The hockey match between the Oulu Flies and the Tampere Ilves had to be suspended on Monday night due to ice problems in Oulu. The match will resume on Tuesday from where it left off on Monday.
5.4. 11:32 • Updated 5.4. 12:14
Head coach of the Oulu Flies Lauri Marjamäki took a calm decision last night in which the playoffs in the SM league had to be suspended first and then postponed to Tuesday after an hour and a half of waiting.
The reason was the poor condition of the ice.
This is a rare case. This has never happened before during Marjamäki’s career.
– Sometimes, of course, there have been breaks in the matches due to the cracking of the ice, as in Sweden in the Fly CHL match against Frölunda in recent years. It has never happened before that the ice has to be postponed until the next day, says Marjamäki.
The team began preparations for Tuesday as early as Monday night when the transfer decision came.
– A professional player knows how to deal with these. The atmosphere in the booth was concentrated. Today, as always, we are preparing for the games of the evening, and the routines will remain the same, says Marjamäki.
The ice of the Raksila ice rink has been in such a condition during the night and in the morning that the team got to the morning ice at the normal time.
– The ice is fine, this is how we have been told, says Marjamäki.
The reason for the ice betrayal is being clarified
It is still unclear why I will be betrayed in Monday’s match. The ice of the Raksila Ice Rink is taken care of by the City of Oulu, and so far only brief comments have been made to . However, the ice is now said to be okay for tonight’s game and is trusted.
The betrayal of the ice is considered surprising, and the root cause is still to be determined.
According to Marjamäki, suspending and postponing the game was the right decision.
– There is not the slightest risk that the player could be injured due to the condition of the ice. Of course, it is annoying for the viewers that the game had to be interrupted and postponed, but the decision was the right one, Marjamäki says.
The match of the evening will start at Raksila Ice Rink at 6.30 pm with the match clock showing 10.12 and the scores on the board will be 1–0. The start is at the end of Ilves on the right b-point. Teams are not allowed to make line-up changes as the match has already started.