Aki Pyysing feels that the matter could have been handled better.
Aki Pyysing photographed in Helsinki 2014. OUTI JÄRVINE
Investment guru and poker pro Aki Pyysing was disappointed with the SM league’s decision to postpone the bronze match.
The match was originally scheduled to be played on May 5, but the teams agreed that the medal will be fought on May Day Eve, April 30. Both teams’ semifinal series ended in the sixth game on Monday.
Had the streak continued, both teams would have played a seventh semifinal game on Wednesday, April 29.
– Of course, it didn’t make any sense that the bronze match was marked on the calendar almost a week after the possible stalemate. But it also makes no sense to postpone the match with a couple of days’ notice to a day when it shouldn’t have been played at all in the first place, Pyysing sees.
In Pyysing’s opinion, it would have been more reasonable to move the match to, for example, Wednesday, when a possible semi-final stoppage game would have been played.
– There would have been no problem with that. Its hardcore-supporters have of course put up. But now that it was tapped for May Day Eve, of course people already have a program that can no longer be canceled.
Instead of using his playoff season ticket and watching the match at Kisapuisto, Pyysing was content to follow it on his silent computer during the May Day holiday.
– I also understand that it will be moved to May Day, when more stuff can be sold, but here, so to speak, hardcore fans were shown the middle finger.
Pyysing’s disappointment is easy to understand, because as a loyal supporter, he went to watch every playoff match of SaiPa on site this season. Kilometers on the train were about 5,500.
– Fortunately, the common-law wife was there, Pyysing laughs.
The away team’s supporter group Ilves forever ry also said earlier that they will not go to Lappeenranta to watch the medal game because of the postponement of the match.
SaiPa will play for bronze in front of the home crowd on May Day. PDO
A rare treat
However, for the people of Lappeenranta, the bronze medal match will be a bigger event than for the people of Tampere. Ilves already has 16 gold medals, 9 silver and 15 bronze. Before Friday, SaiPa had one silver medal and one bronze medal, the latter of which came exactly 60 years ago.
On Friday, SaiPa captured the second bronze medal in the club’s history, when Ilves fell by a score of 7–2.
SaiPa has also played in bronze matches in 1999 and 2014.
– Very unfortunate. I was on the spot in both the 1999 and 2014 lost bronze medal games, so I’m a little tired, Pyysins said before the match.
According to the SaiPa supporter, the league could have handled the changes to the match schedule better.
– The league could have announced that the game might be moved earlier and initially placed the bronze game as soon as possible after the possible deadlock, so that the teams can have a vacation in Levi. But if it happens that the teams are eliminated earlier, the bronze medal game could be played instead of the tiebreaker, says Pyysing.
