The players considered the conditions of Kiekko-Espoo’s home opener to be dangerous: “You can’t see half of the opponents there” | Sports in a nutshell

There was a lot of fog in the Espoo arena when Kiekko-Espoo hosted HIFK in the ice hockey championship league match.

The playing conditions of the ice hockey championship league match played in Espoo on Friday night have attracted criticism. In the local match between Kiekko-Espoo and HIFK, the rink of the Espoo arena was very foggy.

In the opening set, the match was stopped due to fog after a few minutes of play. The game continued, but the fog was still visible at the end of the third period.

HIFK striker who played in several different leagues Kristian Vesalainen has not experienced a similar situation earlier in his career.

According to Vesalainen, the conditions made it difficult to concentrate on the game. In addition, he saw playing in the fog as a safety risk.

– Yes, I say that if you look for the puck in the middle area, you won’t see half of the opponents there, the attacker said.

– I have to say that it is quite dangerous.

Also Kiekko-Espoo striker Heikki Liedes considered the conditions of the team’s first home game of the season to be special. According to him, in some situations the visibility on the ice was no more than 10–15 meters.

– Yes, you had to see from there a little bit, whether someone will come out of the fog or not, the attacker said after the match.

Liedes felt that the conditions were challenging not only in terms of finding the feed spots, but also in terms of safety.

– Your head must be spinning, otherwise it can be boring. Especially in that first part, there was a lot of fog. It was probably even a little dangerous.

Areena’s CEO Katariina Järveläinen told For Iltalehtithat the fog was caused by the humid and warm air that was outside entering the hall. According to Järveläinen, the haze was also influenced by the fact that there were many people in the hall when the match was sold out.

Kiekko-Espoo was told that the arena officials are responsible for commenting on the matter. Urheilu could not reach Järveläin for comment so far.

The match ended with HIFK winning 3–2.