HELSINKI, FINLAND – The fans of SM-Liiga got a piece of the winter wonderland as Jokerit and HIFK faced off in the Finnish SM-Liiga’s Winter Classic game. Hosted at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, fans of the sold out event, faced cold temperatures in which to watch as the two teams were deciding bragging rights for Helsinki.
The game itself had caused news months before the actual face off, due to the snow clearing efforts. Helsinki is one of the worst hit areas for snow in Finland this winter and organisers were hard at work clearing the stands for the spectators and making sure that the surfaces were even for the ice-pad. It has been estimated that the cost for clearing the snow reached millions of Euros. That and a Jokerit owned laptop that was providing a free webcam feed of the building efforts was stolen in the build up; ironically the webcam captured the thief on camera.
The game itself was a celebration for the young guns of both teams. HIFK’s Mikael Granlund and Jokerit forward Teemu Pulkkinen both scored twice in the game that HIFK won 4-3. Both Granlund and Pulkkinen have been hailed as the next superstars for Finnish hockey.
“This was a win for hockey,” said HIFK head coach Kari Jalonen. “I just let the guys play and enjoy the occasion. I’m happy that I had the chance to be a coach in such a game.”
Indeed the game had a profound effect on many of the players. Mikael Granlund was equally sentimental in a post game interview. “I could have played three games like this in a row to a crowd like this. This was something really special.”
It’s good that Granlund wasn’t fazed by the crowd as it will be the size of the crowd he will play to once he makes the move to the NHL. The same can be said for the other young gun, Pulkkinen whose future NHL address will be with Detroit Redwings.
The Winter Classic itself was not without incident however. During the second period it was announced that the organisers had ran out of beer, which didn’t go down too well with the capacity crowd of 36,644.
After the game, reports emerged that a group of 80 Jokerit and HIFK supporters were engaged in a fight near by the Olympic stadium. Apparently no-one was seriously injured but the police are investigating the events as an assault, and early reports suggest that the fight had been pre-arranged and word spread through the use of text messages.
It would be a huge boost for the SM-Liiga if the Winter Classic became a regular fixture for the league, but the trouble is that many of the towns don’t have outdoor arena’s big enough to host an event on such scale, unless the towns without large capacity venues put up a makeshift arena for the occasion.
Hosting the game exclusively in Helsinki and between HIFK and Jokerit, or out of town teams playing one of the two Helsinki teams, will not do the event or the league any favours. There are great rivalries in the SM-Liiga and I think we might see a Tampere based Winter Classic soon as Tampere hosts two traditional teams in Tappara and Ilves. However, the inaugural Winter Classic was well received by players, fans and the media so there should be enough reason for future Winter Classics to take place. As long as the organisers make sure, there are enough beverages to go around.
Contact the Author: janne.virtanen@prohockeynews.com
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