ESPOO, FINLAND – HIFK have been crowned Finnish SM-Liiga champions after sweeping the final series against surprise team Espoo Blues, 4-0. Blues had everyone gasping their breath as it reached the finals, after it sneaked into the finals from the final seed of the play offs. HIFK was too strong in the finals and after winning game three, Blues tried to turn the corner, but were unable to get the much needed go ahead goals. This then left HIFK with a chance to clinch the title on away ice at Espoo. As previous games, HIFK scored first this time with a goal from Turo Jarvinen. This then left the show opened the doors for HIFK captain, Ville Peltonen. Peltonen scored shortly after Jarvinen to take HIFK 2-0. In the second period Peltonen scored again to make it 3-0 and it looked like he had sealed the championship for HIFK, much like he did for team Finland in 1995 in Globen. Blues got within a goal after Petri Lammassaari and Camilo Miettinen scored, but could not pull even. Peltonen sealed the fate of the title and his hat-trick into an empty net 20 seconds before the final buzzer. “I’m proud of my team and happy for everyone,” said HIFK head coach Kari Jalonen. “I came here to leave my mark on the team and this is the crowning moment. This championship will remain with this great club forever.” The title was the fourth for Jalonen, whose previous SM-Liiga championships came with Oulun Karpat. The loss was bittersweet to Blues despite being outplayed. “Silver is silver, of course it is a disappointment,” Blues head coach Petri Matikainen said. “We wanted the championship and the gold medals to the very end. However, this was great experience for our younger players.” The SM-Liiga Champions 2010-2011 are:
Goalies: Juuso Riksman, Jan Lundell
Defence: Ari Vallin, Mikko Kousa, Markus Kankaanpera, Mikko Kurvinen, Toni Soderholm, Rony Ahonen, Tommi Kovanen, Ilari Mellart, Martti Jarventie
Forwards: Max Warn, Kimmo Kuhta, Petteri Wirtanen, Ville Peltonen (c), Robert Nyholm, Turo Jarvinen, Jerry Ahtola, Juha-Pekka Haataja, Lennart Pettrell, Teemu Tallberg, Joni Toykkala, Teemu Ramstedt, Jeff Hamilton, Niko Piiparinen, Mikael Granlund, Eetu Poysti, Siim Liivik Contact Janne.Virtanen@prohockeynews.com
