FINLAND – SM-Liiga is getting more and more interesting with surprises along the way. The biggest surprise of them all is Tappara, the team that was in such turmoil at the build up to the season that people had written the team off and said that there would be no hope the team would see playoffs. However, after six games, Tappara finds itself at the top spot in the league after beating TPS 3-1 on Thursday. TPS, who captured the championship last season, has felt the championship hangover worse than other teams in the recent history, the string of poor results isn’t helped by one of the biggest injured reserve lists in the league. Also surprisingly Karpat and Jokerit who have splashed out on player acquisitions during the off-season have had slow starts to the season. Jokerit to the point that the head coach, Hannu Jortikka has reshuffled his lines and roster on numerous occasions and this time it worked when Jokerit won 4-3 agains JYP from Jyvaskyla. On Jokerit injury front, the team received bad news as one of the key offensive players, Jani Rita, is likely to be out for the season with a separated pectoral muscle. All I can say is ouch! As far as player acquisitions go, Kalpa invested some money into a new import player in Jan Melichar. Melichar started the season in Sweden but his team in the Swedish league soon found out that Melichar’s price tag was a bit too heavy for the budget. However Kalpa is hoping that he will add some offensive power, which is something the team desperately needs. Last week saw an interesting statistic emerge from Pelicans, Lahti. According to statistics, Pelicans has the most right handed shooters in the league, which is somewhat of a rarity as right handed players are considered gold dust in the Finnish leagues. It is not yet clear how well this will work for Pelicans as the team is second to last at the moment, but is down by three games compared to the rest of the league. Other news from the Pelicans front include a new player signing in Mike York. York is an NHL veteran ans scored 127 goals during his NHL career and will be a sure crowd pleaser in Lahti. Upon arriving in Lahti, York said to one of the team’s assistant coaches, Pasi Nurminen, that he remembered scoring a bunch of goals against him in the NHL. Nurminen used to be the number one keeper for Atlanta Thrashers before injuries forced him to retire. The championship hangover:
It is easy to understand why TPS is struggling. A number of key players left the team during the off season and a new coaching staff will take a bit of time for everyone to get used to, but the start to the season has been as dark as the TPS uniform. Out of seven games played, TPS has managed to get together three points. It is only the start of the season, but it is safe to say that if the results wont improve, there might be a vacant head coach position open in Turku. The Coyotes effect:
Tappara on the other hand has experienced the ‘Coyote effect’. Similarly to Phoenix Coyotes last season (a team in turmoil at the start of the campaign), Tappara has managed to overcome adversity and has quietly plucked away when the media had concentrated on the teams woes behind the bench, but it seems that whatever Tappara were doing during the off season has worked. Additionally, Tappara received much welcomed back up in between the pipes (not that the goaltending has been terrible) when Harri Sateri returned from the San Jose Sharks training camp. When talking about adversity and overcoming it, there might be a lesson that the new head coach, Sami Hirvonen has taught as he has struggled in the face of adversity for his entire life. Hirvonen could’ve never become a professional hockey player even though he had a burning desire for the sport. Hirvonen was born without most of the fingers in his other hand as well as without a leg. To coach a professional hockey team is definitely an amazing feat from the young man and obviously whatever he is telling the guys in training and games is working. It also helps that Tappara is getting offence from its young players, namely Niclas Lucenius who was drafted 115th overall by Atlanta Thrashers in 2007. Perhaps another Finn that will bloom into a 2nd or 3rd line forward and into a potential 20 goal scorer in the NHL one day. The league standings after 7 games are as follow (Numbers mean: Games played, followed by points):
1. Tappara 6 14
2. JYP 6 13
3. Ässät 6 12
4. Lukko 6 12
5. HIFK 7 12
6. Blues 6 11
7. Jokerit 7 10
8. KalPa 7 10
9. HPK 6 8
10. Kärpät 6 7
11. SaiPa 5 7
12. Ilves 7 6
13. Pelicans 4 4
14. TPS 7 3
Contact the author Janne.Virtanen@prohockeynews.com
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