Tuesday 25.3, and two games are taking place to decide the second play off finalist and the second team from the qualification group to join Titaanit in Mestis next season. The situation facing each team is straightforward and perfectly equal: win or else.

Hokki 6-2 Jukurit
Two games each in the play off semi-final. After 40 minutes the home team led 4-2. A disastrous opening 10 minutes for the visitors saw them ship three goals. They replied late in the period to trail at the 20 minute mark by 3-1. Jukurit’s goalie, Joni Myllykoski, at this point was saving at only 50%. The second period started almost as well as the first for Hokki, scoring early in the period to restore the three goal lead, but shortly afterwards missing a penalty shot. In a repeat of the first period, Jukurit scored late to reduce the deficit back to two goals. Two further goals in the third period hammered the lid on Jukurit’s coffin very firmly down. This game got away from the visitors in the first ten minutes, and the reigning champions return to the final.

Salamat 3-4 D-Kiekko
The “extra” game in the qualification group, necessitated by the two teams finishing dead level in second place. A goalless first period, the men from Jyväskylä broke the deadlock after 4:25 of the second, only to give up two power play goals later in the period. At the second break Salamat led 2-1. D-Kiekko equalised within two minutes of the start of the third period, and then took the lead mid-way through the period. Five minutes later the home team scored the third equaliser of the evening, and with no further goals the score at full time was 3-3. Into sudden death extra time, and after 66:34 Pirkka Lahtinen, just out of the bin for diving, scored the winner. D-Kiekko climb up to Mestis, Salamat flash down into Suomi-sarja.

The final round of matches in the Mestis qualification group took place this evening. In Kotka, Titaanit ran out 3-2 winners over K-Laser, though with both teams knowing their destiny beforehand there wasn’t a huge amount at stake. A completely different story in Kirkkonummi, where Salamat met D-Kiekko in the battle for who goes where in second and third slots. The home side started well, Jarno Koskiranta scoring with just 2:29 on the clock; and that’s the way it stayed until full time, giving three crucial points to Salamat and leaving the final table looking like this:

  Team   P  F-A Pts
Titaanit 6 23-17 15
Salamat  6 16-13  9
D-Kiekko 6 15-13  9
K-Laser  6 12-23  3

The criteria for differentiating for second place are the head to head encounters, first on league points and secondly on goals for and against. With the former being tied at 3-3 and the latter being tied at 2-2, a deciding game must take place. With Salamat having a superior overall goal difference, this final final match will be played in Kirkkonummi. The men from Jyväskylä must be wondering where this weekend has gone. Before last Friday’s game they were perched atop the table, needing but a single point from the last two games to ensure playing in Mestis next season. They couldn’t get it, and face a difficult game on Tuesday.

Not exactly unpredictably, TuTo reached this year’s Mestis final after breezing past KooKoo tonight. Two goals in each period brought them a 1-6 victory in Kouvola. Who (or should that be whom?) they will face remains undecided following an altogether different match in Mikkeli. Hokki started the match brightly, and a Jussi Tapio goal after 11 minutes gave the visitors a 0-1 lead at the first break. Jukurit picked their game up in the second period, equalising in under 4 minutes through Jussi-Mikko Makkonen and forcing their guests to work hard to keep things level. In a game of only 9 two minute penalties, the early part of the third period saw a rash of them, and with both teams a man short Antti Laakso scored what proved to be the winner after 46:51. A 2-1 win for Jukurit, tying the series at 2-2. The decider is in Kajaani on Tuesday.

I’ve not mentioned much about the SM-liiga quarter-finals, preferring to concentrate on Mestis instead. However, last night the remaining three semi-final berths were decided, so some sort of round up is in order. Blues were first into the semis: they lost the opener at home to HIFK but then trotted out four straight wins to take the series 4-1. The first five matches in the Kärpät v Ilves and Tappara v JYP pairings all went to the home side, so both home teams last night, Ilves and JYP, had to win to stay alive. Both lost, Ilves died with their boots on, as the Finns say, 1-2 in extra time, but JYP crashed and burned 2-6 having lost the plot in the last 10 minutes. Can’t think of any more cliches. The pyjama men and Pelicans arrived at the same position after five games via a slightly different route. The first three games went with home advantage, but then Jokerit won in Lahti only for Pelicans to return the compliment in the fifth. The end position was still the same though with Pelicans needing a win last night in Lahti. They didn’t get it; after leading, trailing, levelling, trailing by two goals and equalising again, they finally went out 4-5 in extra time.

So, the top four runkosarja teams are through to the semis. I should’ve stuck with the logic. The line up is

Kärpät v Tappara
Blues v Jokerit

Sorry to disappoint you all (alright then, both) but no predictions this time, the match ups are too close. I want a Kärpät - Jokerit final, but let’s see…

A final mention for Raimo ‘Raipe’ Helminen, whose long and illustrious career ended last night in Hakametsä, still playing professional ice hockey at the top flight at the age of 43.

Tonight’s games in Mestis karsinta settled the destiny of two of the group’s four clubs. Reminding myself of my prediction that Titaanit would be playing next season in the lower division, they’ve proved me hopelessly wrong with a string of wins, the latest being 5-2 over D-Kiekko in Kotka. Meanwhile, Salamat travelled up to Oulu, with both teams needing victory to keep any hope of playing next season in Mestis alive. Both goalkeepers saw plenty of action in a game in which Salamat opened the scoring mid-way through the first period, and then extended it mid-way through the third. K-Laser scored a consolation goal 5 seconds from time when 6 on 3, but the visitors took the spoils 1-2. With one game each left to go the table looks like this:

  Team   P  F-A Pts
Titaanit 5 20-15 12
D-Kiekko 5 15-12  9
Salamat  5 15-13  6
K-Laser  5 10-20  3

D-Kiekko travel to Kirkkonummi on Sunday in a straight fight for second place. The other game is Titaanit v K-Laser.

Yesterday in Espoo District Court, Jere Karalahti was put on probation for 20 months and also fined €10000. He was one of the more peripheral characters of a drug running operation. Some 20 people were accused in relation to the offences, those at the centre of things being sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. It remains to be seen what’s left of his ice hockey career, if anything.

In the Mestis qualification group, Wednesday’s fourth round of games left the table looking like this:

  Team   P   F-A  Pts
D-Kiekko 4  13- 7  9
Titaanit 4  15-13  9
Salamat  4  13-12  3
K-Laser  4   9-18  3

The top two meet in Kotka tomorrow, Good Friday, in a game that must see at least one of them, possibly both, secure a place in Mestis next season. For D-Kiekko, it would be the culmination of a strong, almost relentless, drive in the second half of the season. The same could not be said of Titaanit: more or less a basket case coming into this group, they finished runkosarja hopelessly adrift of the rest of the league. Turning a badly losing season around in the space of a few games is never easy, but they’re on the verge of achieving it. On Wednesday they won 4-6 in Kirkkonummi, thereby completing the double over Salamat. D-Kiekko’s victims in Jyväskylä were K-Laser who went down 4-3, making it four wins out of four against the northerners. The other game tomorrow is K-Laser v Salamat in the shed in Raksila.

Elsewhere in Mestis, the third round of semi-final games were played tonight. TuTo started off their series against KooKoo with what sounds almost like a one-sided defeat for the visitors. TuTo goalie Petri Koivisto earned his crust making 41 saves against his opposite number’s rather thin total of 19, but it’s only the goals that count and those went in 7-2. KooKoo hit back, however, with a 4-3 win in extra time last night in Kouvola to level the series at a game apiece, and put up stern resistance in tonight’s encounter in Turku before losing 2-1. The other match up between Hokki and Jukurit has been predictably unpredictable. Hokki sprinted into a two game lead by winning 4-1 in Kajaani on Monday and then 3-4 in last night’s return in Mikkeli. The combination of the prospect of Hokki sauntering into the final and Jukurit having their backs, once again, against the wall, duly resulted in a 3-7 win tonight in Kajaani for Jukurit. The next round of games are on Saturday in Kouvola and Mikkeli, both home teams having to win.

Away from the play offs, Sport’s Kim Nabb will be stepping up a notch next season, having signed with Lukko.

I went to see Ilves-Kärpät on Tuesday, a game that saw Ilves win 3-0 and ensure Raimo Helminen would get at least one more game at Hakametsä. I was in the company of Kärpät fans, so we shall view the game from their perspective. Incidentally, I have been to three playoff games now, and each time my team has lost. I may stay away if Jyp take things to a decider.

Before the game the Kärpät fans unveiled a banner that read ‘teille on Raipe, meille on poikka’-you’ve got Raipe, but we’ve got ‘the boy’, the latter being the nickname for SM-liiga’s outsized trophy. Both claims looked a bit dodgy, as Raipe played very little and Kärpät did not look like champions in the making.

It was my first Kärpät game, but not the best example of their dominance of SM Liiga. They are clearly a good team, some of their passing was mesmerising, but when it’s not going right it’s not going right. I was surprised to learn that they go everywhere by coach, even during the playoffs, and those 7 hour journeys must take their toll.

Pesonen riled a few Ilves players and most of the Ilves fans, but didn’t do much of note otherwise. Tero Leinonen had a great game in the Ilves net, at one point trying to head a shot clear even though it was flying high and wide.

I was also surprised by how many supporters Kärpät had, and pretty stunned to discover the geographical range of their fanbase. My friend’s father in law had come down for the game, getting the night train home afterwards. Only he hadn’t come from Oulu. Oh no. He had left his home the previous night, driving the 80km from Kangosjärvi to Kolari, caught the overnight train to Tampere, and spent the day with his daughter before the big game.

He lives 400km north of Oulu, in the Meänkieli heartlands along the banks of the River Torne. He explained that he finds it difficult in both Finland and Sweden, as it is not just the language but more of a cultural difference. His daughter described her birthplace as ‘the armpit of Finland’, but I think she was describing the shape of the map rather than making a qualitative judgement.

This is apparently very common in the north. Kärpät are the best supported team throughout Finnish lapland, and this has a lot to do with their financial muscle. Most of the fans who were in Tampere live in the economically dominant south west, but have their roots up north. Supporting Kärpät in away games is a connection they’re not keen to lose.

Kärpät won yesterday, and provided Raipe’s boys get a win at Hakametsä tomorrow the game will go to a decider on Saturday at Raksila. Jyp host Tappara tomorrow on TV, and I think I’ll watch it that way rather than going to lend my support. Three games, three losses and only one goal for ‘my’ teams does not bode well for clubs I support in person.

The key team in yesterday’s Suomi-sarja group D games turned out to be LeKi-75. They’ve probably had better weekends. On Saturday they travelled to Imatra only to be thrashed 8-1 by runaway league leaders Ketterä. Small wonder perhaps, considering they didn’t have enough forwards even for three lines. They kept the game close for two periods, being only 2-1 down at the end of the second, but the wheels well and truly came off in the third. Two further goals sealed their fate, and after they had a man sent off 10 minutes from time, the flood gates opened. Good news, however, arrived in the form of TuusKi’s narrow victory over Eagles, which guaranteed at least fourth place for LeKi-75 and qualification for next season’s Suomi-sarja.

The same depleted squad travelled to Kuusankoski on Sunday for what had become effectively a nothing game for LeKi-75. They duly lost 9-1, a result that guaranteed qualification for the home team and simultaneously rendered anything Varkaus Eagles might do irrelevant. For their part, the Eagles, who had to win heavily in 60 minutes to stand even the thinnest chance of qualification, were fighting hard against the league’s ground floor dwellers, NasKi, in Pajulahti. In a game wracked by 27 two minute penalties, Eagles eventually succumbed 6-4 after leading part way through the second 1-4. The game in Kuusankoski started 40 minutes before the one in Pajulahti and LeKi-75’s case was hopeless even by the end of the second period, factors which may have contributed to the Eagles’ third period performance. It was also a surprise to see Ryan Hirtle’s name on the team sheet for the last two games as I had understood he is persona non grata in the team. An explanation is offered here.

I’ve got a bit behind with the matches in the last couple of days, so here’s what matters in precis form.

On Friday night the second round of the SM-liiga quarter-finals took place:

Ilves 3-2 Kärpät (1-1 in games)
HIFK 3-6 Blues (1-1)
Pelicans 3-1 Jokerit (1-1)
JYP 5-4 Tappara (1-1)

Everything even then for the third round which is this afternoon.

Saturday was a Mestis day. The decider between Jukurit and Sport in Mikkeli ended up 3-2, so the Mestis semi-finals look like this:

TuTo v KooKoo
Hokki v Jukurit

TuTo should beat KooKoo, but the other match up is anyone’s guess. I’ll go for Jukurit on the strength of their tough games against Sport having steeled their resolve, and also the dubious strength of Hokki not reaching the final again after last year’s success.

The third round of the Mestis karsinta was also played yesterday, with K-Laser beaten heavily 0-5 at home by D-Kiekko, and Titaanit recovering from yet another head coach change to beat Salamat 3-2 in Kotka.

A very quick look at the Suomi sarja karsinta, group D. The penultimate round of games today saw the Eagles lose 4-3 to TuusKi, but HC Kuusankoski, surprisingly, only getting a single point from their visit to NasKi. Nevertheless, that leaves HC KSNK 3 points clear of Eagles, but should they win at NasKi tomorrow and HC KSNK lose at home to LeKi-75, both at full time, then the number of points would be level at 19. At which point I don’t know the criteria for separating teams that are level on points. If it’s goal difference then Eagles have a very slim chance of making up an 11 goal deficit, whereas if it’s head to head meetings then they have no chance because Kuusankoski have won all three encounters. Frankly, it’s almost certain that the Eagles will remain in Division II next season.

Twenty-four hours later than planned, a quick write up of Jukurit’s visit to Vaasa. Well, at least I do have a home life. For those of you popping your head round the corner for the first time or otherwise haven’t been following, it’s the Mestis play offs, quarter-final stage, best of five which Sport are leading 2-1. Doing the sums ain’t difficult — it’s win or out for Jukurit.

The first period saw plenty of huffing and puffing but not a huge amount in terms of constructive play. Jukurit in particular couldn’t get their act together, having no end of difficulty in clearing their own zone and creating little clear cut at the other end. The goalkeepers still had some work to do though – and both Eero Väre in the home net and his opposite number Joni Myllykoski had excellent games – particularly during the several melees that developed in front of both goals. The only goal of the period came on exactly 5 minutes when Jukurit were caught changing. Paul Cabana raced through on goal and his cross pass stranded Myllykoski and allowed Ian MacNeil to score with ease.

The second period didn’t start much better for Jukurit, taking a penalty almost immediately, but after surviving that they started finding their skates and rhythm and became increasingly dangerous. The equaliser came after 28:26 when a completely free Jesse Uronen shot past Väre. The continued pressure led Sport into penalty problems, and Tomi Lindfors put the men from Mikkeli ahead during a 5 on 3 power play. The latter part of the period saw the home side restore parity in the play, but no more goals left the score at 1-2 at the end of the period.

The start of the third carried on from where the end of the second left off, both sides playing well. The home side carved an equaliser after 44:35 when Kim Nabb tapped in the loose puck after some great stick handling in front of net by Patrik Westerback. The last 10 minutes saw the game turn against Sport and particularly against Cabana. On 51:26 he was penalised for tripping during a hectic scramble in front of his own goal. A minute later, Väre was left helpless when Antti Laakso deflected a shot from the point past him, putting the visitors again a goal to the good. That man Cabana was in trouble again on 57:04 when he was penalised for hooking following a tussle behind the Jukurit goal. The look on his face when he saw the referee’s arm raised gave a pretty good idea he thought his opponent had embellished the theatricals, and the solid looking right hook to the jaw that felled his opponent about 3 seconds later added certainty to the impression. It also added 2 minutes to the penalty when his team needed 6 on 5. Instead, Sport tried to salvage the match in the last half minute 5 against 5, Väre having vacated the net. With Sport attacking on the right wing, there followed a heavy collision between Nabb and Lindfors which pole-axed the former and left him lying face down in a pool of blood in the Jukurit end zone. Incredibly play was allowed to continue, and to add to the farce Jukurit contrived to miss the empty net at the other end despite having three attackers present before the first defender got back and nipped the puck away. Play was only stopped when Sport countered again with the still prostrate Nabb about an aeon offside. Cue uproar from the home team (the crowd, unsurprisingly, were already in uproar) and a lengthy break to allow for Lindfors to be sent off for high-sticking, Nabb to be re-erected to the vertical position, part of his lower cranium to be excavated from the ice, a couple of pints of his blood to be swabbed away and the sausages to be re-heated. One of the officials made the mistake of getting within vocal range of Juhani Tamminen. I didn’t get too much of the barrage, although the word perkele made more than one appearance, and in a voice that suggested that Urheilukanava had sneaked a microphone up his trouser leg without his knowledge. When play did eventually resume, the final 10 seconds saw no further goals, leaving Jukurit winners, 2-3.

A word about the crowd in Vaasa. Sport’s average home gate in runkosarja, 2181, was double the league average. Yesterday’s crowd was a whopping 3608, who provided a tremendous atmosphere for a tense game.

Yep, when it comes to incisive titles for each piece, I’m right through the bottom of the barrel. Now for the ice hockey. Last night saw quarter-final matches in both SM-liiga and Mestis, but those later because I’m starting with the Mestis qualification group.

Tuesday night in Raksila, K-Laser hosted Titaanit in a game it would be fair to describe as a see-saw contest. The home team raced into a 3-0 lead in the first period, with all three goals being scored with only 8 men on the ice and never the same situation twice. Can’t happen too often, this: the first goal was scored while two men short, the second during the more conventional five against three, and the third with both teams a man short. The visitors from Kotka utterly dominated the second period, forcing 24 saves and scoring three times with very little traffic going the opposite direction. Tied at 3-3 going into the final period, K-Laser woke themselves back up and scored the critical goal 10 minutes from full time. Titaanit’s efforts to rescue the game only gave the home team another goal into an empty net. Final score 5-3. The other game was played last night in Jyväskylä when D-Kiekko greeted Salamat. A final score of 2-1 suggests a close contest, but a quick look at the stats shows otherwise: in the first two periods the home team goalie, Ville Vähäsalo, made the grand total of 6 saves whereas his opposite number, Simo Vehviläinen, made 46. After two games each the table is even with each team having won one and lost one. The next matches are Titaanit v Salamat and K-Laser v D-Kiekko on Saturday.

In the Mestis play offs TuTo moved to the semi-finals by dispatching SaPKo in clinical fashion, 7-0. Hokki and KooKoo also progressed to the next round, though not without stubborn resistance from Jokipojat and LeKi respectively. Both games went into extra time with KooKoo eventually winning 5-4 after 16 minutes of extra time, and Hokki winning 3-2 after 92 minutes of play. In Mikkeli, Jukurit are now staring into the abyss after losing at home to Sport, 0-3. The return game is on Friday and will be shown live on Urheilukanava.

Last night’s results in the SM-liiga play off made my predictions look a bit ropey. Jokerit made Pelicans squeak rather loudly in an 8-4 destruction, Ville Leino getting a hat trick and Jani Rita a brace. In Espoo, IFK made it a good night for the capital by winning 1-2, Lennart Petrell getting the first while Arttu Luttinen was in the bin, and then Luttinen himself adding the second. Pasi Tuominen pulled one back for Blues early in the second but it proved to be not enough. In Tampere, Tappara came back from a goal down to defeat JYP 2-1, which leaves just Kärpät and Ilves. A final score of 7-1 tells you all you need to know, with Michal Bros and Teemu Normio both getting a pair, and Hannes Hyvönen again being the top points scorer with 0+4.