The semi-finals of the Ice Hockey League will start on Wednesday 26.3. The matches can be listened to in EPN’s Radio Finland hockey round starting at 6 pm.
The top four in the regular season, Lukko, Ilves, KalPa and HIFK, are finally getting into action in the playoffs as the semi-finals start in the SM League on Wednesday.
In the first round of the playoffs, Sport defeated KooKoo, Tappara dropped Kiekko-Espoo, Aces rumbled on HPK and SaiPa crashed on TPS.
Sports Expert Topi Nättinen In papers, KalPa may rise to the championship. We went through the starting point for the upcoming semi -finals with Nättinen.
In the quarter -finals, the system is played in the best of seven, ie four wins are required for the semi -finals.
Ilves – Tappara
Still life: This match series is guaranteed to leave anyone cold. For many Mansa hockey fans, the encounter between teams will come too early in the spring, but there is plenty to have.
The reigning champion Tappara took the semi -finals through the heaviest. The ascenter Kiekko-Espoo pursued a valid manner, but the series eventually turned to a firefighter Swedish commander Rikard Grönborg to the team.
Ilves has a ten -day Huili behind him. The start of the match series is increasingly important for tassel ears.
Lynx: Tappara is the worst possible opponent for Ilves, especially mentally. However, if you think about the whole trip of Ilves in this season’s regular season, it should not be a problem. Smoothness, scope and routine are decisive.
Poleaxe: Tappara’s season has been a really difficult, even miserable place in some places, in the history of the club. However, in sports, you cannot forget the spiritual side and the tension of the local struggle. Tappara’s chance is in the first and second match of the series.
What matters? Tappara had to play five semi -finals. If the lynx is able to drum high quality on four fields and the goalkeeper is successful, the series will turn to it. If the lynx is not ready at the beginning – Tappara will definitely be – the series will become difficult for Ilves.
Which one wins? The lynx goes to the semi -finals with a match of 4-2.
HIFK – SaiPa
Still life: After the dramatic stages of the regular season final round, the Eastern Sputniks ended up out of the top four.
Is the stunning reason that TPS, who had been shocked, was able to take the match to the fifth game. In any case Raimo Helminen The shields showed a great fighting will by taking a follow -up to 0-2.
HIFK has been a big question mark throughout the season. Still, the result has been amazingly tough. Now the people of Helsinki are in the toughest test of the season.
HIFK: The team is a mystery, and its impact capability is difficult to assess. IFK this season has been based on a tough struggle and a result in hanging despite the difficulties. The Helsinki residents are sure to make a team that will force them to the extreme right away. The ten -day leave has certainly helped in the sense that the injuries are expected to return to the lineup.
SaiPa: The team played mentally and physically heavy five games against TPS, but also gained important experiences. SaiPa has a bigger need to win and it is more ready than IFK, both playfully and mentally.
What matters? Basically, a truly circular set that can go up to seventh game. There are a lot of question marks around IFK, while SaiPa is pushing in a good flow and in the spirit of the race park.
Which one wins? SaiPa in the semi -finals with a match of 4-3.
Lock – Sport
Still life: Sport made a fierce trick and for the first time survived in the quarter -finals. The people of Vaasa have to throw in the rink in the SM League’s best player Atro Leppänen and to the finish young comet Masi Härkönen.
Lukko ended the six -match winning streak in the regular season and goes to the playoffs from the spike. The Rauma people should go to the future, but this is not a shout -out.
Lock: Lock played a really good regular season. Raumans play on a wide roster and get injured last month Eric Gélinas possibly back. They also have two good goalkeepers.
Sport: Sport has a surprise in the first or second match. The support of the home audience is solid and the team certainly got a really good spirit and learned from the KooKoo series.
What matters? Here is a clear pre -favorite and challenger setting. Lock Tomi Lämsä and Sportin Juuso Hahl They are both game coaches focusing on the small nuances of the game. Luko’s basic level, roster and tactical ability are only at a much higher level. This plays in Luko’s bag the further the series goes.
Which one wins? Lock in the semi -finals with a match 4-1.
KalPa – Aces
Still life: The Aces won HPK in the first round of the playoffs, but now he or she can now be better suited to the underdog position of the Kuopio residents in the regular season.
According to last and this season’s performances, KalPa could even have the best opportunity in their club history to win the Finnish Championship.
However, Aces is a very mental test for KalPa, because now the Kuopio residents are pre -favorites, but then more and less challengers in possible follow -up games.
Sword: KalPa plays its own dynamic and active reel on four fields. The home advantage, continuity and the need for experienced experienced players once more to succeed in creating a good starting point.
Aces: The potential of Ace is in the best goalkeeper in the SM League, that is, In Niklas RubinIn the spirit of Isomäki and the functionality of the number one field. The Pori rely on hockey that is more ripped, raising and through the will.
What matters? Two hockey athletic extremes meet. If KalPa is able to stick to her own game plan, you get power out and not frustrated, it wins the series yes. If the aces, on the other hand, get bored with KalPa’s energetic and cheerful way of playing, Ace also has a good chance to press into the semi -finals.
Which one wins? KalPa goes to the semi -finals with a match of 4-2.
The hockey tour follows the playoffs from start to finish in Arena and on Wednesdays Radio Finland. Shipment 1. Half -finals on Wednesday 26.3. starting at 6:02 pm.