follows the SM league finals moment by moment on its website. The Hockey Tour broadcasts every league final live. All finals will be heard live at Areena, the third final also on Radio Suomen’s soundwaves. The preliminary studios of the ice hockey round can be enjoyed in video form for the first time in the finals.
Niklas Kokko could not have guessed at the turn of the year what the first weekdays of the calendar year 2024 would bring.
After the first goalkeeper of the Young Lions returned to the Oulu Kärppie dressing room from the World Cup in Gothenburg, he could no longer find his own role in the team, not even a familiar place in the dressing room. However, mid-January was a turning point in the young goalkeeper’s career.
This is perhaps the most significant turning point in Koko’s sports career.
Everything happened quickly, even though a verbal transfer from Kärpi to the Pelicans had been prepared in the background for some time. On Tuesday, the 16th of January, Niklas Koko’s signature was on the Pelicans contract paper and the next day one of the finest SM league stories of this season began to be born.
– At eight in the evening I was able to pack up the things and we were still a little later in the evening in Kärppien By Nick Ritchie eating wings with and exchanging the last news, Niklas Kokko says in an interview with Urheilu.
The next morning, Niklas Kokko boarded a plane in Oulu to Helsinki, from where the Pelicans’ sports director Janne Laukkanen picked up a young man for a car trip to Lahti.
In the evening, he was supposed to be in the Pelicans lineup as a backup goalie against TPS. During the flight, Kokko had time to get a little taste of his future company by Bryan Adams playing in headphones.
– On the plane, I had time to listen to Pelsuj’s goal song “We’re gonna win” and I started to feel it, Kokko laughs.
Great opening match
A couple of hours before the home game, it was time to step into the Pelicans locker room for the first time.
– As soon as I arrived at the hall, I went to say hello to my new teammates and they welcomed me. At the same time, he was not only excited, but also a little tense, he says.
– A lot happened in a short time. It’s good that I was able to join the games right away even though I didn’t get to play right away. I’m not a stress person, but getting to know a new environment always takes time.
At the end of January, Kokko gave a sample of his tackling skills in his first match in a turquoise shirt. The result was a draw against HPK and at that moment the seed of a sensational spring was sown.
Striving for a state of flow
Niklas Koko’s spring in the SM league has been a success story, or rather a hero story without equal.
The Pelicans guard has fought his way into the big headlines, but above all into the hearts of Pelicans fans. It is he who is the last steel lock of his team’s back lines, who is relied on like a mountain when the team is trying to bring the Canada cup to Lahti.
The most important save statistics of the playoffs tell about the spring of the essential Niklas Koko: 1.54 goals conceded per match, a save percentage of 93.3 and one clean sheet.
Kokko especially emphasizes the importance of self-confidence, which caught on to him quickly after getting properly between the posts of his team in the winter.
– If your self-confidence is good, the game situations on the rink seem the slowest to you, and you can play first and foremost through relaxation, he says.
Kokko clichédly talks about the state of flow, which every athlete wants to experience in a competitive situation.
– There is no single right or wrong answer to Flow mode. For me, the state of flow is feeling “immortal”. Game situations feel slower than yourself and your own playing feels faster. It feels like it’s on top of the game.
– Relaxation is everything. Take it easy, one puck and one situation at a time. If you start to tense up too much, then the goalkeeper’s playing becomes slow, as certainly with the field players. Playing the basics is important, Kokko states.
Finals are a privilege
The visible media hype of the spring and winter, and especially the playoffs, has not slowed down the Pelicans’ young top guard in any way. The focus is only on working, although Koko’s top saves have been praised almost to the sky at times as the playoffs progress.
– We do our own thing in the team. When you play well, there might be positive publicity, but I haven’t thought about that. The fact that I can play at a good level has not come as a surprise to me, says Kokko.
Niklas Koko getting to play as his team’s number one goalkeeper for the Finnish championship is not just any situation. The opportunity is granted to only a few in the SM league.
– This is a big deal for me to play in the final and at the same time a privilege. When you do a lot of work, you start to see good results, he reminds.
The 20-year-old young man from Oulu stresses that such a big opportunity may not come his way again during his career.
– This is exactly why I try to enjoy this moment and the opportunity to be in Lahti in this team. This has been a great story for me and we want to end this neatly as a team.
Niklas Kokko is in the Pelicans only for a short visit during the spring season, because the Seattle Kraken’s contract player’s immediate future is elsewhere than in Finland.
– There is still a long way to go in my career, but I am really grateful to have been given a place to play here. I feel like I belong here for better or for worse. We have to remember that our team’s journey is unfinished. After the season, it’s time to put my own story here between the covers, he states.
Nothing pauses, not even the finals
Niklas Koko is already familiar with pressure games from this year’s side. The World Youth Championship with its medal games and the 12 playoffs of the SM League have mentally prepared the young top goalkeeper for the last series of matches of the league season.
Nothing surprises Koko in these circles anymore, challenging pressure games are games just like any other, including the final series of the SM league.
– Nothing needs to be changed in these matches. These are the same games as the regular Wednesday night matches in the regular season. After all, it is a privilege to be involved in these. At this point in the season, many players are already on summer pastures and training for next season, Kokko reminds.
– You have to try to enjoy these games and self-confidence also comes through a good feeling. There is no need to stress these games in any way.
Heljanko to win
A goalkeeper’s thoughts must not run away in the middle of a tight playoff race, to anything, neither the past nor the future.
– The worst mistake is to start thinking too much of yourself. Even if you were to go to Ibiza from this seat and come back on Saturday morning, it would hardly have as much of an impact as if you started to think too much of yourself, Kokko emphasizes.
The upcoming final series against Tappara will also be a delicious display of superiority by two hot top goalkeepers. Koko and Tappara’s steel Christian Heljangon defenses are already expected in the language of water.
– We are going to beat the opponent’s goalkeeper night after night. When you win that battle, the end result is usually pretty good, although the team’s victory is always the sum of many things, Kokko insists.
The Pelicans guard will find out what the championship fight is all about when the puck hits the ice on Saturday.
– Tappara has four high-quality chains, a lot of individual skills and they can score goals well. I try my best to bore the opponent. In the end, Tappara is an opponent just like the rest of the team, states the sensational goalkeeper of the league spring 2024.
‘s advance broadcast starts at Areena 45 minutes before each match. On Wednesday, Radio Suomi is included from 18:02.
Sat 20.4. Tappara – Pelicans at 17:00, Areena
Mon 22.4. Pelicans – Tappara at 18:30, Areena
Wed 24.4. Tappara – Pelicans at 18:30, Radio Suomi and Areena
Fri 26.4. Pelicans – Tappara at 18:30, Areena
Sun 28.4. Tappara – Pelicans at 17:00, Areena (if necessary)
Mon 29.4. Pelicans – Tappara at 18:30, Areena (if necessary)
Thu 2.5. Tappara – Pelicans at 18:30, Areena (if necessary)