Chairman Ami Rubinstein wants to continue the dialogue with the League.
Kiekko-Espoo beat Mesti in the last season. Tomi Natri / AOP
Chairman of Kiekko-Espoo Amy Rubinsteindid Liiga’s announcement on Thursday blow the air away?
– Well, I’m not saying that the air was blown, but it wasn’t the information we wanted from our point of view.
League announced surprisingly, “no new license applications will be accepted” for the 2024–25 season. The recent Mestis champion Kiekko-Espoo has said that they are aiming for league readiness specifically for the fall of 2024.
– We have been telling both publicly and in the direction of the League for a long time that we are going to submit an application, Rubinstein states.
– This is now the League’s policy. We have a different view. We want to continue the dialogue.
The league said in its press release that the matter has been discussed “in good spirit throughout also with Kiekko-Espoo”.
Have the conversations been good-natured?
– We disagree on things, but we can say that the discussions have been good-natured. We think it would be good and right if we could submit an application in the fall.
League President Heikki Hiltunen responded to the displeasure from the direction of Kiekko-Espoo about the recent decision.
– From Kiekko-Espoo’s point of view, this is unfortunate, because they have assumed that they could apply in the fall. This serial system strategy of ours now takes more time when this necessary work comes into play.
The league announcement didn’t even leave the gate open, but the people of Espoo are not about to give up.
– Five years ago, we started based on the Suomi series, Rubinstein reminds.
– We wouldn’t be where we are now if we had given up in front of every obstacle.
In summary: you are going to proceed according to the previous plan and enter the league license application in October.
– That’s what we aim for.