The Pelicans and KooKoo, who are celebrating here, have fared clearly worse than Iltalehti’s analysis predicts. Tomi Natri / AOP
The most fruitful is to compare the teams’ rankings with the prior expectations.
The rankings, on the other hand, must be arranged based on point averages, because the number of matches played by the teams varies between 11 and 14.
Point averages
The teams in the order of match-specific point averages. In parentheses is the final ranking estimated by Iltalehti during the season.
1) Tappara 2.50 (3–4)
2) HIFK 2.00 (1–2)
3) Lynx 1.77 (1–2)
3) Aces 1.77 (11–12)
5) JYP 1.73 (9–10)
6) Lock 1.71 (5–6)
7) Flies 1.64 (5–6)
8) TPS 1.462 (7–8)
9) Jukurs 1,455 (11–12)
10) KalPa 1.364 (9–10)
11) HPK 1,357 (13–15)
12) Sport 1.08 (13–15)
13) KooKoo 1.07 (7–8)
14) Pelicans 0.83 (3-4)
15) SaiPa 0.73 (13–15)
Iltalehti published on the opening day of the regular season, September 12. his assessment of the season’s power relations with the fact that HIFK and Ilves rise past the double champion Tappara as the biggest favorites to win the league.
In this respect, the analysis is somewhat relevant, as these three clubs are at the top of the point average table.
However, based on the games played, the sentence has to be slightly modified: HIFK and Ilves will rise to Tappara alongside as the biggest winning favourites.
The two-time champion hasn’t experienced any growing pains, even though 17 players moved elsewhere in the summer and Jussi Tapola changed tactically to a very different head coach, Rikard Grönborg.
Tappara no longer defends in tight traps but often rushes into a threatening press.
According to the estimate, the totally new way of playing was supposed to require learning money, but so far the pennies found at the bottom of the pocket have been enough to pay for it.
Iltalehti guessed the teams’ rankings with the accuracy of two positions (except 13–15). Now only HIFK, Lukko, TPS, KalPa and SaiPa fall into the lockers.
Six teams are there, but in the case of four, the assessment went completely wrong.
Pelicans ranked third or fourth by Iltalehti are second last, and KooKoo ranked 7-8 is only a notch better than the Lahti players.
Correspondingly, the predictions about the rankings of Ässie (11–12) and JYP (9–10) were very low. The teams are in third and fifth place.
Last spring’s finalist Pelicans is the biggest underperformer in the early season.
After the sensational season, the question is, was it a shooting star or will the team be able to establish its position in the medal rings under the leadership of innovative head coach Tommi Niemelä?
Now it’s easy to say that it was probably wise to leave this amount of reserve.
Niemelä’s innovation bank seems to have been completely emptied, and there is not much left of last season’s style of play based on tight fives, dribbling courage, short passes and continued pressure. At least nothing positive.
Puck losses and the weak court balance of the five form a strongly negative equation.
Help has not been found even in special situations, because the yv percentage of 10.5 is by far the worst in the series.
Pelicans inflated their player budget with TPS the most, by 350,000 euros, but the acquisitions have not been worth the heavy investments.
For example, Ryan Lasch – a 36-year-old returnee who has won the league point exchange once, the SHL exchange three times and the CHL exchange no less than five times – has not yet scored a goal. Thanks to the input surfaces, the “super amplification” can be found in the 22nd place of the points exchange.
The “star acquisition” of the defense, Michal Jordán, has played with binoculars in the early season, but with his two penalty shots, the Czech is at the top of the ice market.
With the fumbling five-man play, the goalkeeper play has also been uncertain, and the cause-and-effect relationship is two-way. “Top recruit” Jussi Olkinuora has been far from his top form between the posts.
Aces and JYP have positively surprised. Vesa Pöppönen / AOP
Last season’s seventh place was the best since the surprise championship in 2013, but can Pata keep his position in the middle class when there are 14 new players and the head coach is an unwatchable card at the league level?
With these accompanying words, Iltalehti estimates that Ässie will rapidly lose their positions and will be left out of the playoffs in the spring.
But how has it been? The new head coach, the town’s own son, Jere Härkälä, set out to nurture the basic Pori values, which are reflected in the motto “revi, rasta runno”.
The reformed team has taken it upon itself and continued to play battle hockey according to the identity they found last season.
The strong performance has not been slowed down by the fact that the champion brothers Jonathan and Marcus Davidsson, who were acquired from Tappara for a big role, have mostly been on the sidelines and neither has opened their points account.
Aces have been a sensation this fall.
Prediction is difficult, and that’s where the charm of sports lies.
Last fall, farce, fiasco and flop were the words used to describe HIFK. At the turn of the year, the ranking was disastrously 13th, but in the end the team made it to the bronze medal match.
The fourth place was certainly disappointing for the big club, but that was enough to tell that the autumn and spring seasons are not always brothers.
In the spring, it can happen that all the conclusions made in this story seem unfortunate, and the derogatory quotation marks can be removed from the epithets of the Pelicans players.