Raimo Helminen takes over as SaiPa’s head coach with a one-season contract.
Juulia Tillaeus,
Helena Korpela
14:06•Updated 16:18
Lappeenranta ice hockey team SaiPa has been chosen as the new head coach Raimo Helminen.
– It feels great. A great and challenging job lies ahead, says Helminen.
Liiga-SaiPa oy told about the coach selection at its press conference today, Monday.
Helminen coached HC Banska Bystrica in the Slovakian premier league last season. Before that, he worked for one season as Ilves’ assistant coach and head coach in Italy. In the 2020–2021 season, Helminen’s coached TPS finished silver in the league.
– As a coach, I want to be fair to all players, look the truth in the eye from both sides. Enthusiasm cannot be killed, says Helminen.
Head coach Raipe Helminen explains how to get SaiPa up and running:
Long playing career
Raimo Helminen is best known for his playing career. Helminen played a long career as a center forward. He only represented Tampere Ilves in the SM league.
The game number 41 of Helminen, who was chosen as a hockey lion, has been frozen in Ilves, as well as his game number 14 in the Finnish national team. Helminen was part of the team that won Finland’s ice hockey world championship in 1995.
Helminen has also played in the NHL and at the highest league level in Sweden.
In addition to Helminen, SaiPa’s coaching is complemented by a coach Janne in Hietaniemi. In the season that ended, the 36-year-old Hietaniemi belonged Jukka Jalonen to the coaching team in the national team.
There have been enough difficulties
SaiPa has recently suffered from financial difficulties. They haven’t done well in the games either. SaiPa finished last in the league last season.
– I don’t have any magic tricks. I start work from a clean slate. I hope that SaiPa, which I lead, is a sporty and enthusiastic team, and that the energy is visible on the outside, says Helminen.
In the spring, the ownership of Liiga-SaiPa changed. Lätkä Lentää oy, registered in Lappeenranta, bought almost 99 percent of the shares of the team’s previous owner, Liiga-SaiPa oy.
In connection with the change of ownership in April, it was reported that the previous head coach Ville Hämäläinen does not continue in his position, but has been offered other positions in the organization.
The new owners have tried to fix the club’s situation.
Next season, SaiPa’s player budget will increase by around half a million euros to two million euros.
The operating result of the previous fiscal year reported by Liiga-SaiPa was a loss of 651,000 euros with a turnover of just over five million euros.
Liiga-SaiPa has, for example, had to re-arrange the due dates of its invoices due to the tight financial situation.
Managing director Jani Valkeapää said in May that the economic situation has started to improve with the new owners.