Hockey|The meeting between Kiekko-Vantaa and the Jokers filled the Tikkurila hall. In the end, the Jokers won.
Kiekko-Vantaa–Jokerit 2–3 yrs.
Jokers kicks in a strong tailwind of eight consecutive victories in hockey Mestis. Jokerit claimed a 3–2 victory in a sold-out (2004 spectators) Tikkurila, but now they went through the whole scale.
The away team’s victory came only in the shootout, when Jokerien Alexander Forslund, Valtteri Filppula, Juhamatti Aaltonen and Samuel Salonen succeeded. So everyone who tried hit it.
Kiekko-Vantaa was tenacious and stayed in the game well, thanks to the youngster Kalle Varinsen20, defenses. For a while it seemed that Varis would stop Mestis’ hot first team.
“The difficulty of scoring and a good goalkeeper”, the head coach of the Jokers Risto Dufva simply.
“This was our best game in a few weeks.”
Joker’s veteran trio Aaltonen–Filppula–Antti Pihlström arranged the more mills for the Vantaa team’s goal the longer the match progressed.
Varis withstood even the heaviest traffic jams admirably.
Aaltonen and in Pihlström’s purchases, you can see that you can get good labor from the card stock if you know how to search properly.
Both former world champions were out of contract when the season started in September. For them, tonight’s match was only the eighth of the season, but the extra they brought was clearly visible in the team’s offensive end.
“Great atmosphere. As if it was a home game”, Aaltonen said about the atmosphere in the full hall.
When Aaltonen and Pihlström last played for the Jokers, the ruble league KHL was played, but now the atmosphere is nice and homey.
“It was a different ball game, but I’m not at that level anymore,” Aaltonen said and added:
“However, the motivation is great. There is still time to play and here was such a project going on.”
The veterans were there even when Saku Forsblom took the Jokers to a 1-0 lead. Pihlström gave a sweet pass to Forsblom and before that Aaltonen gave the puck to Pihlström.
For the last time, the Jokerit managed to win outright with Pihlström’s goal three minutes before the end. That lead lasted just 16 seconds when Niklas Nordgren smoothed out.
Jokers built the league’s rise in the late 1980s on young stars. Then the names of the future will be heard Teemu Selänne, Keijo Säilynoja, Walter Immonen, Mika Strömberg and partners.
Times are different now. The responsibility for the rise is heaped on stars in their forties who have seen it all. Either there are not enough young and talented players up to the Jokers, or they play in other leagues.
The Jokeri’s lead in Mestis is overwhelming and heralds a victory in the regular season, although there is still a lot to play.