Rovaniemi is now experiencing a strong ice hockey boom. In recent years, yellow-blue beanies have become more common in the street scene, and the number of hockey enthusiasts has increased. The number of spectators at Rovaniemi Kiekko has already increased to an average of more than 1,600 spectators this season.
At the same time, the former pride of the city, the football club Rovaniemi Palloseura (RoPS), which has fallen into financial difficulties, has to create a new beginning in the lower leagues.
It is symbolic in a way that RoKi moves to RoPS’ home field to play this weekend. In Mesti’s first Winter classic, i.e. outdoor match, RoKi will face Joensuu Kiekko-Pojat on Friday and Ketterä of Imatra on Saturday.
In the traditional football city, ice hockey is now the number one sport.
– If someone had come a couple of years ago to say that this is the case, they would have been laughed at, says the chairman of Rovaniemi Kieko Tiina Yrjänheikki.
It’s still not about confrontation. Both sports can fit in the city, he assures.
Success rains even in the north
Last season, RoKI made Lapland ice hockey club history and won bronze medals in Mestis. Even at the moment, RoKi is in third place in Mesti’s standings.
The joy of Lapland’s puck success is also taken on the fells.
While some time ago, Kärpät advertised itself as a half-Finnish team, the situation has now changed. In Lapland, more and more people are looking in the direction of RoK, and there is a lively flow of players from the province towards Rovaniemi.
For example, for young people from Ivalo, RoKi is the best way to get a Leijona shirt.
Twin sisters Ida and Emma Lappalainen are the standard equipment of RoK’s women’s team and Iida will also debut at the women’s World Championships this winter. The club has also promoted a Posio player to the national team The blue of Karelia.
RoKi is the junior intermediate stage to Tappara
Keeper Janita Haapasaari broke the ice and moved to RoK more than ten years ago. Since then, the flow from Tunturi-Kieko (TuKi) to RoK has been continuous.
RoK’s youth teams also already have dozens of graduates from the cooperation club TuKi. The same trend can be seen elsewhere in Lapland. From Sodankylä, Kittilä and Kemijärvi, for example, the current leads to Rovaniemi. The possibility of getting to bigger arenas from the cold halls of remote villages can already be heard in the talk of the junkies. The dream of once again being able to play in a real big hall lives on.
10 years old Silja Lopina follows the example of his older brothers. All three of his brothers play hockey. Big brother Eelis plays in RoK’s under-20 team.
– Eelis is skilled and a good puck player. He has also scored goals. I also practice wrist shots and skating so that I can score more goals, says Silja Lopina.
Juho Onnela is a nine-year-old brisk puck junkie from Ivalo. He started playing a couple of years ago. He has already scored seven goals this year.
– Isoveikka was playing and I started to get interested, so I first went to play on a free shift and started playing, he says.
His goal is Liiga in Tappara’s shirt. Before that, however, there will likely be an interim launch at RoKi.
To the city only after middle school
In addition to RoK’s success, the club is attracted by the seamless cooperation with small clubs, the so-called a player’s path that makes it safe to move from the home village to the city.
– We want the kids to play in their home clubs until the end of middle school, and then we’ll see on a case-by-case basis who has the skills and opportunities to continue with us. After that, we’ll see to it that everyday and study matters are in order, so that it’s safe for the young person to move here, says Tiina Yrjänheikki.
According to Yrjänheik, the small clubs in the provinces produce excellent player material who are skilled and take the puck seriously, and whose career development has generally been good.
The chairman of Tunturikiekko Janne Tervahauta is happy that all of Lapland today thinks the same way about the development of ice hockey. RoKi, which is at the center, does not rob players from the periphery, but has a systematic approach and strategy in all activities.
– The player path system is a great indication that future top players are also allowed to grow as people and their needs are also taken into account outside the rink, says Janne Tervahauta.
Tunturikiekko’s coaching manager Sofia Pohjanen says that around 230 players visit the hall every week during the year. It is of great importance to them that, for example, Iida and Emma Lappalainen go to the hall to train like any of them. It creates the spirit to continue forward, says Pohjanen.
RoKi will meet Joensuu Kiekko-Pojat today at 18:30 at the Rovaniemi central court.
Ivalo’s TunturiKiekko is celebrating its 40th anniversary in Ivalo on Saturday and will face Kittilä Palloseura in the Lappi League’s celebratory match at 5 p.m. at Tunturi-Areena.