The complete collapse 40 years ago still torments the legends of Finland’s Jokers: “I was killed all by myself”

– Noble, you still don’t have an eye for the game!

Pekka Järvelä has been waiting From Hannu Jalo for some time now from the toilet. Järvelä, the star center of the Jokers in the 1980s, has chosen the upstairs toilet of restaurant Viiden Penni, the downstairs of Jalone. Järväla suggests that nothing has changed in a little over 40 years.

– That’s why I never played on the left!

Jalost laughs as the gentlemen walk towards the Nordenskiöldinkatu ice rink. The silver team from the 1982-1983 Joker season has gathered to reminisce about the good old days.

After dinner in the former regular restaurant, Mesti’s match between Jokerit and TuTo is on the program. Everything is clearly as before. The story seems to continue where it left off 40 years ago.

Even then, we always gathered at Viiteen Penn, with the main owner and financier of the team upstairs Aimo Mäkinen lived. Almost the entire team reportedly lived within a kilometer radius of “Penni”.

There are enough stories about Mäki and the coins and pennies paid by him. The whole team received surface money according to the number of spectators and the profit margin, some were paid separate fees also “in the dark”. And many people had a hard time: the taxman remembered with hard punches.

– You were, Linkki, almost a professional, but I was quite an amateur, Jarmo Koskinen retorts For Jari Lindgren.

– But I also sold those plastic bags, Lindgren answers.

Crazy workout

In the season in question, when IFK beat the Jokerit in the Helsinki local finals, there was a certain kind of transition period from amateur to professional. Jokers at least practiced, if not professionally, at least a lot.

– I have a notebook where it says that in summer training we ran 36 times 400 meters. And that 400 meters had to go in a minute! Mika Sulin tells.

– No, we always ran 300 meters, and walked 100 meters as return, the young star of the team at the time Jari Lindroos fix it.

In any case, the training was intense.

– Reino “Pappa” Swede trained the team on the ice so that we were in really good shape and skated away from the opponents, Ari Kuisma remember.

From here, the discussion naturally shifts to career injuries. Who has had their hips operated on or replaced, whose knees have been replaced. Many people have other diseases, of course – we are talking about men on both sides of their 70s.

– Can we go back to old, more comfortable topics, Jari Lindroos propose.

The loss is still stinging

Let’s move on. What kind of memories do the gentlemen have of the season 1982–1983 and especially of the bitterly lost finals with 2–3 wins to IFK?

– It still hurts. We were so close, and we stayed close. I personally didn’t get closer than once in IFK, Ari Kuisma from Stadion says directly.

For those who came from customs, which there were a lot of in that team, the feeling is different.

– Of course, that final loss was sad. But a few hours after the end of the finals, the thought was already that it was a top season for us, says Pekka Järvelä.

For Jari Lindroos, too, sadness is still the overriding emotion after 40 years.

– We were completely superior in two games. It’s a shame that the thing was hatched by itself.

From the words of the players, you can sense that they were not satisfied with all of coach Reino Ruotsalainen’s solutions. For example, after two won games, the Swede had mixed up the lineup with a big hand. But we don’t want to say a bad word about the late coach.

– The eggs were laid themselves, Lindroos repeats.

Even loss unites

It is said that especially winning unites sports teams forever. But so can a memorable loss. The 1982–1983 Jokeri team is very special to its members.

– I played the best two seasons of my career here. That’s why there are special memories of this team, Hannu Oksanen says.

– There was no big name, well-known player in this team. But a few years later, many players from this team were big names. The team included a lot of players of approximately the same age, who were moving forward in their careers, Ari Kuisma analyze.

When a certain team reunites after more than 40 years and all the players are present except for a few expatriates, it is clear that this team has left a special mark on the hearts of its members.

– After all, this was a great team, the executive director at the time Jean Borgström says.

Field in the tube

A few hours of meeting would be enough stories for a thick book. A lot boils down to the fact that the team reportedly had a common “language”.

– Do you remember the accident when a lot of our players were in the pipe after one night club night, Pekka Järvelä laughs.

No more about it in the newspaper columns. Except this.

– When we came to practice the next time, Pappa Ruotsalainen shouted that I didn’t become the leader of any Karhukopla, Järvelä huffs.

– And didn’t you knock on the walls of the pipe to each other in Morse code, someone acknowledges.

Tonight’s match is over. Jokerit won – judging by the votes. The legends of the Jokers have enjoyed each other’s company in the space reserved for them since the second installment. Let’s drink more beers. Let’s shake hands. Let’s hug. We wish you a merry Christmas.

– Hello, it was nice to see you again.

– Well, again in 40 years!

– Where do you continue?

We are at the heart of team sports and friendship. No one cares anymore, even if we lost that last game.