Assistant coach Pasi Puistola told about the situation at the press conference.
Rikard Grönborg was evicted from the substitution box in the second set. Stock photo. Jaakko Stenroos / AOP
Head coach of Tampere Tappara Rikard Grönborg flew into the shower in the middle of Saturday’s SM league match.
Sparks flew in the match between Tappara and TPS, and emotions took over Grönborg in the second set.
– Well, a little bit of everything happened. The biggest reasons for that were probably a couple of questionable judgments. Whenever a player gets injured, it gets emotional. It went well with the coach and the players too. That’s when the momentum turned, assistant coach Pasi Park clarified at the press conference.
In particular, Tappara’s coaching had feedback towards the jury.
According to Puistola, one tackle in the middle area was completely missed by the jury in the second set. Based on his comment, Grönborg’s emotional outburst towards the head referee caused the ejection.
– That’s when the mutual conversation between the head referee and the head coach got emotional. I don’t want to tell its content here.
In the second set, we also saw a fight that seemed to be pre-arranged. The start was in the Tappara area. As soon as the puck fell on the ice, Tappara fell By Luke Witkowski and TPS by Oliver Lauridsen gloves. The punishment was shower commands on the man.
– The big boys were arguing with each other. Nothing to blame for either of them, TPS head coach Tommi Miettinen said.
Tappara won the match 3–2 after the winning goal contest.