.
– I think it happened that the pace of points surprised the club management a little. There it was decided to go with the same foreigners that started the season and nothing.
Haapala soon got a job for the rest of the season in the same league in Lausanne. The migration distance was not long, as Lausanne is located more than 60 kilometers northeast of Geneva.
The signing of Haapala, who played in Ilves last season, dragged on beyond the beginning of the season partly because the winger himself didn’t know what he wanted to do.
– Last season, I had in mind to spend a longer period in Finland. But when my girlfriend is studying medicine in Latvia for the third year, I started to feel like going abroad to test my skills, says Haapala, who trained with her breeding club Lempäälä Kisa before her trial contract.
When the month’s paper in Geneva expired, the player-agent Ilkka Larvan there was no need to search for a new employer with a flashlight. Offers came in a flurry, at least from Switzerland, Sweden and Germany.
– That’s how I understood that there was enough interest. I wanted to hear only the most concrete options. I am sure that I signed the contract in the best place for me, Haapala states.
Lausanne’s other Finnish players are Antti Suomela and Miikka Salomäki.
The team is on a losing streak
Lausanne’s Vaodoise Arena was not in a festive mood when Haapala arrived. Canadian by Geoff Ward the team coached by the head coach is in a seven-game losing streak, so Haapala was acquired directly as a rainmaker.
The strength of the team includes no less than 11 foreigners, of which six can play in Switzerland at any one time. On Friday, Lausanne will face Kloten at home, and on Saturday, Haapala’s ex-club Lugano will be away.
Haapala, who has rehabilitated at least sufficiently in his career, is currently in very good health.
Did Kontiola surprise?
When Haapala was already playing in Switzerland, the continental plates of Finnish league hockey moved.
His center last season, who announced his retirement in the spring Petri Kontiola, 39, signed a season-long contract with his first SM league club, Tappara. The bigger sensation, however, was that Kontiola confessed that he had drifted into ever-worsening substance abuse problems during this year, for which he had sought and received treatment.
Although Kontiola and Ilves, who were only aiming for the championship, failed in last spring’s playoffs, Haapala says that at least he didn’t notice that the lifestyle of his star center had an effect on his stomach.
– I didn’t feel that there were any such problems. Of course, I am happy that “Konna” has found and received help and was able to keep it (sobriety).
Haapala was not among the most surprised by Kontiola’s return as such:
– We went on the same ice in the summer, and yes, his performance looked really good. There is no doubt that he would be an asset to any team. When a man has played in the KHL for 10 years, the experience and ability to adapt is of such a level that quite a few people can come along and try, swears Haapala, who played with Kontiola in the Eastern League’s Jokers.