Westend Indians special signing Joonas Kaltiainen is ready to oust his foster club Oilers from the Espoo throne.
The men’s F-league has started under the command of Nokian KrP. In the last four years, the club, which has won two silver and two bronze medals, has won all five matches it has played.
Even before the start of the season, Nokia was raised as one of the championship favorites, but in the same preliminary evaluations, the title of favorite has also been arranged for the two teams from Espoo, the Oilers and the Westend Indians.
Westend Indians has risen closer to the top of the floorball league every year. A year ago, the Indians fell to the local rival Oilers in Game 7 of the semifinals.
The Oilers celebrated the championship at the end of the season, but after blowing out the semifinal series, the Indians’ bangs were no longer enough to fight for the bronze, and the medals went to KrP.
Is the first medal in Westend Indians club history a fact this season?
– We’re not just talking about a medal, but a championship. That was our goal already last season, and it hasn’t been changed since then. I believe that we were left with quite a lot of hunger and at the same time learned from last year, says the Indians’ head coach Antti Vartiainen.
With the championship in mind, specific acquisitions have also been made to the Indians’ lineup for this season. The most visible of them is probably the goalkeeper Joonas Kaltiainen. Kaltiainen, who has tasted two SM silver and two bronze medals in his career with the Oilers, is ready to oust his parent club from the throne.
– There should be no other goal than to take over the city and the whole of Finland. So many seasons have already been played that only the championship is enough, the 31-year-old Kaltiainen smiles.
Kaltiainen played last season in Sweden. Maybe that’s why there hasn’t been much acknowledgment from his friends that he put on the shirt of a local opponent this season.
– Of course, there has been a little acknowledgment, but there were already many familiar friends in this team as well. It’s a bit different with the young players, but there are enthusiastic guys on this team and the atmosphere is good, so to speak, Kaltiainen thinks.
Kaltiainen is ready to offer all his help to the team’s young players.
– It has come as a bit of a surprise to some that I am constantly shouting something there at the goal. From there, however, you can see the whole field quite well. It’s important that when we go as a six, everyone has to be on the same page in the playbook, Kaltiainen thinks.
The defensive end as a whole is considered one of the Indians’ strengths this season. In front of Kaltiainen there were, among others, those who had returned from Switzerland Otto Lehkosuoand transferred from TPS Jere Niemelä. Coach Vartiainen believes that the team’s game has progressed as a whole.
– I believe that we are better in the ball game than last year and the pressing game has also been sharpened. All in all, it’s been a good summer of training, and the team hasn’t had to train much. Physics and gameplay cornerstones have been honed effectively, Vartiainen enumerates.
The most important thing is the quality of the exercises, not the quantity
The team will have a surprising amount of common experiences in the early season. Otaniemi’s hall is under renovation, so the team’s season starts with no less than six away matches. For the first time Heimo will ride in front of their home crowd at the end of October.
– We adapt to anything. Maybe it’s good for this early season that we get to spend time on the bus together, Vartiainen says.
There are enough bus trips in the semi-professional series for all clubs this season as well. 33 games are played in the regular season. For many organizations, it creates its own challenges.
– We have a relatively young team and a lot of students, for whom it is easier to fit the morning and evening workouts into the weekly program. With the working players, we have then focused on the fact that it is not so much the number of training sessions, but the quality of the individual training sessions that matters, Vartiainen says.
On Friday, Westend Indians will meet Oilers in a local match in Espoo, starting at 18:30.