FINLAND – The first round of the SM-Liiga playoffs have not been without controversy. Just as the NHL GM’s met and discussed head shots and concussion prevention, the opening match between Jokerit and HIFK caused a stir due to an injury to HIFK’s Mikael Granlund.
The playoff series’ have been full of surprises as well as the lack of Finnish junior talents Granlund, Pulkkinen and Armia. Pulkkinen is sidelined with an intestinal problem and Armia is sidelined with an undisclosed injury.
HIFK v Jokerit
The intensity of the meeting was visible as the two teams have not faced each other in the playoffs since 2003. The first meeting of the Helsinki teams was in the headlines a lot after the injury to Mikael Granlund. The HIFK forward, Granlund drove aggressively to the net, only to be faced with a hit from Ossi Vaananen. Where there was no penalty called on the play, Granlund hit his head on the crossbar and post while falling down. Granlund did return to play in the second period, but was not on the bench for the 3rd period. You can watch the hit in question from here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=709MRTZdkhw
Jokerit won the first meeting 1-0.
After the game the HIFK head coach was quoted saying that “Granlund’s career could be over.” Whether it was playoff psyche or a serious concern for the youngster who missed two months with a concussion earlier in the season is not known.
The second meeting wasn’t much better for HIFK, though the spectators saw more goals. Jokerit forward Janne Lahti, who also won the goal scoring race for the regular season was the hero of the night with his two goal performance. HIFK hung on till the third period where the score was 3-2 for Jokerit, but Petteri Nokelainen finalised the score to 4-2 with an empty net tally.
The third meeting left plenty on the table as a loss would’ve set title favourite HIFK on the edge. Prior to the match, HIFK received good news in that Mikael Granlund was to return to the line up as he was not showing concussion symptoms. HIFK managed to pull out a close 2-1 win, but again the match made headlines for other reasons than hockey plays.
Jokerit Head coach Erkka Westerlund was ejected from the game right after HIFK scored their second goal. Westerlund disagreed with the referee’s decision and threw a water bottle at the referee. Westerlund was awarded a game misconduct and Jokerit received a 5 minute penalty for their coaches actions. Westerlund will be out from game four and Jokerit has been fined €10,000 for the altercation.
Jokerit leads series 2-1
JYP- Ilves
After Ilves eliminated HPK from the playoffs, many had hoped that the team would be able to cause an upset against one of the league favourites JYP. The first game was decisive as JYP after it cruised to a 7-3 win over the young Ilves roster.
However the last two games have been closer with Ilves being able to pressure the high scoring and star studded JYP roster. The second meeting between the team ended in favour of JYP with a score line of 2-1.
The third meeting looked like it could turn the series for Ilves as it got off to a quick start, three first period goals were scoredas Ilves took a commanding lead in the game. However, JYP pressed back and slowly ate away into the lead and scored the game winning goal after 47 minutes of play. After the fourth goal by JYP, Ilves goalie Miikka Wiikman had red mist descend upon him as he went after JYP’s Jari Jaaskelainen. Moments before Jaaskelainen had attempted a wrap around goal which Wiikman covered. However in the attempt of pushing the goal in, Jaaskelainen hit Wiikman in the glove, which prompted the Ilves goalie to take action and struck Jaaskelainen to the back of the head with his blocker.
Wiikman will be unavailable to Ilves in the next game due to a one game suspension he was awarded for his actions.
JYP leads series 3-0
Assat- Blues
Assat was one of the biggest surprises of the regular season. A team that just a season before was ranked in the basement of the league took to the playoffs as one of the championship candidates. However, it has not been able to overcome the Blues from Espoo who came into the series having beaten Karpat in the early rounds.
Blues has been the better side in all the meetings and have pushed Assat to the edge after winning the meetings between the two teams by scores of 3-4, 3-0 and 2-1. Blues has a chance to complete the sweep tomorrow night and advance to the next round of the playoffs.
Blues lead series 3-0
Lukko – Kalpa
Despite Lukko’s high scoring offensive line up and solid goaltending in the regular season, it has been in trouble with the Kalpa team, who was said to be a lot weaker on paper. However, Kalpa has played to its strengths and has managed to climb ahead in the series.
While Kalpa took the first two meetings, Lukko managed to get into the series by winning the third meeting. Despite the win, Lukko has been in trouble with the Kalpa roster.
Kalpa lead series 2-1
The next games will take place today from 18:30 GMT+2 and live score updates can be found at www.sm-liiga.fi or by following myself (@amateur_hockey) on Twitter.
Contact the author: janne.virtanen@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.