Golden Lion Niko Hovinen, who has already finished his career, returns to HIFK

His career the goalkeeper who retired last summer Niko Hovinen has made a surprising decision.

36-year-old Hovinen continues his career, and moves to IFK Helsinki.

Hovinen is already training with HIFK on Thursday.

The two-meter-tall goalkeeper represented HIFK already last season.

The club confirmed on Thursday morning that they had signed a contract with the player for the rest of the season.

Editorial according to information, IFK did not offer Hovise an extension after last season, despite his top performances. Hovinen looked at the venue from, for example, Central Europe, but could not find a suitable place.

At the beginning of June, Hovinen said that he had finished his career.

However, in the fall, he started training in his hometown Turku with the Mestis team Tuto.

Hovinen was already close to signing a contract in Slovakia at the beginning of the week, but a last-minute call from HIFK changed the plans.

Recruiting a new goalkeeper for IFK became relevant when Roope Taponen was injured.

Last in the season Hovinen played 22 regular season matches in HIFK with a save percentage of 92 and an average of 1.81 goals conceded. In the playoffs, he became the team’s number one guard and kept his team upright in the quarterfinal series against the Pelicans.

However, HIFK’s season was dull in handling the Pelicans.

At the moment, the red shirts are in third place in the SM league standings after eight matches.