Lahti Pelicans advanced to the finals of the hockey SM league for the second time in their history. Pelicans beat Tampere Ilves in the semi-final series with a 4–2 win.
Lahti Pelicans will play in the finals of the hockey SM league. Pelicans beat Tampere Ilves 3–1 and secured their place in the finals with a 4–2 victory. The Pelicans, who are building a handsome puck story in the spring, advanced to the finals of the SM League for the second time in their history.
– Phew! One of the all-time performances if you look at the lineups. We have talked about Tampere’s supremacy and many other things, but Pelicans has built an incredible story, Urheilu’s expert Top Nättinen glowed.
Throughout the winter, the SC league spring was predicted to culminate in the Tampere final between Tappara and Ilves. However, the Pelicans messed up the script and stretched nicely until the final games.
– An incredible story. KalPa fell after a great series in a stoppage game and now Ilves even slightly overstepped, if you look at the last two matches. The Pelicans’ game has been developing all the time, Nättinen explained the stunning season of the Lahti players.
In the spring of 2012, the bay team finished silver, while JYP was stronger in the final series with a 4-1 victory.
Pelicans’ perfect start immediately plunged Ilves into trouble
Pelicans had a dream start to the sixth semi-final and jumped out to a 2–0 lead in the opening set. Joni Ikonen surprised the Ilves guard by Marek Langhamer already in 4:52, when the people of Lahti played with superiority. The puck luckily bounced through the Ilves defenders and into the goal.
The Pelicans scored their second goal in the final minute of the opening set when Aatu Jämsen loaded the puck into the net with a two-man advantage.
The Lahtelai crowd was tearing up again at the beginning of the second period. Topias Vilén hit the puck in the Ilves keeper by Marek Langhamer after repelling the tile in front of him.
Ilves broke the copper at the beginning of the third period. Les Lancaster served the right pass To Henrik Haapala, who hit the puck into the goal. However, the pursuit of the people of Tampere ended up being a torso.
Pelicans will take on Tampere’s Tappara in the SM league finals. The final matches start on Wednesday, April 19 in Tampere. The championship ends with four wins.
The hopes of a final in Tampere evaporated when Ilves derailed in the bronze medal match, where Helsinki IFK will meet. Ilves and HIFK will meet on Thursday, April 20 in Tampere.
SM-LIIGAN SEMI-Rounds (4 wins)
Pelicans-KalPa 3–1
04.52 1-0 Ikonen (T Vilén, E Vilén) yv
19.32 2-0 A Jämsen (Kangasniemi, Eronen) yv2
21.57 3-0 T Vilén (Haatanen, Hämäläinen)
44.00 3-1 Haapala (Lancaster)
Pelicans won 4–2 to the finals