More and more foreign players are flooding into the Finnish under-16 championship series. Teemu Poussa, who has worked with Finnish junnu hockey for 15 years, tells about the phenomenon.
Matic Török (right), who moved to Finland from Slovenia, dominated the playoffs of the U20 series in the spring of 2024. Now he plays in the SM league in Ilves. Tomi Natri / All Over Press
According to the statistics service EliteProspects, 103 foreign players played in the under-16 ice hockey championship series this season. That was 15 percent of all players.
For comparison: in the 2016–2017 season, 11 foreigners played in the same series.
– EliteProspects does not give a very real picture, because we also have a couple of players who do not have the Finnish flag after their name, but they have practically lived in Finland all their lives, the Joker’s coaching manager Teemu Pou to point out.
– But yes, those numbers in the big picture tell about this trend, he continues.
Younger and younger players are coming to Finland from abroad.
– Now the youngest are 12–13 years old, i.e. at the threshold of middle school. Even younger ones are offered, but I don’t think it makes sense to take them.
