FINLAND, – People who think that players past 35 years are past their prime have been proven wrong. In the NHL the granddad’s like Nicklas Lidstrom and Teemu Selanne still make a real difference to their respective teams. However, in the SM-Liiga one of the oldest, but most experienced players, Ville Peltonen from HIFK is proving a real difference maker. Peltonen has found form again and won some big games for HIFK with what his team mates are calling NHL level performances. Let’s not forget, Peltonen has played in the NHL after he helped Finland to a World Championship gold in 1995. He has done stints with the San Jose Sharks and Florida Panthers, as well as gathered experience from the top leagues in Europe. In fact Peltonen has been the difference maker and scored the game winning goals in the last two HIFK games, boosting the teams playoff position. Big player losses for HPK and JYP
Last week and the weekends fixtures saw teams suffer big injury blows. HPK lost Arsi Piispanen after a 4-1 win over Karpat in Oulu. Piispanen, who is playing a breakthrough season with the Hameenlinna side, told his team managers that he was not feeling well on the train back from the game. HPK had resorted to night time train travel due to no flights being available from Oulu to Helsinki after the game. Upon arrival to Hameenlinna, Piispanen was taken to the hospital and rushed to surgery. According to HPK General Manager, Risto Korpela, Piispanen had his spleen removed. “Arsi told the team manager that he had not slept a second on the train due to the pain,” Korpela said. “Arsi underwent surgery to have his spleen removed in Hameenlinna. The operation went well and he is on the mend now.” Piispanen suffered the injury during the first period of the game and left the game in the third period after his symptoms worsened. There is no definitive timeline for Piispanen’s return, but according to HPK’s Facebook page, Piispanen is expected to miss the rest of the season. Elsewhere, league leaders JYP also suffered a big loss on its defensive line-up after Kalle Koskinen sustained a broken wrist. Koskinen broke his wrist in a checking situation in a game against Saipa and is expected to miss between six to eight weeks. Koskinen is big loss to JYP as his +/- stat is a whopping +22, the second highest in the league and ranks right behind his teammate and defensive partner, Sami Vatanen. Best and worse of international imports
Finnish tabloid magazine Ilta-Sanomat listed the best and worse of the import forwards and defence players. JYP’s Eric Perrin took the honours for the best international forward, while Espoo Blues’ forward Staphen Veilleux received the ‘honours’ of the biggest flop on the forward department. For defenders, the best acquisition was Jokerit Jeremy Dehner, while the worst acquisition fell upon HPK’s Aleksander Shvalev. Shvalev’s tenure in the league has been anything but rosy. He signed for HPK at the start of the season, but could not get his work visa in time and only joined his team in November. It turned out that Shvalev’s skating and overall condition was not on par and he has spent most of his time as a spectator both on the ice and in the press box. Aravirta signs his final coaching contract
Karpat, today announced that it has reached a contract agreement with head coach Hannu Aravirta. The contract covers next season and has an option for the 2012-2013 season. Aravirta said in a statement that the contract would be his last one at the top level as he would be 60 years old when the contract expires. Aravirta’s prior coaching engagements includes Team Finland, JyP, Jokerit, HIFK and Pelicans. He also coached Modo in the Swedish Elit Serien. NHL back to Finland?
Rumours are a drift that the NHL season would once again kick off in Helsinki. For the past two years NHL teams have graced the ice at Hartwall Arena. Last season saw Minnesota Wild and Carolina Hurricanes butt heads. Hjallis Harkimo is planning to bring the NHL circus to Helsinki, preferably with a Finnish player in the roster. It was speculated that Calgary Flames, who have Miikka Kiprusoff and Niklas Hagman in its line up, would be coming to Finland, but Flames are reluctant to start its season in Europe as the team looks to address performance related issues. So far, the NHL has approached Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers, L.A Kings and Anaheim Ducks. The teams have not responded to the leagues requests.
The Rangers opened its season in Prague in 2008, while the Ducks and the Kings visited London in 2007. Contact: janne.virtanen@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.