American Ben Blood started the season in Poland and is now playing in the League finals.
Ben Blood once again twists with an opponent. The American pack got under the skin of the Ilves players and was an important piece when the Pelicans reached the finals. Mika Kylmäniemi
Pelicans crushed the spring hockey sensation by knocking out Ilves in the semifinals and advancing to the finals. Lahtelaiseuura defeated the tassel ears in the sixth match of the semi-final series with numbers 3–1. The Pelicans won the series 4–2.
Success always creates stories. One such is the Pelicans’ 34-year-old defender Ben Blood. The man from Minnesota is playing for the third time in the League and is already in Lahti on his second visit.
– I am proud of my teammates and what we achieved. Praise be to God. This is fun, Blood told Iltalehti.
– Our fans were brilliant again today. The atmosphere in the hall was wonderful, the man continued.
Bulldozer
Blood always weighs a hundred in the rink and in the borderlands of the rules. The man goes into situations hard and usually the man falls. Sometimes the kit crashes itself.
After the solving game, the lip was swollen.
– I got a stick in my mouth. I hope the tooth doesn’t fall out. At least it swings quite a lot already. Well, this is what happens in hockey.
Earlier in his career, Blood often hogged the rink. In the 2017–18 season, the man sat on the ice for 207 minutes. At that time, the man’s club was Ässät. In this season’s regular season, there were only 39 minutes of ice time.
In the playoffs, “Blood-Pena” has hatched into “Piste-Pena”. 3+1 points in 13 matches is a good balance for the basic deck.
– I have good teammates, I’ve just been in the right place at the right time, Pakki downplayed.
I guess you can take a little credit for the points?
– I disagree. Thanks go to my teammates.
“Better Team”
Blood won the semifinal series in sharp fashion. The words may have had a small hint towards Ilves.
– We are simply a better team when you look at the chains. This is a better organization from top to bottom. The office is more professional, our fans are more professional and respectful.
– We are a better team and we proved it. Simple.
Was there foul play in the series?
– Well, maybe I got hit a little bit myself. But it’s fun. It’s fun to be on the winning side.
The Pelicans are playing in the finals for the second time in their club history. In the 2011–12 season, the team lost to Jyp in the final series.
Kangasneimi shone
Iikka Kangasniemi is having a good spring. MIKA KYLMÄNIEMI / AOP
The opening goal of the amazing semi-final game was scored by a pair of bouncers Joni Ikonen by force.
Aatu Jämsen was the host of the pussinokki’s second goal, again with the upper hand. The third was scored by Topias Vilen, who played a good game. Ilves was successful Henrik Haapala.
Iikka Kangasniemi, despite his small frame, was impossible to hold for Ilves. The forward held the puck, created chances and dodged tackles.
– We played two sets well today. The first ten of the third period was indeed a battle. All in all, a good game was played today.
Ilves took many unnecessary and stupid ices in a big game. It looked like the team’s tape couldn’t handle the setup.
190-centimeter Tommi Tikka for once he showed some stupidity and attacked the 20 centimeter shorter Kangasniemi.
That says a lot about Ilves’ Thursday night.
– I guess they had a couple of stupid jokes. But they gave us good resistance, Kangasniemi stated.
“We are not ready”
Pelicans will face Tappara in the final. The Tampere team is the only early favorite in the series.
– We are not ready yet. In the booth, we believe that we can get the job done to the end. A tough team is coming, there are only two teams left. It’s going to be fun, said Blood, whose job is to shake the confidence of the Tappara stars.