Keuruu Ice Hall is still a cold place to visit

Keuruu igloo, shrine, freezer.

The ice rink of KeuPa HT, which plays in Mestis, the second highest league level in Finland, has long been known as one of the coldest rinks in Finland.

The cool breath of ventilation after the doors of the hall lobby immediately welcomes you and tries to slip under the coat.

People are dressed in winter coats, gloves and beanies. When going to the stands, many of them grab a cushion under their backside, which slightly insulates the coolness of the plastic seats.

During the first set, the feeling starts to disappear little by little from the fingertips and the toes have to be bent inside the shoes. When you change positions, the skin on your legs rises to the flesh when a cool leg hits them. At regular intervals, a breath similar to the entrance to the hall hits the face and creeps onto the skin inside the jacket.

Keupa quickly takes a 1–0 lead, but Peliitat scores the next two goals. KeuPa rises to the levels, and after a while the leader of Mesti’s points exchange Mikko Perttu takes the team to a 3–2 lead.

– It’s a miracle man, my God. Even now, he scored a goal just like that, the stands are cheering.

The drum group beats steadily throughout the set.

– This is as significant a place as the village school, KeuPa’s drum group, is for many small villages Urpo Jokipalo tells.

Decoration

The ice rink was renovated for the 2020–2021 season, during which a new ventilation and heating pipeline was built. Behind the hall, a building of about 100 square meters was built, where the machinery was placed.

During the renovation, acted as chairman of the board of Keuruu jäähalli oy Lasse Jämsä says that the budget for the heating renovation was 400,000 euros.

– When it was done, the ventilation improved and the humidity disappeared from the hall. About 10 more years came into use. This is a 28-year-old hall.

– The temperature in the hall is usually around 5–6 degrees, he continues.

For Mestis matches, the temperature is raised to 12 degrees, which is required by the series. Heating costs 20 euros per hour. For Mestis games, the hall is heated for about four hours.

After the end of the first batch, the mercury is at 10 degrees according to the meter.

– Before, it was on the negative side, Jämsä says.

– When sometimes during training it was 30 degrees below zero, I had to put a double thermal layer underneath and a collar. It was quite a blast in the hall, KeuPa’s player coordinator Taneli Maasalo remembers the time before the hall renovation.

KeuPa’s team leader Tuomo Riikonen says that today the temperature can be 16–17 degrees after the end of the game in the upper level of the stand.

According to him, it would make the hall really warm, but the ice would suffer.

– The cold is felt here at the level of the ice, because the hall is low and the cooling has to come to the ice so that it does not soften.

KeuPa supporter Outi Jämsän according to me, the cold is an unnecessarily big legend these days.

– All halls of this age, where Mestis are played, are just as cold.

Too little clothing

During the second set, the meter seems to have already risen to 12 degrees, but you no longer want to feel your fingertips and toes. Even the ankles feel awkward, even though they have walked in the hall to another place.

Maybe the reporter is wearing too little clothing.

You can see insulation boards on the ceiling, but they are practically only for sound reverberation. Peliitat scores five goals during the set and criticism reaches the stands.

At the start of the third period, it starts as a cabin.

Hands shake and the skin rises all over the body to goosebumps. Even the voice vibrates when the lips twitch a little. The cold has crept under the jacket and hoodie and hugs the body. The thermometer shows 13 degrees.

Peliitat hits the ninth hit of the match. At the same time, KeuPa changes its goalkeeper for the second time.

The young people in the special seats beat the Plexiglas in front of them, which starts to sway from the blows.

– Damn, that’s enough, Jokipalo exclaims as he takes one of the three drums away.

“It’s damn cold there”

After the match, the hall empties out quickly. Peliitat striker Eetu Selänten upon arriving at the interview, the breath evaporates and floats in the air.

Cold air has surrounded everything. It is like a dome with a person inside.

Before his first visit to Keuruu, Selänne had heard about the long pipe along which the players walk to the hall. In Keuruu, the changing rooms are still outside the hall.

– The changing rooms are warm, but when the door opens, you immediately feel the cold air. Those pipes do not protect from the outside air. It’s damn cold there.

– It’s a really unusual feeling to play here, but it’s also really fun.

Still representing KeuPaa at the time of the match Niko Kivelä played for the first time in Keuruu in a Peliitat shirt before the hall renovation was even done.

The day before, he had played as a guest of HIFK at Nordis.

– After the initial heat, drops of sweat got on and froze on the eyebrows when walking along the tube. I was wondering if this could be true, Kivelä recalls.

When heating was built in the ice rink, the plans were to connect the changing rooms to the hall. Drawings had already been made about it.

Four dressing rooms would have been built in the hall and the judges had their own facilities, but the money was not enough.

– It would have cost 800,000, Lasse Jämsä says.

Germany trip

Selänne received his ice skating lessons in California, USA. You don’t want to find a building like the ice rink in Keuruu.

– There is one hall in Anaheim, a building of a Russian owner, where it is really cold, but it cannot be compared to this.

KeuPa’s head coach Sami Ryhänen during his playing career he played in many different countries and experienced different series. In Germany, he played in the 2013-2014 season for ESV Kaufbeuren at the second highest league level.

There, the coldness of the hall was close to Keuruu.

– We had the other end of the hall completely open. You didn’t notice that in the game when the hall was full. During training in January, it was sometimes really cold. Fortunately, there was a sauna in the booth.

A new hall?

If you want to improve the conditions even further, you should practically build a new ice rink in Keuruu.

KeuPa still wants to promote its activities and a new ice rink would help in this.

– In terms of the future, it (the hall) is starting to reach the end of its lifespan. If Mesti is played in Keuruu in the future, it will be an obstacle to development, says Maasalo.

Still, the current hall has nostalgia and homeliness. KeuPa’s importance to the locals is great, and for many the ice rink is a place to meet friends and get to know new people.

The community that has helped and saved KeuPan during the Mestis period gathers here.

– Our community is small but lively. For us, this is such a nice and easy place to be. If it ever happened that Keuruu got a new hall, which of course we hope, we would certainly remember the importance of this hall for the community, CEO of KeuPa Juuso Mörsky tells.