After a break of a couple of years, Sport makes it to the hockey SM league playoffs, and only for the third time overall. In the two previous playoff visits, in the seasons 2015–16 and 2020–21, the Vaasa team did not win a single game.
KalPa, which finished sixth last year, has missed out on a playoff spot only twice in the last 15 years. In the second season, the people from Kuopio finished 11th and surprisingly out of the real games.
This season, the regular season meetings between the teams went to Sport with a score of 9–3. On Friday they will play in Kuopio and on Sunday in Vaasa. If necessary, on Monday we will still twist in Pohjois Savo.
Hockey expert Ismo Lehkonen applying for a winner is like tossing a coin when playing for only two wins. In practice, however, usually the team that is mentally stronger takes longer.
– KalPa plays good hockey with a lot of good spices. They have a lot of young and also experienced friends. The team moves the puck, has skating power and skill. But to KalPa’s chagrin, Vaasan Sport, which is an adult ice hockey team, will meet, Lehkonen emphasized on Radio Finland’s Ice Hockey Round playoff night.
KalPa faces “hairy asses and concrete pigs”
According to Lehkonen, Sport has an incredible number of “hairy asses” who have played hard games.
– In the decisive Ässät home game, the house was full, there was a huge commotion and boom. These guys from Sport smelled the passion that shone through. These same players go to collect loot from Kuopio. I’m afraid that KalPa will strain themselves against their way of playing outside, and Sport will get that loot, predicts Lehkonen.
Lehkonen says he knows the SHL champion, the Sport captain by Sebastian Ståhlbergwho played her son Artturi Lehkonen with at the same time in Gothenburg.
– I then gave Ståhlberg the nickname concrete pig. He was then a member of the track department and never took a step back. I like Kuopio a lot myself, and my heart beats for the fish cock, but I’m a little sad that Kaski has come across quite badly, says Lehkonen and hints that KalPa might run into a concrete pig from Vaasa in the future.
Hockey expert Top Nättinen brings out the facts that the league’s third-best home team, KalPa, has the home advantage in the series, while Sport is an average visitor, the ninth-best traveling team.
KalPa has the second best understrength in the League, while both have weak overstrengths. There are still facts from KalPa, why they have been ranked seventh in the series before Sport, which reached 10th.
Good experiences, confidence and strength
In the goalkeeper department, the punts of the teams are equal in advance. KalPan Stefanos Lekkas and Sportin Miroslav Svoboda are fundamentally equal strength guards.
– The magic of the 1st round of the playoffs is that the underdog only has to take one steal and then the series is already at home with a break. The last, victorious home match gave Sport a confidence boost and the strength that they can turn important games around, Nättinen points out.
In Nättinen’s opinion, the people of Vaasa now have one, great experience behind them. KalPa, on the other hand, has played somewhat low-stakes matches, even though they have played for the ranking.
– In the last ten matches, Sport has been really good and collected almost as many points (17) as KalPa (18). They are practically the same, says the puck expert.
Nättinen also points out that when the teams met Nällästi in the regular season, Sport never went without points. It won KalPa three times, also once in Kuopio.
– Sport has a lot of good experiences. I also agree with “Ika” Lehkonen’s nomination that Sport is an adult ice hockey team. Let’s clarify it enough that they have one of the heaviest, longest and oldest teams, Nättinen instructs.
Topi Nättinen sees that Sport has foreign players who have been in tough places and played, for example, league qualifiers in Sweden. In addition, for example Johan Sundström and Ståhlberg have won the SHL championship.
It is also possible that Sport’s power forward, who collected 41 (14+27) points in the 44 regular season games he played Simon Hjalmarsson will return to real work already on Friday. Suffering from injuries, Hjalmarsson has only played in one match since January, in early February.
Snake soups are fed with Kannonkoski
– Looking at the list of KalPa’s top players, you can see that there are players who are wanted in modern hockey.
However, Nättinen can see that Risto Dufvan Sport was created for these moments when you have to fight for every centimeter. The rules change a little for the playoffs, there will be a little less ice time. Skilled players don’t get exposed as much.
– Those players who have been at Dufva’s school, they are used to pushing and going to the extremes, out of their comfort zones. This is not a problem for Sport players. The series and the opponent are a big problem for KalPa, because the opponents are professional coaches and players who know the same things as us experts.
Both Lehkonen and Nättinen are both of the opinion that Sport’s players mostly have an advantage in that they start the series away.
– I myself belong to that group of players who think that it is better to start as an underdog and silence the away crowd, Nättinen explains.
– I have also been under Dufva. I can already see and smell it, how Risto rubs his hands together halfway to Kuopio, while staying overnight in Kannonkoski. The last snake concoctions are fed there. It’s easier to return to Kuparisaari, even if you don’t have a win in your pocket, because the cottage there is full. This doesn’t suit KalPa, they have been to Vaasa twice and lost there 4–6 and 2–7.
Listen to the matches of the first round of the playoffs between KalPa–Sport and Lukko–TPS live at Areena on Friday 15.3. The live broadcast from the Ice Hockey round starts at 18:10!