Today, Tappara will face Luko in the top match of the ice hockey SM league. The team played on Friday and Saturday, and the intense pace continues this week. The CHL final awaits in less than two weeks.
Tampere’s Tappara has a week of four games ahead of it in the hockey SM league. In addition, the team has four players (3 Finland, 1 Norway) with the national teams in the national matches at the end of the week. The match rush culminates in the expected CHL final next week, Sunday, February 18, in Luleå.
Tappara will play seven matches in the next 13 days.
– This is not optimal preparation. One less game for this week would be better for that, Tappara’s CEO Mika Aro commented on the team’s preparation for the CHL final.
The main reason for the match congestion is the other events organized at the Tampere Areena since the fall, due to which Tappara has had a limited number of game days at its disposal.
– The situation is affected by the fact that we didn’t have any home matches for practically a month at all in the fall, Aro opens.
In addition, the 13 CHL matches that Tappara will eventually accumulate during the season had to be taken into account when shaping the SM league match schedule. According to Aro, before the season it is challenging to count on progressing this far in the CHL.
According to Aro, the SM league has done its best so that Tappara would have received the best possible match schedule.
The club has known throughout the season that the match rush comes at this time. According to Aro, the situation was similar last year, but due to the corona situation.
– We have tried to prepare for this by supplementing the team, says Aro.
In January, Tappara acquired, among other things, a top forward who left the NHL Anton Levtchin back to ax shirts.
National team invitations are not a problem
The Lions selected a defender from Tappara for the coming weekend’s Swedish EHT tournament Valtteri Kemläinen and attackers Veli-Matti Savinainen and Niko Ojamäki. In addition Philip Granath is with the Norwegian national team in the weekend practice matches.
According to Aro, the departure of key players according to the national team in the middle of the match rush does not bother Tappara.
– The national team selections are proof for us that we have done a good job with the players. Inevitably, national team games happen a few times a year to good players, says the CEO.
Today, Tappara plays against Rauma’s Lukko, the top contender in the domestic league, which has been moved from November. The players selected for the national teams are included in the match.
Friday 3.2. Tappara – Sport 4–3
Sat 4.2. HIFK – Tappara 4–1
Mon 6.2. Tappara – Lock
Wed 8.2. Tappara – Aces
Friday 10.2. KooKoo – Tappara
Sat 11.2. Tappara – JYP
Tue 14.2. Tappara – SaiPa
Thu 16.2. Lock – Tappara
Sat 18.2. Lulea – Tappara (CHL)
In less than two weeks, Tappara will aim for the first CHL championship in its club history. The opponent is the Swedish team Lulaja. The match will be played in the home hall of the Swedish club. According to Aro, the club values competition highly.
– In all CHL years, we have tried to win the competition. We have worked hard for the win, so the team and the organization want to succeed, Aro loads.
According to the managing director, the club will not give an equalizer to its Swedish opponent.
– There’s no explaining, so to speak. We have time to recover somewhat from this week’s stresses for next week. I believe we can go to the finals in good positions, Aro reflects.