Kärpät is second to last. There will be a big name in the lineup.
Petri Karjalainen is in a tough position as the head coach of Kärppie. TOMI NATRI / AOP
Defender Jani Hakanpää will probably play his first game in the shirt of Oulu Kärppien next week.
– He has been training more or less with us for a long time. It’s great that we can bring a player of that level. Whether it’s a game, two or the rest of the season, he helps us with his actions and his presence, Kärppien’s coach Petri Karjalainen said Wednesday after the SaiPa game
In the previous six seasons, Hakanpää has played 290 regular season games in the NHL. Hakanpää has suffered bad injuries.
Kärpät will face Luko on Friday this week. Then there is no less than a week’s break, and the next match is on Friday the 23rd against Kiekko-Espoo.
Kärppi’s problems are currently so deep that Karjalainen does not expect Hakanpää to be a rainmaker. The coach emphasized that the severely underperforming team must find a common direction as a team.
Operating with a huge player budget by Finnish standards, Kärpät is sensationally second to last after 40 games. Behind is Vaasan Sport, which only sells its players and collects money here and there.
On Wednesday, Kärpät lost at home to SaiPa 1–2. According to Karjalainen, Kärpät was good in the opening set.
– It’s stupid to leave with a loss after a game like that. There were quality goal chances. We didn’t get in, and the opponent did.
– Zero goals scored in a draw. Then you rarely catch up on profits. Didn’t succeed.
According to Karjalainen, the important word would be patience.
– Last week, we stuck to the game plan and what we took away from the opponent. We couldn’t do that today. There were more power attacks on our own than last week in three games combined.