Helsinki IFK has been in top form in the hockey SM league. The people from Helsinki are on a ten-match point streak and, with this number of matches, also the best team in the series.
HIFK has finally fixed its crowning glory of the season, the finish. HIFK would have deserved more in the early season, looking at the goal waiting and statistics, but they still bowed to their opponents.
However, during the last ten matches, HIFK has scored the most goals in the series (35). The goals conceded have been in the same line compared to the whole season.
– The liberation of attacking play is of course one big factor. Through that, we have also been able to score goals better, which was our challenge from the beginning of the season, HIFK’s sports director Tobias Salmelainen commenting on the backgrounds of the top-flight.
However, according to Salmelainen, the most important thing has been faith in your own plan.
– We have been watching our execution all the time and now the result has started to match the execution.
Rallying point
HIFK was in deep waters in the early season in terms of results. As the supporters booed the team out of the rink, the head coach Ville Peltonen considered this deserved. According to Salmelainen, HIFK’s change of course ultimately stems from everyday life and the team booth.
– We all have our own responsibility for being able to perform better. In the end, it has come out of the common issue that we have been able to find relaxation and joy in playing. It releases a certain kind of energy. The team looks faster and scores more goals.
Salmelainen sees that the Spengler Cup played at the turn of the year came at a good time for HIFK. Although HIFK suffered three losses in three matches in the tournament, according to Salmelainen, the trip to Switzerland brought good energy to the team.
– When you can get away from everyday life for a while and come together, it’s a great opportunity for the team to weld together even better.
Bring out the first stars
HIFK’s Ikköstykit have also gotten up to speed. Julius Nättinen has scored 5+8=13 points in the last nine matches after the early season difficulties. In the process Kristian Vesalainen (11 points / 9 matches), Juha Jääskä (11), Eetu Koivistoinen (10) and Iiro Pakarinen (8) have come into force.
– Sports is a wonderful world, because self-confidence has a lot to do with a player bringing out his strengths in the best way. In team sports, of course, there are players who are expected to have a certain responsibility for results, and it’s great to see that the players have achieved success.
– One important thing is that there is a booth full of guys who rejoice in the successes of others. That’s the crux of it.
HIFK did not succumb to the sacking
Sports expert Top Nättinen reminds that the successes of the number one stars relieve the situation of other players. Credit players must also prove their worth.
– You often hear talk about how everyone has to do their own thing, everyone can make a difference, and you can’t expect them to solve games. But that’s bullshit. Every team hires players, puts money on them and expects them to bring profits. If that doesn’t happen, it affects team cohesion and confidence.
HIFK is currently ninth in the league table, five points away from sixth place and KalPa, which has played two more matches. According to Nättinen, HIFK’s lineup is not among the top four on paper, but the team is much better than the league table shows.
However, it is great for Nätti that HIFK did not fall into the sacking of coaches in the early season.
– It seems that the team has finally got the hang of the game. Patience is rare in elite sports and it’s cool to see that in the middle of a crisis, even in such a big club, they didn’t fire them in the middle of the season.
Unevenness
However, Salmelainen reminds that the team must improve even more if it really wants to challenge other teams in the spring.
Nättinen is on the same lines. There is still unevenness in the gameplay.
– Inequality marks the team. For example, now HIFK has gained superiority in its operations, but Alivoima is clearly inferior. It has decreased by more than ten percentage points in ten games compared to the beginning of the season.
According to Nättinen, the peak episode should not be fooled. You have to be able to continue the good momentum now, when everyone except SaiPa is actually fighting for important points with spring in mind.
– If you think about this season as a whole, is it a great thing that HIFK is fighting for places 7-8. I think it’s a disaster. But if HIFK can make the game work at the right moment, they have a chance to build a top spring.