The big-muscled Rauma Luko’s season ended short.
– There were no stretches in a tight spot. Then it turned into a must-win. At least it didn’t free up playing to flow.
This is how hockey expert Pekka Virta spins the playoff meltdown of Rauma’s Luko, which surprised hockey fans.
The third match of the series, which already ended in a home loss, knocked the air out of Luko. In the fourth match, HPK scored the opening goal that showed the direction and ran away for good in the second set.
– Playing the lock was not dull, Virta sums up.
– For some reason, however, the joy of playing and the desire to win remained hidden.
Five years since the championship
In the summer, Lukko announced the long extension of head coach Tomi Lämsä’s (right) contract until spring 2028. Elmeri Elo / AOP
Lukko won the Finnish championship under Virra in the spring of 2021. Since then, the places have been eighth, fifth, ninth and fourth.
The final ranking of this season is still open, but in any case it is a huge disappointment for the Romanian club operating with big financial forces.
– For many years in a row, a team has been assembled that has a chance to win the Finnish championship, Virta states.
– Luko’s strategy also states that the aim is to play in a group of four.
Virta describes the quick and surprising end of the season with the word failure.
– Mutually supporting each other, they will move forward from now on, because there is no independent and evaluating group within Luko, but all decisions have been made by consensus, he says.
– Rauma is a bit different from Munich. There it’s score or out.
Spot purchases
Cameron Wright was not restrained by the lock. Elmeri Elo / AOP
Last season, Lukko won the regular season and progressed to the quarterfinals easily over Sport – but lost to SaiPa in the semifinals.
Sports director Kalle Sahlstedt reacted by bringing the owner’s own son, an NHL-qualified goalkeeper, to Äijänsuo Antti Raannan and attacking players By Alex Beaucage and Mikael Ruohomaan.
– Last year’s problem was the superiority game, so specific purchases were made for that. Superiority was made to work, and Ruohomaa scored great points, but at the same time there were players who were overshadowed, Virta routii.
– We came to a situation where Luko’s width and material were not visible against HPK as they could have been.
Lukko scored four goals in four HPK matches. The only Locker who captured more than one power point was Antti Saarela (2+0).
For comparison: Cameron Wright defeated Lukko with six (3+3) power points, Sami Päivärinta (3+1) and Anrei Hakulinen (1+3) by four.
By turns
The head coach Tomi Lämsa played his guards in the HPK series with the tide. Joni Ortio played the first and third matches, Daniel Salonen second and fourth.
Kim SaarinenHPK’s young comet, played all the matches of the Lukko series and registered a dazzling save percentage of 96.72. Orti’s percentage was 93.02, Salonen’s was 90.24.
– The goalkeeper’s play was hardly the main reason why Lukko lost the games, Virta acknowledges.
– Scoring was the problem, not goalkeeping.
Counted as a core piece, Raanta was out of Luko’s playoff lineup. Lämsä did not tell the reason in front of the media on Tuesday evening.
Raanta played his last match of the season on February 28, when Pelicans claimed a 5–2 victory over Rauma. Nine saves were recorded in the statistics.
Raanta was still in the lineup as a wicketkeeper for second and third in the regular season in the last round.
– The story of the season was calculated so that Raanta plays, Virta thinks.
– All things that don’t go as planned bring uncertainty.
Luko’s situation was also discussed in a recent episode of Lätkäpodi. You can listen to the episode in the player below or behind this link.
