Fly coach Lauri Marjamäki tries to overthrow his breeder club Ilves in the semi-finals.
That’s what it was in the regular season. The lynx took and the flies whipped. The teams will start the semi-finals on Sunday in Tampere. JUSSI SAARINEN / AOP
4–3 in batches, 3–1, 6–5 and 4–0. This is how Ilves took Kärppi in the regular season. The points went to Ilves in mutual games 11-1.
– Ilves has played a special season. Ilves won all four regular season games against us this season. Success is no coincidence. Ilves is my breeding club, I’m proud of that, says Kärppie’s head coach Lauri Marjamäki.
However, when the puck falls on the ice on Sunday, there is no room for emotion.
– I played football and hockey in Ilves. After all, Tampere is born Ilves or Tappara. But now we are playing hockey and trying to win.
– There’s no emotion here.
Still, Marjamäki is happy to visit Tampere.
– The family lives there. Nice to see them in between.
Short cooperation
Marjamäki moved to a familiar organization in Oulu at the end of February, when the Jokers left the KHL season.
– It’s been more than three weeks together. In nine games, we got 1.8 surfaces per game. Onnik was also a bit on our side in the final round, the head coach admits.
– For the first time, I am involved in change management. The first thing we tackled was the operation of the defense game. Then there was building faith in the team. There are many things to develop.
Empty living room
The series between Kärppi and Ilves will be tough. The hospital in Oulu is finally empty. It improves the chances of flies. JUSSI SAARINEN / AOP
Although Ilves was upside down in the regular season, the experienced Marjamäki believes in his own.
– I have a good feeling about our success. The hospital room is finally empty, it’s a good situation.
The flies ’direct playoff spot only survived Tuesday in the regular season final round. On Wednesday, the team held a meeting.
– On Thursday, the team has a day off. On Friday and Saturday, we conduct quality drills. And on Saturday we will head to Tampere, Marjamäki says about the team’s schedule.
Ilves was third in the regular season, the team grabbed 28 wins. The flies were sixth and won 24 times. The people of Tampere are an absolute pre-favorite of the semi-finals.