The league star brought the disgusting phenomenon to light

– In my opinion, I was not filming at that time, Markus Nurmi defends himself.

The nasty talk started from the quarter-final series against HIFK.

– Some player gave a terrible ax blow, and it was something that I filmed.

The matter began to take on a life of its own through the publicity, and supporters of the opponents took the opportunity to wave a hatchet every time Nurme fell.

Nurmi is a visible player in other ways than because of his height of 196 centimeters and the gold helmet he wears. The 25-year-old winger, who drives hard to the goal, gets special treatment from his opponents and also gives back.

– It belongs to hockey, he emphasizes.

– And I also enjoy it.

However, Nurmi gained a dubious reputation from the film buzz, which is not easy to shake off.

– If someone thinks like that, they can think. It doesn’t bother me and I don’t feel bad about it, he acknowledges.

Crash messages

In the same way, Nurmi reacts to the most recent case that brought him to the headlines.

At the end of November, HIFK fans tried to take away Turku’s game humor with their shouts, but it didn’t work: Nurmi equalized in the last minute and also hit in the penalty shootout, which TPS won.

The equalizer fanning the hand behind the ear was puffy.

The next day, Nurmi shared photos of the rude messages she received in the stories section of Instagram.

– You are an arrogant piece of shit! Die away! You will be beaten to shit!

That’s a small part of the slag dose the player gets.

– I hadn’t regretted it and I didn’t think it would become such a big deal, Nurmi points out.

Individual

He may have done many players a favor by bringing the disgusting phenomenon to light.

– We don’t talk about it much in the team. Sometimes you might read some comments as a joke.

However, players are human, and it is individual how each one takes the abuse they receive.

– The sooner you can ignore it, the better. In one ear and out the other, advises Nurmi.

– The worst thing is if you start thinking that this is how it is, it’s a general opinion and even my teammates think that I’m bad. Then there will be difficulties and self-confidence can disappear.

Nurmi reminds us that most of the messages are positive. He would like the negative feedback to remain in commenting on game issues.

– I think it’s totally okay for someone to say “fuck you, you’re a piece of shit”. Then I’m a crappy player, or at least that’s someone’s opinion, but such “kill yourself” messages have nothing to do with hockey.

Track record

Nurmi made his debut in the TPS league team in the 2015–16 season and in the same season won the under-18 World Cup gold for Finland.

He played his first A national matches in the autumn 2020 Karelia tournament, immediately getting the nickname “Rusko’s lion”.

– I was living in Rusko at the time, and Tepsi’s media manager at the time had put one somewhere, Nurmi tells the background of the matter.

Nurme has not yet been seen in the adult competition. The competition place was close in the spring of 2022, when he was eliminated as the last player from the team that finally celebrated the World Championship gold in Tampere.

– Of course it’s sad, but NHL players came there. I thought that’s how it goes now. The best are playing, and you just have to try to do better so that you can hopefully get there someday.

In any case, the season was a success for Nurme and at the same time the final breakthrough to the sharpest top of the league.

He scored his record 20+19=39 points in the regular season and won the playoff points exchange as the crown. The balance 4+15=19 was and is also TPS’ club record.

– At that point, I didn’t really know how to appreciate it, but now I really appreciate it. Still, I would have rather taken that gold than those own points.

– I tried my best, but it wasn’t enough. It’s life too, that there will be disappointments too.

Return home

Disappointment began to fade after the season, when the Turku native, drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the sixth round in 2016, signed a one-year rookie contract with the Nashville Predators as a free agent.

However, the breakthrough to the NHL was not successful. Nurmi managed to play 48 AHL games for the Milwaukee Admirals, until an injury ended the games in the middle of the season.

Last spring, he signed a three-year contract with TPS and returned to Turku to enjoy hockey again.

– I think there must be something more in life than hockey. If there is nothing else, then you don’t enjoy hockey as much.

– Of course it’s nice here, Nurmi refers to his hometown.

– And it can certainly be somewhere else, I don’t mean it, he elaborates.

Different ways to play

Nurmi’s previous TPS seasons culminated in the finals in 2021 and 2022, but both times the silver was left in hand.

The first one came Raimo Helminen and another Jussi Ahokkan in coaching. After last season’s 10th place, Ahokas was allowed to step aside and KalPa, who did a good job, arrived as TPS’s head coach Tommi Miettinen.

– With “Raipe” we played a bit of organic hockey. Back then, things went in every direction, and as long as you pushed for work, it was good. With “Jose” it became a bit more defensive. There was more trap and game structure, Nurmi compares the coaches’ ways of playing.

– “Toma” of course wants to bring his own style of hockey. We apply at high speeds and we get a lot of pressure.

To a new rise

The active style of play is liked by the players and also by the spectators, but at the same time it is a challenging way to play. It requires hard skating work and a strong physique.

The learning phase seemed to be short when TPS opened the season wonderfully with six wins. However, the flight rained badly, and the team even fell out of the playoff spots.

December has started to pass again. Last weekend, Palloseura defeated Lukko and Ässi in the Kassite hegemony struggles 8–1 in total and climbed back onto the playoff line, tenth.

– The game has been really varied, Nurmi sums up the autumn season.

– Sometimes they have played really well and sometimes they have been really bad. We’ve had problems against teams that play a lot of trap, but I think we’ve played quite well against the top teams.

The results support Nurmi’s words. In addition to the HIFK robbery, TPS has, for example, defeated both Kärpät and Ilves twice already. The team has twice bowed to Tappara, but both times only after tough times.

– The season is long, and every team will have a bad patch at some point. I hope we had it there, Nurmi refers to the gloomy October-November.

– Nothing has been lost yet. After all, what we are looking for here is to be able to play better and better all the time.

The differences in the even middle class are really small, and fourth-placed Kärpät is only five points behind Turku – of course, having played one less match.

Paintball

With the team’s improvement, Nurmi’s performance has also improved – and the equation works both ways.

– My season has been similar to the whole team’s. There have been good games and bad games. Recently, there have been more power points and I think I’ve also been playing really well. I have been able to help the team in other ways than just those goals, Nurmi is happy.

He has scored five goals in the last four games.

– Every attacker probably wants to score those goals and points. It’s great that they have arrived now.

Nurme’s score of 11+11=22 in the half-way race heralds a record season balance of 44 points.

– I don’t have a specific point goal, but it’s clear that I have to do as many as possible. However, I am such an important part of the team that if I play badly and am not able to get a result, the game becomes difficult for the team as well, Nurmi is aware of his responsibility for the result.

When asked about his career goals, he answers with his eyes firmly on the ball, so to speak.

– I think more about this near future. This is what I want to bet on and this is where I would like to win – when I have already been in the finals a couple of times and have come up short.