Tappara won first place again, even though the physical load had been of a ferocious class.
Tappara’s players posed with the regular season victory trophy. Mika Kylmäniemi / AOP
The regular season of the SM league is played for 60 rounds, and at the end Tappara wins.
The statement adapted from the football side held its own when Tappara won the regular season in a tight spot against Ilves, who had an equal chance for first place.
Tappara pilot Jussi Tapola admitted that the achievement feels even sweeter after the fierce squeeze. In the spring season, Tappara has been really busy with matches because of the CHL and the postponed league matches.
– After Christmas, we haven’t gotten into the rhythm of practicing between games. Whenever you play a lot, you sleep less and therefore it is a heavy load.
– In that sense, it’s an incredible performance that we were still able to win the regular season, Tapola sighed after the local game, which ended in a 5–3 victory over Tappara.
Tapola pointed out that the lack of training made him worried during the season, even though Tappara has remained in the top points pace the entire time without any major setbacks.
– However, training belongs to this European hockey, in North America it is just playing, Tapola compared.
– Then you just have to find ways to win. In that, we are currently a bit behind other teams who have had a solid 2-3 months here.
On to the playoffs
As in previous local matches, Tapola highly praised Ilves’ performance, even though there was no doubt about the winner. Possibly the last local game of the regular season was a preview of the final series between the Tampere team.
– Ilves will very likely reach the finals, Tapola grinned.
However, after sending pressure to the neighbor, the three-time champion coach reminded that at this stage, speculating about dream finals is just as empty.
– In the playoffs, you only have to live in the moment. Going on vacation is certain if you even start looking at what will happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
Now, after a heavy rush of matches, Tappara will have a break of about a week, during which it will wait for its quarter-final opponent from the first round of the playoffs.