A player from Kärpät made a bold claim: "I was not treated well"

Goalkeeper Niclas Westerholm, 28, who represented Kärpät last season, entered the ongoing season without a team.

Since then, the goalkeeper, who has also played for the Lions in his career, has represented three foreign clubs. At the beginning of the season, Westerholm briefly played on short-term contracts with two different teams in the Czech top league before moving to Södertälje, which plays in Sweden’s second-highest league, right after Independence Day.

Westerholm has now shared his feelings regarding his difficult last season with Kärpät in an interview with the Swedish Hockeynews site, where the goalkeeper, who shone in SaiPa’s goal a couple of seasons ago, fell to the third goalie position.

– My contract was about to expire, and there were many things happening in the club. I felt that I was not treated well, and I also did not play well, so I was dropped from the team and made the third goalie, Westerholm recalls last season.

– They told me to look for a new club. I found one, but they did not let me go, so I trained alone from February 15 until the end of my contract, Westerholm explains his situation in Oulu.

Starting a new season without a contract affected the goalkeeper’s self-confidence.

– The summer was tough, I won’t lie. I was unemployed, and my season ended unpleasantly. When you are dropped to the third goalie, you feel worse than you actually are.

Westerholm has had to wait for his debut in Södertälje’s goal so far.

– I have only been here for a week, so it’s good to get used to Swedish hockey, Westerholm states, trying to maintain a positive attitude.

Westerholm was last seen in goal for the Lions during the 2022-23 season.