The jokers fell onto the plot from a height.
Tomek Valtonen was frustrated. Tomi Natri / AOP
Helsinki Jokerit put on a show in Veikkaus-arena on Friday and crushed Joensuu’s Kiekko-Pojat in front of more than 12,000 spectators with a score of 7-4.
On Saturday, the people of Helsinki had a slightly different work day. Nokian Pyry Hockey, the upstart team expected to finish at the tail end of the series, beat the Jokerit 3–2 in overtime
Head coach of the Jokers Tomek Valtonen was visibly frustrated at the post-match press conference.
– This series is tough and really even. Maybe it tells about our professionalism that we seemingly came, but pretending to play is not enough. This is where you have to get to the heart of it, and this is the beauty of this sport. This is a good lesson, Valtonen said.
– This is such a “training to become a professional” project going on. Damn short steps are taken. That’s a fact.
In Valtonen’s opinion, Jokerit dominated the match but took stupid layoffs, and Alivoima didn’t work.
– Then we had our own places of superiority, but the top players must be the top players. They had, we didn’t.
Jokerit is aiming for promotion to the main series. However, the team is currently in 7th place in the 10-team league.
Mesti’s league table
1. IPK, 12 matches, 25 points
2. RoKi, 14 matches, 25 points
3. JoKP, 12 matches, 23 points
4. Agile, 12 matches, 20 points
5. TUTO, 12 matches, 19 points
6. K-Vantaa, 10 matches, 19 points
7. Jokers, 13 matches, 19 points
8. Pyry Hockey, 12 matches, 13 points
– – –
9. Hermes, 14 games, 12 points
10. KeuPa HT, 13 matches, 11 points