Jokerit is about to make a new arrival on Finnish hockey fields. The domestic puck season starts at Rauma’s Lace tournament.
Iina Heilala,
Karri Laihonen
The traditional ice hockey Lace Tournament kicks off the domestic ice hockey season today, Friday, at Rauma’s Äijänsuo ice rink.
The absolute attraction of this year’s tournament is the Jokerit, who returned to Finland from the KHL.
Jokerit has played in training matches hosted by Finnish teams before, but now the situation is different. Jokerit is about to make a new arrival on Finnish hockey fields.
The tournament itself, and especially the return of the Jokers, attracted a large number of hockey fans to the Äijänsuo ice rink.
Dressed in Jokers’ fan shirts, die-hard fans also arrived Ville Pyöttiälä and Mikko Hankonen. The return of the Jokers makes the men emotional.
– It’s been 3,500 days since I last saw the Jokers live. There are big emotions on the surface here, Pyöttiälä says.
A long-awaited return to Finland’s puck rinks
The Jokers’ representative team played in the Russian KHL in 2014–2022. However, this year Jokerit will return to Finland and play at the second highest league level this season in Mestis.
In his own words, Pyöttiälä does not recognize the time when the Jokerit played in the KHL.
– It was by no means the Jokerit of Helsinki, who played in the KHL. Jokerit was founded to fight for the Finnish championship in domestic ice hockey rinks.
Mikko Hankonen has been watching the Jokers’ games in Russia as well. He playfully apologizes to Pyöttiälä for his distraction.
According to Hankonen, the return of the Jokers to Finnish rinks is highly anticipated.
– That’s the best you can be!
“I don’t think people yet realize how big a deal it is”
Playing in Pori Ässi Jesse Joensuu is the second year in a row at the Lace Tournament on the spectator side. In Joensuu’s opinion, the Lace Tournament is a unique event for fans.
– Some say that the atmosphere in Lace Tournament matches is even better than in league games. For someone who doesn’t know Finnish hockey, it’s certainly a shock how good the atmosphere can be in training games.
According to Joensuu, the return of the Jokers to Finland is a great thing for Finnish ice hockey.
– The boom is obviously quite strong in Helsinki at the moment, but I don’t think people realize how big it is yet.
Joensuu, who himself played in Jokeri between 2015 and 2022, names Jokerit as his favorite childhood club, right after his childhood club Pori Ässie.
– It was about time that the Jokerit got back to Finnish hockey.