The finals of the Ice Hockey Championship League start on Wednesday evening in Tampere at 18:30. Puheen Jääkiekkierros follows all final matches. Wednesday’s broadcast starts at 18:10.
TAMPERE. On the outskirts of Tampere, in a quiet factory area, there is a special place behind Tappara’s success. We make food here that Tappara’s players trust.
– When I played in Tappara, Mervi was a mysterious figure whom I never met. Mervi has a lunch cafe right here. I’ve never been here, but I’ve tasted the food. It was divine. I understood even then that Mervi’s food has been trusted for longer, Urheilu’s expert Top Nättinen says in front of the restaurant.
Why are we here? Couldn’t there be high-quality places to eat in the center as well?
Urheilu is told about the core of the Tappara team that the team had another food supplier for a while. However, the level of the others did not reach the level of Tappara’s requirements, for example with regard to a certain kind of salad, so it was decided to return to Mervi’s dishes in the middle of this season.
According to the Tappara team, he is a vital person in the story of this spring as well.
Authentic atmosphere
When you enter the lunch cafe, the atmosphere is authentic. There is a food counter in front, where you can get trays and cutlery. The line offers, among other things, chicken cutlets, herrings and mashed potatoes. In turn, there are various delicacies, lemonades and refreshments in the showcase.
The lunch cafe brings food to the Tappara players on game days and during the playoffs also on the intermission day. Several options are available.
– It was also the biggest thing when I was in Tappara. I’ve eaten in many places where there are one or two options, but Mervi’s always had more. It’s great that it’s also a thing here at the skull place, says Nättinen.
Mervi is a specialty
When the reporter Jussi Paasi asks if Mervi is there, a deep silence descends in the kitchen.
– No, comes the answer.
– There is a mystical atmosphere here. Mervi is the person who puts the food for Tappara to win championships. What is the specialty of Mervi’s food based on? Paasi asks the kitchen.
– Merviin, one of the people answers.
Kitchen helper Sari Liitia exclaim that especially Mervi’s buns are great. Mervi also makes good food, even though she is very modest herself.
What do you think makes Mervi’s food special, Topi Nättinen?
– The fact that it is done with heat. It has decades of experience, says Nättinen.
– As soon as I came, I noticed the smell. And now, when I got this mashed potato on a plate, it has a taste that is even addictive.
Tappara takes care of all matters on and off the rink with high quality, without unnecessary gimmicks. It is also one of the cornerstones of Tappara’s success, which is also reflected in the food served by Mervi. The food looks like Tappara.
– This is traditional home food, that is, traditional food, which Tappara strives to create in a sporting way. We haven’t gone crazy here either, but we can add some spices here.
– There is no such tasteless basic home food, but this has a characteristic taste. Some such story, Nättinen tastes.
A gold ring on the index finger
A gray-haired gentleman walks along the player corridor of the Hakametsä ice hall. It’s a place he’s known for decades.
– I included this on purpose. It’s been a while since it was done, says the man dressed in the iconic blue and white jacket.
He shows the gold ring on the index finger of his right hand. It has a battle ax, tappara, patterned on top of a triangular shield. The emblem of Tampere Tappara is one of the most famous logos in Finland.
– The colors of Tappara are dear to me. Besides the colors, this coat of arms.. think young, still nameless Kimmo Kaivanto, did this work as a graphic artist. This is still quite superior. This will never be touched, the man states.
The words become a coaching legend Rauno Korven71, from the mouth**.** Korpe was greeted by all the visitors in Hakametsä.
– My wife told me that “then don’t worry”, Korpi says to the reporter on the grandstand platform.
At the base of everything is work
In this topic of the interview, it’s hard to imagine Korven doing anything wrong. When dealing with a concept that Korve is very familiar with, fatalism.
– Moro Rane, greets the Tappara striker Walter Merelä when going up the stairs.
The axe-breasts clap their hands and sit down. It’s time to talk about what that scumbag is.
Merelä, who grew up in Ylöjärvi, grew up in Tappara’s colors, made his league debut with Pelicans and returned to the ax shirt last season.
– At Tappara, working hard is at the bottom of everything. Everyone already knows it when they come to Tappara, even if they come from elsewhere, that it requires a lot of work. And hard work contributes to winning, Merelä describes.
Korpi also confirms that Tappara’s success is based on work ethic.
– The work ethic has always been tough in Tappara. I would say that there are hardly any star players in Tappara. It’s a working community that blows together, says Korpi.
Even at the Pelicans, he couldn’t escape the training culture of Tappara, because the ax icon Ville Nieminen coached Lahti players for two seasons.
Real toughness is mental toughness. In 2013–2015, the club lost three times in a row in the finals, but rose from the gap each time and won consecutive championships in 2016 and 2017.
Merelä’s peak moments as a hockey lover and fan of the club fall in those years.
In 2016, he saw Tappara lose in HIFK’s sixth final. The silver pipe changed to the championship championship in the wild Hakametsä. A year later, Ilves was defeated in a seven-game quarter-final series.
Last spring, Merelä got to celebrate the championship as a player in Tappara’s colors.
Stupid things too
Korpi is best known as Tappara’s main manager during the 1986–1988 golden treble. He is somewhat amused by his position as one of the creators of the club’s training culture.
– In the 1970s and 80s, we tried to be a pioneer in various training methods. Yes, they did some pretty silly things back then, which is no longer done today, Korpi laughs.
The Tappara catalog includes the iconic images from the stairs of Pyynik, where the players carried each other on their backs. During one exercise, the stairs of Will could be climbed 40 times. In general, the number of repetitions under Korvi’s leadership was huge.
– Yes, now we understand hockey’s sport analysis and its meaning substantially better. Nowadays, everything is determined by tempo, tempo, tempo and surviving it, Korpi explains.
The coaching greatness was a pioneer of its time. Now the torch is being carried in Tappara Jussi Tapola, who has led the club to three championships. The players from Tappara are now thirsting for the fourth against Lahti Pelicans.
Merelä plays a big role. He leads the playoff scoring market with six hits. The lanky attacker wins battles and knows how to finish.
– I firmly believe that you will score in every second final, Korpi throws to Merela.
– Let’s leave it at that! I’d be happy to do it in every game, but now let’s try to win four games out of seven, Merelä answers.