KooKoo and Ilves will play bronze in Tampere next week. There are enough users in the fresh arena.
Ilves is playing once again this season in front of his home crowd. Mika Kylmäniemi / AOP
KooKoo and Ilves will meet in the bronze match of the Finnish Championship League this spring. However, the puck people have to wait another week for the medal to be resolved.
The bronze game will be played on Sunday, April 24 in Tampere. The timing of the game has been talked about by, among other things, the social media service on Twitter.
KooKoo’s semi-final against Tappara ended on Thursday. So the people of Kouvola are waiting for their last match of just over a week. Ilves, who finished his semi-final series on Saturday, will have a week off.
For disappointed players, the waiting time can feel long.
– This is the first possible day of play. It’s about professional sports. The agreements are until the end of April, Ilves’ CEO Risto Jalo says.
Other events in Tampere’s fresh arena explain the day of the Bronze Game.
Tappara and TPS will start the final series on Wednesday. Nightwish will perform in the arena on Friday. On Saturday, the gala of the National Annual Meeting of the Finnish Chambers of Commerce will be held in the hall.
– The schedule of the arena dictates a lot to us. We are no longer able to define schedules in the same way as in Hakametsä. The arena is full of events for the rest of the week. Therefore, the bronze game was originally planned for this.
At the moment, the first week of the hall would be free, but the seventh semi-final match between Ilves and TPS was originally included in the match program.
– Then you can’t think of playing bronze on Monday or Tuesday.
An important medal
KooKoo was already in front of the Tampere audience in the semi-finals against Tappara. Petri Saarelainen / AOP
The schedule of the bronze match is well understood in KooKoo.
– It is quite normal when the Tampere multipurpose arena is booked. No play when there are other events. This is no stranger, KooKoo CEO Sakari Välimaa says.
– Hopes don’t matter when there are events from Thursday to Saturday and the finals start on Wednesday. It is useless to make this a bigger thing.
The bronze match is important for both teams. For the first time in its main series history, KooKoo made it to the semifinals and semi-finals this season.
The lynx’s previous Finnish Championship medal, the bronze medal of 2001, has been around for 21 years.
– I think it motivates everyone in the organization. Players are, of course, disappointed now, but a few nights while they’re still sleeping more, the motivation is sure to be found on both teams, Jalo says.
The bronze match will start in Tampere on April 24 at 5 p.m. The league finals start on Wednesday, April 20th.
You can see the full match program here.