The city of Joensuu said on Friday that the completion of the renovated ice rink will be delayed by a couple of months. The situation is causing difficulties for Joensuu Kiekko-Poj.
Joensuu Kiekko-Pojat may not play next season in North Karelia, because the renovation of the Joensuu ice rink is delayed. Since the end of September, the team has already played its home games for Mestis in Outokumpu due to the renovation of the ice rink.
The renovated ice rink was initially supposed to be completed in September next year. Last Friday, the city of Joensuu announced that there have been changes to the schedule. The tentative completion date was moved to the end of November 2024, and the situation may change further.
The Kiekko-Poikie manager was not surprised by the news Jaakko Lippo.
– The situation is not pleasant, but somehow I knew how to expect this. The situation of the team and the club next fall now needs to be thought about a bit and rotated, Lipponen sighs.
The club’s financial situation has weakened during the autumn. Due to the size and location of the ice rink, the number of spectators at Outokumpu’s games has dropped considerably compared to usual.
– Usually there are more than a thousand spectators in Joensuu, 300 on average in Outokumpu. The games have also had a financial break-even, while in Joensuu they have left 10,000 euros at best, Jaakko Lipponen describes.
Kiekko-Poji has the smallest player budget in the entire Mesti. So far, the club has done well, but according to Lipponen, the tighter financial situation will have a significant impact on building the team next season.
There have been difficulties before
The delay in the renovation of the Joensuu ice rink is not the first setback in Kiekko-Poikie’s recent history. At the end of summer 2021, a fire broke out in the Joensuu ice rink, which limited the use of the rink. The corona years reduced the number of spectators at the games, after which Kiekko-Pojat moved to the smaller Outokumpu ice hall.
– There have been many stumbling blocks for the operation and development of the club. I very much hope that at some point this crisis will be over, and we will get back to the taste of doing things, says Jaakko Lipponen.
Kiekko-Pojat will return to its home rink in Joensuu when the renovation of the ice rink is completed. According to Lipponen, the possibility of Kiekko-Poikie’s visiting tour next fall is still being considered with the Jääkiekkoliiotto and Mestis.
News updated on December 18 at 15:00. Specified audience numbers.