Olli Jokinen didn’t like what he saw on Friday night.
Olli Jokinen’s HIFK lost again. Mika Kylmäniemi/AOP
HIFK’s streak in the SM League got another chapter on Friday, when the league jumbo went scoreless for the seventh time this season in the away bowl.
This time, HPK was the rude host and defeated the Helsinki team with a score of 4–0.
The picture of the match was drawn quickly, because HPK’s Samuli Aaltonen scored a goal in the third minute, which ended up being the winning goal.
At no point did HIFK properly get into the game and the head coach got the stickiness of the evening Olli Jokinen your thoughts are unusually gloomy.
– The first five minutes looked like HPK had come to play and we had come, Jokinen added at the press conference.
The coach said that he was deeply disappointed with the performance, especially when the development had been visible in the previous matches.
– Disappointed with the whole, looking at how we played last weekend and how well the players performed in training this week.
Jokinen scolded the players especially for playing defensively.
– Really loose playing. Not many players were interested in defending today.
– HPK set the pipe moving in the attacking game. We didn’t want to take the time off. It was quite a carousel spinning. Passivity and reluctance were present, Jokinen snapped.
The juniors brought a glimmer of light
However, there was one positive note in the middle of the dark evening. Three 17-year-old league debutants were seen in HIFK’s lineup on Friday: the twins Antoni and Eelis Uronen mixed Viljo Kähkönen.
Jokinen singled out the trio as the best of the evening.
– Three players I would like to single out: Uronen’s brothers and Kähkönen’s Viljo were the team’s best players. The boys participated in the league games in a model and open-minded manner. They led our bench and their play on the ice.
– It’s sad for the boys that they didn’t get everyone else along.
Despite the loss, Jokinen also dug out a small spark of hope. The team gets to try face washing right away on Saturday.
– Fortunately, we don’t have to wait until next week for the game, but we can get to Kouvola pretty quickly right away tomorrow to see if the attitude has changed, Jokinen stated.
HIFK is last in the standings with 20 points.