The Tappara icon was in tears – emotions flared up in the grand ceremony: “I was afraid of it all evening” | Sports in a nutshell

Jukka Peltola became the seventh player whose number was frozen by Tappara and raised to the roof of his arena. Peltola was celebrated in a handsome ceremony before the start of the Kärpät match.

TAMPERE.

The atmospheric and rather long shirt-freezing ceremony in Tampere started with the warm-up, where Tappara’s players, with the exception of the goalkeepers, were dressed Jukka Peltolan to shirts with name and number.

Peltola’s number 81 became the seventh unused game number in Tappara’s illustrious club history.

In his career, which ended two years ago, Peltola played 634 SM league regular season matches, every one of them in Tappara. Only Janne Ojanen, Pekka Saravo and Janne Grönvall have played more matches in the SM league with an ax in their chest. Peltola won three Finnish championships in Tappara.

At the beginning of the event, the hero of the evening marched onto the ice, onto the stage that was brought there, and onto its sofa, with his wife and two children, while the audience showed their approval while standing.

– I would like to talk for two hours, but (Brother Matti) Clay can’t wait to get out, so let’s try a different tactic, Peltola started, making the crowd laugh.

However, Peltola spoke for a long time and even exceptionally earnestly, in the end almost an hour. To begin with, this elegantly brought out the Tappara legends who previously received the same honor.

The speech of the Tappara icon, who went through the different stages of his career with piety, was accompanied by various interviews on a video cube. Both the parents of the main hero of the evening and former teammates got to vote.

From time to time, Peltola became sensitive and asked the audience for a short break. Even slightly exceptionally, no other guests were seen on the ice apart from the Peltola family, apart from video interviews.

– It was about twenty minutes long, laughed Tappara’s media representative in the arena’s press room to Peltola after the event.

– It was exactly the size it should have been, said another Tappara employee to the hero.

During his speech, Peltola, who was strongly moved on several occasions, was clearly overwhelmed by emotions even when he appeared in front of the media.

– That’s an absurd honor. I will cherish this for the rest of my life. This is the biggest honor you can get as a hockey player. You can’t even say that this is a dream come true, because you could never even dream of something like this.

In terms of exercise, the most difficult thing for Peltola was, according to her own words, giving praise.

– I was afraid of it all evening. That’s where it usually flares up. My family and supporters too. The amount of messages and support over the years, win or lose, is incredible. People live so strongly with it. I hope people understand that it has raised my game a lot.

– Of course, it also moved me when I watched the videos of my game friends. I had to swallow it. However, it is the best way to get recognition.

Peltola’s unforgettable evening started with a team meeting, which set the stage for a strong emotional charge.

– It was a great thing. Everything really fell into my lap and became concrete when I saw the guys wearing Peltola shirts, Peltola said.

After the ceremonies, Peltola climbed up to the middle floor of the arena, where he watched the match between Tappara and Kärppie together with his family and friends, celebrating.

Whether one of the former playmates, Alexander Bonsaksencame to Tampere all the way from Norway for the celebrations, although this team will practice next time already on Saturday morning.

– As long as I collect myself from this, I want to spend time with the people I thanked in my speech. I want to have conversations with my family about my childhood and with my playmates from that or this year. It’s really nice to visit them.

– Isn’t this where small parties are held. Some of the people I haven’t seen in many years. And here I guess the alumni stars should be selected from the match with a weighted draw, Peltola clarified.

– Savinainen already tried to buy them there, but it doesn’t work like that here.

The great ceremony finally came to an end when Peltola’s shirt was raised to the ceiling while the fans thanked the player for all the years with a big sheet in the background.

– I survived, laughed the party man at the end of his long speech, referring to the emotional upheaval.