The Joker’s new boom in domestic ice hockey continues. In his return match at the Helsinki Ice Hall, quite a crowd was seen on a weekday evening.
Mesti’s home match against Ketterä from Imatra, played by the Jokers on Helsinki’s Nordenskiöldinkatu, ended on Tuesday with the Helsinki team to win 4–2. The attacker of the Jokers Leevi Lemberg scored two goals and assisted one.
The match was watched by a handsome crowd of 6,577 spectators in Helsinki’s Töölö, which is the second largest number in the history of Mestis.
Mesti’s audience record was set last week, when the opening game of the series, Kiekko-Espoo – Jokerit, was watched by a full house in Espoo on September 21, i.e. 6982 spectators.
The Jokerit played their first home game in over 26 years in the Helsinki Ice Hall, which was completed in 1966. At that time, the club left “Nordis” after moving to Ilmala Arena, which was completed in the spring of 1997.
Jokerit, who had been away from domestic puck rinks for nine and a half years, beat Kiekko-Espoo, who won last season’s Mestis championship, in stoppage time in their comeback match last week. After that, Koovee from Tampere defeated Jokerit, who played their home match in Kerava.
Ketterä crushed JoKP from Joensuu 9–3 in its Mestis opener at Imatra.
A match classic already
Jokerit, playing on Nordenskiöldinkatu in green and purple retro jerseys and familiar 1990s “boiler helmets”, dominated their third game of the season.
The victory strengthened the self-confidence of the young team from Helsinki, because Ketterä has been among the best in Mesti for years.
The meeting between Jokerit and Ketterä in Finland’s second league level became a concept in November 1988 at Imatra’s Vuoksenniska, when Ketterä defeated Jokerit 5–4 in the 1st division, who were seeking promotion to the league. In the emotional final moments of the match, Joker’s 18-year-old top promise Teemu Selänne slammed his bat into the stands, hitting the local city councilman.
In the preparatory matches for this season’s Mesti, the victories of Jokeri and Ketterä were tied 1-1. Ketterä’s head coach is played by three former defenders of the Jokers who won the Finnish championship Kari Martikainen.
Mestis continues on Wednesday with two matches. Jokerit next faces KeuPa HT in Jyväskylä on Friday.
Series table