The Women’s League returns after a break of 76 days – HIFK and Kiekko-Espoo meet in the top game, including up to six recent Olympic medalists

76 days is a long time.

It took so long for the hockey League’s top teams to take a break from the season’s real games as the league reacted to the deteriorating corona situation in January with match transfers: there was no desire to risk the Olympic trip for players traveling to Beijing.

Some teams had time to play in early January, and in the lower sequel, games continued in early February.

All the rest of the league teams then got to the trough finally last weekend in December, when the Women’s League games spun off properly after the first series.

On Wednesday, two Women’s League championship favorites will meet at Tapiola Training Hall: Kiekko-Espoo and HIFK. The people of Espoo cleared the first series without losses, and the same pace seemed to continue after the Olympic break. Over the weekend, the reigning champion defeated Kärpät 2–1 and Kuortaneen 4–1.

– Before the game on Saturday in Oulu, it was discussed with the team that 76 days from the previous match. Yes, that break was visible. We were slow in the first set, there was no such normal play at Kiekko-Espoo. It was a difficult start. On Sunday, there were already signs of the most normal movement, timings and movement, Kiekko-Espoo head coach Sami Haapanen commented on the weekend’s games.

HIFK suffered its only losses in the first series against the people of Espoo. After the Olympic break, the people of Helsinki also returned to the trough victoriously, when TPS collapsed in two encounters 5–3 and 5–0.

HIFK head coach Saara Niemi expects an intense encounter on Wednesday.

– After a long break this weekend, both teams got a couple of games out from underneath, which will definitely help. I will leave the whole team looking forward to the match looking forward, promising a good quality spike in good proportion to the feelings on the surface. We have been able to challenge Espoo better and better from the game, Niemi says.

During the Olympic break, the teams faced in a practice match taken by HIFK 2-0. During the break, HIFK also occasionally practiced with the academy team.

– Some of the players left according to the Finnish national team, the girls’ national team and other national teams. During the national team breaks, Christmas breaks and in the summer, we will join forces with the academy team to get quality training pulled together. That is our advantage, Niemi praises.

– We played three practice matches in January and then there was the U20 Finnish Championship. Yes, a lot of work has been done here all the time and we have kept our eyes on the future. Now let’s enjoy the spring when we get to play a lot.

According to Haukanen, the head coach of Kiekko-Espoo, the team practiced regularly during the break, but finding their own opponents brought their own challenge.

– All the opponents were under the rock. We had time to play a few practice games in a few weekends. Finding opponents for that period was really challenging when the boys had series going on. That’s how it showed the most in action: the normal game rhythm didn’t exist when there were no serial games. However, the team has been motivated to train and yes, work has been done here during the Olympics, Haapanen said.

Haapanen considers HIFK’s meeting on Wednesday to be a good indicator of where the team is currently going.

– Last season, HIFK unexpectedly lost points for games where points were expected. This season, they have been able to play victoriously in all the other games except against us. The last two local games have been really tough, goal games. I feel this is a great metric that has been long awaited in both camps.

A total of six recent Olympic medalists can be seen in the trough on Wednesday: Elisa Holopainen, Ella Viitasuo, Sanni Rantala, Nelli Laitinen and Emilia Vesa. The Helsinki team could accommodate the Olympic team Julia Liikala.

Liikala was not in the ranks of HIFK last weekend, but was the head coach Saara Niemen according to the attacker will be involved in the lineup on Wednesday.

Although only Liikala was seen in the ranks of HIFK in Beijing, the team has experience and skill.

Top name of the stock exchange Matilda Nilsson has scored 28 goals in 22 matches and has scored 17 goals.

Recently celebrated his 44th birthday Karoliina Rantamäki in turn, there are Finnish hockey legends whose achievements are second to none. According to Rantamäki, the prize for the most valuable player in the Women’s League playoffs has also been named.

Rantamäki, who has played five Olympics and 13 World Championships, returned to Finland and HIFK for the period 2019–2020 after 12 seasons in Russia.

There are four players in the top ten points from Puck-Espoo: Holopainen, Kiira Yrjänen, Tinja Haukijärvi and Emmi Rakkolainen. Experienced Minttu Tuominen went to the Russian WHL League for the rest of the season, but the defense of Kiekko-Espoo still has quality. Sports Hockey Specialist Mira Kuisma raised Nelli Laitinen as the best defender of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Kiira Yrjänen did not play last weekend, nor did Emilia Vesa in Beijing.

– They are training today and let’s see what the mood is, whether they will be in the line-up tomorrow. Probably, Haapanen comments.

After a break of more than two months, many teams are facing actual bull weeks. Usually the series is only played on weekends, but now there are also everyday games ahead.

Kiekko-Espoo plays three times a week, but that is not a problem, according to Haapanen.

– We’ve been training here since May. The team has a lot of top players and the team’s roster is wide: we have 25 players and four goalkeepers. Here is the reason. We have known from the beginning that the final stage of the Olympic year is really hectic and intense.

HIFK plays as many as four matches a week, but like the people of Espoo, it doesn’t have to travel either: three of the matches are home matches and its only away match is against the people of Espoo. Niemi is on the same lines as Haapanen.

– We have a good number of players in the roster, we can also recycle if necessary. When we train on ice, it’s effective, but we also focus on recovery. On Thursday we skip the morning ice and in the evening we go to the megazone with the team and eat. We try to do more outside the hall in between. Quality replaces quantity, Niemi says.

After the Women’s League Preliminaries, the teams were split into the upper qualifiers of six teams, with the team retaining the points achieved in the Preliminaries.

The remaining four teams continued their games in the lower sequel, where two teams from Mestis also survived. The top two teams from the lower extension series will advance to the playoffs, where all six teams from the upper extension series will also advance.

The sequels expire on March 20th.