“That feeling is something amazing”

The little girl’s dream came true. Karoliina Rantamäki has been able to play hockey at a top level for more than 20 years, in Finland and abroad.

His career began in Kiekko-Espoo, now Rantamäki plays at IFK Helsinki.

HIFK will start the final series against Kiekko-Espoo in the Women’s League today, Sunday.

Rantamäki, 44, has had a career in recent years Teemu Selänne -style one year at a time: One More Year.

– My career plans have no effect on whether the Finnish championship will come this spring. There are enough gamers. If all goes well, the games will continue. How it went, Rantamäki tells Sports.

Rantamäki still breathes hockey to the fullest. The competition and gaming pastime take 44-year-old Rantamäki.

– I still have a fire to win. I love winning and feeling good about the game. That feeling is something amazing. I never thought of this as work.

Rantamäki had already played the SM series for 15 seasons in the tube after the 2006–2007 season. Then it was time to change the landscape.

The attacker left the Espoo Blues for the Russian league. Rantamäki eventually played SKIF in Nizhny Novgorod for more than ten seasons until he returned home in 2019.

The attacker decided to move to HIFK, which had risen from the divar to the main series immediately after the opening season.

– It was a young climbing team. I wanted to help it and wondered if I could bring something with me. And of course it’s a legendary club.

The head coach was also in the background Sarah Niemen temptations. He had already tried to get a veteran to HIFK for the league qualifiers a year earlier, but at that time Rantamäki had a contract left in Russia.

Now in the team’s third league season, HIFK advanced to the finals for the first time. In the semifinals, HIFK dropped Flies straight in three matches. Rantamäki scored two goals in the decisive 3-0 victory of the series.

HIFK’s women’s hockey team is a mixture of young skills and experience, which Rantamäki represents.

– Young teammates keep their minds fresh. It doesn’t matter if you’re 15 or in your forties, the chemistry in the trough is met.

Rantamäki admits that he is sometimes at a different wavelength outside the trough with young players

– I’m not that strong on social media.

Head coach Niemi says that Rantamäki is a support in the coaching patterns. Rantamäki enjoys great appreciation in the team.

– Karoliina is a Finnish women’s hockey legend. He is a really important player for us above all in how he encourages young players. Karoliina has given her whole life to hockey. With the advent of spring, he will raise his level even further.

The rise of HIFK on the women’s side to the top of hockey has been rapid. The club woke up from the dormancy in the spring of 2018 and announced the formation of a women’s team. The club’s previous women’s representative team disbanded before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Under the leadership of the head coach, the goal was to nail the Finnish championship within five years. Last year came the bronze medals. Now, four years after the first steps, HIFK has reached the finals.

– Playing has been free for players all along, thanks to the club’s support. We have received good investments in the backgrounds. Everyday matters. We have been able to work long-term every year, Saara Niemi bundles up the reasons for the rapid rise.

Rantamäki has won eight Finnish championships in his long career. They all came in the Blues, a company whose extension is the current Kiekko-Espook. Konkari plans to take full advantage of the local game atmosphere in the final series.

– At the moment, the home is in IFK, so the heart beats for it, in Finland, Rantamäki, who always played in the ranks of the people of Espoo before HIFK, underlines.