Heikki Hiltunen, chairman of Vaasan Sport and the SM league, responds to the avalanche of criticism.
- Second last in the league, Sport did a so-called clearance sale at the end of the week.
- The league’s transfer deadline ends on Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.
- Heikki Hiltunen answer Iltalehti’s Suoraa ishi question battery.
The decision announced by Sport on Saturday to sell and lease its players for the rest of the season – or in the vernacular, a clearance sale – has attracted a lot of criticism. How do you answer that?
– We made the best solution for the club in the longer term and ensured that we can implement the changed strategy effectively. Because of this – at the point when the playoff possibilities were practically gone – a decision was made in order to continue the company’s development and secure the company’s financial position.
Sport still had a chance to fight for a playoff spot, so the solution looks like giving up. How do you comment?
– I don’t buy that handover word. We had two games left in the transfer window. We should have collected a significantly bigger score in the final games compared to the other three competing clubs. The practical chances of making it to the finals – also taking into account the health situation of the team – were so slim that we concluded that it is not realistic to assume that the situation will change substantially in two games. In order to have some effect, we preferred to make the decision earlier than we expected from Wednesday.
Heikki Hiltunen has been the chairman of SM-liiga oy since 2016. JUSSI SAARENEN
In the fiscal year 2021–22, Vaasan Sport oy made a loss of 108,640 euros. How big a loss now threatened when the savings were decided upon?
– The threat was perhaps closer to half a million.
How much savings will there be now?
– I would think that with the overall effect we will be able to get to zero or a little positive. This is a very important issue.
– At the same time, a new sports director and service manager have been appointed and the strategy of the junior side has been rebuilt. A share issue will also be run here during Q1 and equity will be strengthened. In the history of sport, this is the biggest change in the entire time I’ve been involved.
The second horizontal cup has the financial effects caused by the loss of image. How did you rate these?
– Yes, we have evaluated them and made different scenarios and calculations. Of course, this has reputational disadvantages for our partners, the Red Army, supporters and season ticket holders. Of course, this is a sad decision, but in the long run, this ensures that the Vaasan Sport joint-stock company will continue in the League and will be able to start the next season from equally strong or stronger positions. If we hadn’t made this move, our starting positions and opportunities to implement the strategy would have been much weaker.
Sport loaned Simon Hjalmarsson to SHL club Rögle and Shaun Heshka to Rauma Lukko for the rest of the season. There have been several other departures. Elmeri Elo / AOP
SaiPa, which has already lost its playoff chances, has also given up several of its core players. Instead, JYP, which was practically in the same league position as Sport, decided to keep the team together. What do you think of JYP’s solution?
– We have made the same decisions in Sport in previous seasons, but now the pressure was stronger. JYP has not had the same pressure or need. It is the decision of each joint stock company and the club, and I do not want to take a position on it. I understand their decision.
The SM League already said in September that it will align the series systems for the future with the Ice Hockey League during this season. What’s up with that?
– The process has progressed, and the league board is working on it. Of course, we have also listened to the feedback that circulates through the media. During the spring, we will meet a couple more times with the partners. The goal would be that at the end of May, the League would have made its own statement on the direction in which the SM league series system will be developed or changed – if it is changed.
The pressure to restore the league qualifiers is great from many directions. The change in league systems would probably also mean reducing the number of teams in the League. What do you think of these?
– Let the work group do the work. In my opinion, this issue has been viewed in a very one-sided way in the public eye. No one has yet gone through what the advantages of a “closed series” are in comparison relegation– system. The media does not want to discuss it in a positive sense at all.
– I don’t think we should go back to anything old either. If a system has ever been perceived as bad, then why should you return to it? We should create something new and different.
Do you find the dual role as chairman of Sport and Liiga difficult in this matter?
– I don’t think so, because the decision is made by the League’s general meeting. An individual club or chairman does not decide, but each club has one vote. Two-thirds, or ten clubs, must be in support of a significant series system change in order for it to be approved.
What effect will Kiekko-Espoo’s and possibly Joker’s projects to return to the League for the 2024–25 season have on the whole?
– It is not relevant to discuss Jokers from the point of view of the League, because such a representative team does not currently exist. Kiekko-Espoo has announced that they intend to apply for the League. Certainly, when thinking about the League’s systems, you have to take into account that that application is very likely coming in the fall.
– The league should think 10–15 years ahead, what is the model that can be used in the long term.
Last fall, you brought up the idea of a top European league. How would it be connected to Finland’s serial reforms?
– In the short term it will certainly not be connected, but it aroused interest and it has been discussed how the matter could be supported and built in this direction.
– Even in Finland, big clubs will need more interest in big arenas. Either this current series model has to be very interesting, or someone new has to be born. Polarization can happen, and not all clubs have the ability to stay involved in the competition. Then we should actively think about how to best develop Finnish top hockey in Europe.
– Even if all SM league clubs could play in an international European series. The SM league and other national leagues could also participate in their own divisions. It wouldn’t necessarily be a bad solution.