Susanna Tapani was involved in the first player trade of the North American women’s ice hockey professional league.
Matti Lehtisaari,
STT Sports
Susanna Tapani There is laughter in his voice and at the same time maybe also subtle disbelief when he describes his mood of the last few days. Tapani, who is the only Finn playing in North America’s new professional ice hockey league (PWHL), has already experienced some dramatic twists and turns.
Tapani, 30, began his PWHL career with the Minnesota team until a surprising twist last weekend: Tapani and Abby Cook traded to Boston. In the historic PWHL’s first player trade, a defenseman Sophie Jacques moved in the other direction, to Minnesota.
Last week, Tapani played with the national team in the EHT tournament in TÅ¡ek. After the return flight landed at the American chamber, the phone rang.
– I left TÅ¡ek before the (Women’s Lions) last match. The matter had been agreed with the national team coaching, because the games were already continuing here and of course the time difference also had to be taken into account. Well, the flights got delayed, and I finally got to Minneapolis on Sunday. And when the plane landed, the Minnesota team management called and told me that I had been traded, Tapani says about his quick turnarounds.
Two days to move
PWHL’s player contracts state that when the transfer takes place, the player has 48 hours to move to a new address. Both Tapani and his roommate Cook had to hurry.
– I unpacked at home, packed again and arranged flights and hotels (to Boston). Nothing there, less than 24 hours and we were moved out of the camp and towards Boston. It was quite fast, Tapani says and laughs.
The transfer came to Tapani and Cook “right out of the box†so the players had not received any hint of a possible deal.
– It was known that such deals could happen. But maybe I didn’t expect to see so quickly. It’s business, but I was surprised that this happened now. But it doesn’t help to worry, you have to adapt to the new situation.
My habit was to think positively.
– Everything has a purpose and something good will follow from this. And a good feeling came from the team immediately when I met the group, says Tapani, who already played his opening game in Boston the night before Thursday Finnish time.
Tapani still needs time to get to know his new playmates.
– The first match came quite quickly, so game-wise it is difficult to say anything yet. All the teams in this series are good. I believe that good will come when we still get to weld patterns and play together, Tapani believes.
Back to Minnesota right next week
Tapani and Cook will next return to Minnesota already next week, when Boston travels there for an away game.
– It’s nice to see all the ex-teammates, we only had time to quickly see a few of them and say hello before this quick departure to Boston. And then I’ll have time to pick up the rest of the stuff, Tapani muses.
– And there is certainly a little extra charge in that (match). Wants to show that maybe it wouldn’t have been worth trading us.
The surprising turns have underlined the fact that in the world of professional ice hockey, things should not be planned for too long.
– I’ve been trying to live in the moment and take one day at a time. It’s pointless to make plans for too long. I try to enjoy my every day here, Tapani thinks.