Among other things, a few Ilves players got very thirsty during the playoffs, writes Santtu Silvennoinen.
Alcohol seems to be part of the party of some SM league players also during the playoffs. Miia Sirén
It’s nice to be in Känn, to tickle in Känn. It’s nice to be in Känni, it makes me laugh. In Kännti, everything is on the line, hey brothers, cheers up.
That’s what the singing janitor announces in the song It’s nice to be in Känn.
I don’t know if Sepi Kumpulainen’s song was played in the Tampere club when the Ilves league players were in a high-spirited mood after winning the Ässät quarter-final series in March. According to eyewitnesses, at least it had been fun.
In the 2020s, ice hockey’s SM league players are significantly more athletic than, say, 15 years ago, but in which other well-paid professional sport in Finland does it tend to pull the trigger in the middle of the most important weeks of the season?
The explanation “a small reset that is part of hockey culture, which does not affect the next match” is childish. If a hockey player earning hundreds of thousands of euros can’t control himself during the playoffs, it speaks of an attitude or alcohol problem.
Neither Iivo Niskanen, Topi Raitanen nor Matti Mattsson go to the bar to get wet in the middle of the competition season.
Going to bars during the playoffs is said to be part of hockey culture. JOEL MAISALMI
The importance of the bronze medal match of the SM League is a topic of conversation every spring.
The majority of hockey fans are in favor of playing the bronze medal match. For example, Ilves–KooKoo last spring was an emotional match for the supporters of the teams.
This spring, HIFK’s semifinal series ended with a loss to Tappara on Monday, April 10. Ilves fell to Pelicans for the last time on Thursday, April 13.
The SM League made a mistake when it decided the bronze match for Thursday, April 20.
The people of Helsinki had nine and the people of Tampere six days off after the semi-finals.
The dullest medal should have been played on Saturday, April 15, when Ilves was booked for a possible seventh semi-final match at the Nokia Arena.
HIFK had nine days off before the bronze medal match. PDO
After the semifinals and before the bronze medal game, the players of the Helsinki team were seen refreshing themselves in Central Europe.
In Tampere, trends are always a bit behind, so Petri Kontiola, Jyrki Jokipakka, Tommi Tikka and Otto Latvala went to Levi in a more traditional way. Of course, ex-player Jesse Niinimäki was also going along.
Kontiola slipped a photo from the pleasure trip to Instagram, in which a total of seven men pose in front of the plane. Taxi squad, read the caption of the later-deleted frame.
Petri Kontiola’s career ended with SM bronze. PDO
Sepi Kumpulainen is making a comeback to the stage, but among Ilves people, it is true that the players do not return to mobile gigs in the middle of the playoffs. The famous basketball coach from Tampere aptly wrote on Facebook: “Hopefully, the season left at least an even stronger hunger. And preferably a little less thirsty”.