Vaasan Sport, which plays in the Ice Hockey Championship League, published on Saturday announcement (you will switch to another service)in which the club practically announced that they were giving up the fight to enter the playoffs.
The core message was that Sport is reducing its wage costs for the rest of the season and has therefore decided to sell or lease its players.
– Being out of the playoffs for the second season in a row is both very unfortunate and expensive. With these cost-saving measures, we will be able to fix at least part of our missing match revenues, said the CEO of Hockey-team Vaasan Sport Oy Tomas Kurtén.
Kurtén stated to Urheilu on Monday that the club could not afford another solution, as the chances of a playoff spot were very small.
Kurtén did not want to say yet what kind of savings Sport will achieve, because there is still time for the transfer deadline. The transfer period ends on Wednesday 15 February 2023 at 23:59.
Defender Shaun Heshka moves to Rauma Lukko for the rest of the season and is a defender Valtteri Viljanen to the Swedish Rögle. Keeper Niko Hovinen moved to Tappara.
Jens Lööke moved to Sweden for the rest of the season to IF Björklöven and also the Swedish first team Emil Johansson goes. Ilta-Sanom by (you switch to another service) Sport’s entire top-class Swedish number one is leaving, i.e. in addition to Lööke Simon Hjalmarsson and Axel Holmström. Of the names mentioned above, only Holmström is in the lineup for Monday night’s game against Ilves.
Hjalmarsson and Holmström have contracts with Sport until spring 2025, Lööke until spring 2024. According to IS, Johansson will play in Turku Palloseura next season.
Kurtén said he takes his hat off to the team for how professionally it handled the news.
– Of course, it’s always sad when such solutions are made. The decision was certainly not pleasant, but the season continues.
“Something is badly broken here”
for the sports expert Top for Nättine Sport’s clearance sale did not come as a surprise. However, he was a little surprised that Sport informed about the situation so openly and the player roulette started so quickly.
– Tells about the fact that the matter has been known for a long time and there has been thought about how to carry it out. If you look at the league table and think realistically, it didn’t come as a surprise.
Sport is last to last in the series. The difference to the last playoff spot is nine points. Sport has played two matches less than the tenth place HPK.
So there were still theoretical possibilities for the playoffs. Of course, the probability of Sport’s playoff spot would have been only a good 2.5 percent, said Veikkaus’ senior analyst Teemu Eirtovaara Extension period in the chat (you switch to another service).
In the winter of 2014, HPK qualified for the playoffs from 18 points behind. That’s when the people from Hämeenlinna ended the regular season with a streak of eight wins.
Nättinen begins that for league jumbo SaiPa, clearance sales were a clear solution, because the playoff spot escaped some time ago.
– There’s no point in complaining about it, and things have to be done there.
– In the case of sport, it annoys many and brings emotions to the surface more, when theoretically the possibilities for the playoffs were clearer. It’s sad to reveal that this is a forfeit, but it’s the system this league makes possible. That means something is seriously broken here.
Clearance sales are not a new thing in the SM League. They are possible because relegation is not possible.
Sport’s press release referred to the development strategy published by the club in December 2022, according to which in the future the focus will be on own player development and the hiring of a new sports director.
– Without sufficient resources, the strategy work will not start as desired, stated Sport’s board chairman Heikki Hiltunenwho is also the chairman of the board of the SM league.
According to Hiltunen, Vaasa’s new arena was supposed to be a new beginning, but the corona restrictions affected the revenue streams. Savings measures are meant to balance the situation and give an opportunity to invest in the future.
The joint-stock company is of course trying to solve the problems of its financial situation, but the fact that it can be done in the SM league so clearly at the expense of sports, makes Nättine completely shocked.
– Really sad and unfortunate, a mockery of competitive sports.
According to many hockey followers, clearance sales are examples of the problems of a closed league.
– Conversely, you can even think that these are good examples. We’d rather go overboard like this and throw in the towel from several locations. At least put the pressure on that really, we have to get this league open and this cannot continue like this. This is shameful for the SM league, says Nättinen.
Tomas Kurtén, what are your thoughts on this and do you understand the criticism?
– I understand that completely. That’s what this case is based on, as well as many other cases over the past few years. That’s the other side of the coin.
Do you have a position you want to say about the opening of the SM league?
– I don’t have a ready position. That discussion has taken place and is taking place. If and when there is a good solution from all points of view, I don’t think anyone will be against it. That solution is not as simple as you might think. That’s why there is no ready position, because I haven’t seen a position that is good from all points of view. That can happen, I don’t deny that.
Strict text from Holmström’s agent
Axel Holmström’s agent Martin Nilsson gave HockeySverige a harsh word interview (you move to another service).
– What a hellish circus this has become. I haven’t had any players in Finland where I would have been in such a situation. It’s pretty absurd. The club is trying to milk as much money as possible, but it is not certain that Axel wants to play in the club from which the club gets the most money. Complicated situation.
Nilsson later made similar comments to Sporten.
– In terms of communication, the weekend was a pancake for Sport. I’m sure they’ll figure it out on their own, I don’t need to grade them on it.
According to Nilsson, the biggest problem was that Sport did not communicate about it with the players or agents, until the announcement suddenly dropped.
According to his agent, Holmström is between a tree and a shell. The player does not necessarily want to join the clubs from which Sport gets the best offers. In Nilsson’s opinion, a club cannot own a player in such a way that it can decide where he will play next.
Nilsson would hope that the club would meet halfway – especially since Holmström is enjoying himself in Vaasa and has signed an extension until the end of the 2024-25 season. According to Nilsson, Holmström intends to play until the end of his contract, and now it’s only about a spring loan.
– He will now become a mercenary without being told about it in advance.
– I feel that it is more important for Sport to make money than for the player to do well.
Kurtén comments on the agent’s criticism that it is an individual person’s position.
– It is clear that when such a solution is made, a lot will happen in a short time. Then communication and communication in a small time window can be tight. Then someone may feel that they could have spoken more. I can’t say about that as an individual incident, but I think we have acted matter-of-factly and as we should.
According to Kurtén, the players were informed about the situation after the Jukurit match played on Friday evening. Sport lost in overtime 1–2.
Kurtén says that the club management had agreed to make decisions after that match.
JYP, ahead of Pisteen Sport, came to a different solution. JYP announced (you switch to another service) on Monday that their playoff dream lives on.
For example, JYP’s star pack Sami Niku was counted among the hottest names in the transfer market.
– We have decided to put sports first. We have asked for the services of our players, but we want to keep the current team together and bring the discussion to an end, JYP CEO Risto Korpela stated.