Turku Palloseura moved up to the then Men’s Floorball League in the spring of 2007, and Nokian KrP a year later. On Friday night, one of them will lift the championship trophy for the first time after the reign of Classic, when the teams meet in the seventh final at the Hakametsä ice hall.
The last time floorball was played in Hakametsä was in 2015, when the Women’s World Cup was held in Tampere.
Best-of-seven series have been played in floor bandy’s main league since 2019, and for the first time the seventh final has been advanced. TPS won the first game in Rahola in the overtime, but KrP was better in the next three meetings. The people of Turku evened the points by taking the last two.
The first five meetings of the season all went to extra time, and even in the finals the margins have been small.
– It seems a bit like whoever has won has always used their own places to better advantage. In the previous game, Tepsi finished really well, and we moved more in the outer circle. You can go surprisingly far by using goal posts, Nokian KrP striker Joonatan Kovanen23, anticipates.
In the TPS camp, it can be seen that the black and whites have been ahead of the circle in six matches.
– Even in losing games, we have been pretty close to fight for victory, and on the other hand, in our own winning games, it has seemed that KrP has not been very close. As a whole, we haven’t had any big fluctuations, even though some matches have been lost by several goals, the power forward of TPS’s triple chain Janne Hoikkanen29, ponders.
TPS is the best team in the series in defense, and KrP’s strengths are on the offensive end. In recent games, the people from Nokia have had great difficulty finding holes in TPS’ tight and physical “lead defense”.
– Let’s try to include a little more players in the attack, so that we don’t have two or three against five. When we get the defenders involved better, the guy may lose his own guys more easily and we get to take advantage of free players, Kovanen states.
“The feeling is surprisingly calm”
TPS is skilled and patient in defending both without the ball and with the ball. Hoikkanen emphasizes that in the solution game, boring and winning actions are decisive.
– The team that is better able to control the flow of the game and is better at the core will probably win. You have to know how to read what the game calls you to do.
Hoikkasen has won the Finnish championship in Happe’s jersey nine years ago, and he has also been in the finals three times as a losing side. The convincing victories of the previous games have brought peace to the TPS camp.
– The feeling is confident and surprisingly calm. It seems from Jätki that the masu are not full, but that everyone has a clear goal. You can sense from everything that today is a big day and the black and white side will certainly have a hard charge at the beginning.
KrP’s Kovanen, who lost to Classic in the finals a year ago, says that the second camp also strongly believes in their own template.
– The atmosphere is good. We have a lot of trust and faith in what we do. When we get our game rolling, we’re sure to win.
Hakametsä as a final environment is delicious, even though the familiar home hall is now changing to a larger setting.
– I hope the group finds the hall. From the player’s point of view, all the games have been cool, when the gang has held the house and there have been a lot of spectators. The stakes are so high that it also ignites. Now let’s just jump on board and enjoy, Kovanen rejoices.
The preparation for the game follows a familiar pattern, even if the stakes are at stake.
– Let’s go out to eat with a few teammates and then play a war game on the board. It’s already played almost 50 games and we’re still going, Kovanen laughs.
The seventh final of Nokian KrP and TPS starts at Hakametsä ice hall at 18:30.
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