Tapanilan Erä’s season, as a whole, has been quite OK.
Sixth place in Finnish Salibandyliiga is pretty much what was expected from the team by experts. Most of the autumn, the Tapanila team was one of the positive surprises, winning seven games in a row, occasionally even poking the top of the table.
But in 2012, Erä has been struggling.
Defeated five times in five games.
Getting beaten by league big shots like Koovee or SPV on the road was no catastrophe. Even losing against peak-form Happee at home can be understood. But letting a lead slip from one’s hands and crashing at home against teams like NST or Loviisan Tor was just plain sloppy.
Especially the latter two games showed a pattern. Playing well, building a lead and controlling the game. But failing to clinch it, being too happy just passing the ball around without the will and sacrifice it takes to go for the net and force the decisive goals. Finally, watching the opponent tie it up and score a last-minute winner, with too little time left for a comeback.
It hasn’t been all misery, though. Bringing home the Finnish Cup amidst all the losses after coming back from an early 0-3 to a 9-3 triumph against Classic was something huge. Not only for the 10,000 euro prize cheque that came with it. But because Erä showed how it can play when everything falls into place.
There’s now five games left in the regular season. Oilers and Josba away, Classic, TPS and FBT Pori at home. Erä still hasn’t secured their play-off spot but on the other hand, the fourth place and a home advantage are not yet gone, either.
It’s all up to the team itself, now.
Will Erä settle for being just quite OK? Or does it want more?
On Saturday, Erä was able to serve their home crowd an unusual treat: Fourteen goals. Tommi Vappula and Mika Moilanen both scored hat tricks as Erä beat Josba from Joensuu with 14-3. The opponent put up a good fight in the first period, coming back from 2-0 to even the score but saw their self-confidence melt in the second with Erä scoring no less than eight times.
Seven games, seven victories. Who would have thought of this?
Tapanilan Erä’s start in this year’s Salibandyliiga has been dreamlike. In their previews, experts speculated the team just might have a chance to make the semi-finals but that would be an absolute maximum and with a strong maybe, too.
Mika Moilanen (to the right) has just scored the winner short-handed against SPV
In the opening game, newcomers M-Team took it into overtime to be decided (first) by Jere Oksanen’s rebound volley (and then one more time by the league officials who found out M-Team had been playing one of their players unlicensed and chanced the result to 5-0). Then it were Nokian KrP, Happee, Koovee, NST and Loviisa who found themselves defeated by the blues.
Erä’s first game against one of the top three (SSV, Classic, SSV) became quite a show as SPV with stars like Mikko Kohonen, Tatu Väänänen and Sami Koski showed up in Erä’s cozy Mosahalli a week ago. The visitors built an impressive 0-4 lead, taking advantage of every slightest mistake by Erä but then something started to happen. Goal by goal, Erä pulled abreast and suddenly it was all open again with 4-4. Then a penalty shot for SPV, no, Tatu Väänänen missed, but yet a two-minute power play for SPV. The rest was history with Tom Strömsten wrestling the ball off an opponent’s stick at the midline and Mika Moilanen releasing a surprising shot from the distance and beating goalie Jarno Ihme by the near post. Coming back from 0-4 to win it 5-4 with a short-handed goal was enough to make the packed home arena’s Friday night.
Despite the seven victories, Erä’s performances have still left a lot to be desired and neither coach Teemu Kalinainen or the players have shown any signs of over-excitement. ”We are only building up our game and we’ll just enjoy every point we win as every one of them will be needed to achieve the goals we’ve set for ourselves”, Kalinainen says.
National team goalie Tomi Ikonen has been solid between the posts, World Champion Mika Moilanen and U19 World Champion Tuomas Iiskola have produced, the younger players have taken the responsibility they’ve been offered and every player has shown fighting spirit and hunger for another win.
A good start, no more, no less.
A good start.
Photos by Mikko Hyvärinen. See more of them
Tapanilan Erä is entering a new era as Teemu Kalinainen takes over from Petteri Bergman as head coach. The club’s new players include national team goalie Tomi Ikonen from Classic, defenseman Jussi Kosola back from Swiss Chur Unihockey and winger Tommi Vappula who scored 35 goals for AC HaKi last season.
New head coach Teemu Kalinainen is a product of Tapanilan Erä with a past as junior player, player, coach for junior teams and coach for women’s elite team. Back from coaching Tikkurilan Tiikerit in the Finnish women’s league and AC HaKi in Salibandyliiga, Erä is happy to welcome him back home.
In addition to Tomi Ikonen, Jussi Kosola and Tommi Vappula, Erä has acquired forwards Mikko Sipilä and Tommi Rosendahl from AC HaKi. Goalie Santtu Strandberg and forward Ville Räkköläinen are Erä’s own products from the junior team that won national silver medals last season.
”Its was an intentional decision from us to lower the middle age of the roster”, manager Jari Oksanen says. ”Already during the season, we knew there were some of the older players planning to retire and our dynamic duo Jani Kukkola – Lauri Kapanen wanted to try their luck abroad. We now want to give more responsibility to our talented young players who are mature enough for men’s games in the highest league.
World Champion being interviewed at Helsinki-Vantaa airport
Erä got yet another World Champion as defenseman / winger World Champion Tuomas Iiskola was a member of the Finnish team to beat Sweden 4-3 in the WUFC final in German Weissenfels.
Eighteen-year-old ”Tupe” scored seven goals in the group phase adding a hat trick in the semi-final against Czech Republic and a big one to give Finland a 3-0 lead in the final.
It is an honour to congratulate him for the title.
ebb
–noun
1. the flowing back of the tide as the water returns to the sea (opposed to flood, flow).
2. a flowing backward or away; decline or decay: the ebb of a once great nation.
3. a point of decline: His fortunes were at a low ebb.
After two years of Salibandyliiga finals and four straight medals, Tapanilan Erä did not make the top four this time. In the quarter-finals, Erä was able to beat SPV from Seinäjoki once but that was not enough. The opponent took three victories to then sail all the way to the finals against SSV.
A disappointment, there’s no way around it.
Erä started the season off well. A good game against Swedish champions Storvreta in the EFC qualification in August, merely draw of the lot away from the finals. Good if not superb games in the opening rounds of the national league.
Little by the little, the signs started showing, though. An unnecessary loss here, another there and suddenly Erä was not fighting for quite the top placements. National team getting ready for the World Championships snatching key players away from practice, other key players injured or ill.
The broken collarbone suffered by Tommi Aro in the opening game of the league turned out to be more crucial than anyone knew at the time. Or maybe it just feels that way now. (SSV had to play the whole previous season without Tero Tiitu, but it did not prevent them from winning the title.)
Six straight games without victory hit the team hard after Christmas. With goalie Jani Naumanen injured, Erä was struggling and not only that. Players started showing signs of frustration. Less patience meant sloppy plays, unnecessary goals against and penalties. Useless yapping away to the referees, concentration lost.
Good team conversations and successful calibration of goals bore fruit as the team started winning again, finishing fifth in the regular season. Jani Naumanen played again after being out for more than a month and the team fought well but there was never quite enough time to get right back on track.
After all these years of just getting better and better, Erä faced a new situation. It’s time to build anew.
Did someone say Phoenix?
MOSAN OMAT is
a webzine covering Tapanilan Erä Floorball — by Tapanilan Erä Floorball.
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