HIFK star's strong swipe: "If Jokerit is satisfied with that then..."

HIFK lost the season’s first local battle against Jokerit in overtime 2-3.

HIFK was clearly the underdog in the match, but the team still had its chances for victory. In overtime, HIFK’s star forward Niko Huuhtanen broke through alone, but the shot was stopped by Tomi Karhunen‘s pad.

After the match, Huuhtanen was disappointed with his team’s performance.

– We played really bad hockey for 40 minutes. It was a bit like the start of the season’s hockey. In Vaasa, we got the game going, but today the breakout play was not very pretty to watch, Huuhtanen lamented.

The long-awaited local battle was, in Huuhtanen’s opinion, just “okay”. There were several thousand unsold seats in the arena. Huuhtanen threw this into the clown camp.

– If Jokerit is satisfied with that, then let’s go with it. Hopefully, we can have a better atmosphere at Nordis. Or I know that we will have a better atmosphere at Nordis, Huuhtanen quipped.

Was the local battle in the city a disappointment then?

– The atmosphere in the arena was just okay. Nothing more to say. Of course, it’s unfortunate that our fans weren’t present. Our performance wasn’t the best today, and fans watching from TV probably weren’t satisfied either. Everyone who understands something about hockey realizes that today wasn’t our best day. It was inexcusable when there was such a great event that has been awaited for 12 years.

Emotions also ran high in the bench during the match. HIFK’s Eetu Liukas told the media that Jokerit’s equipment manager had shouted from the bench at Huuhtanen, and he didn’t like what he heard.

– I haven’t heard anything. If someone has shouted, then let them shout. It’s just a part of everyday life that coaches, equipment managers, and spectators shout at me. It’s completely normal, Huuhtanen says coolly.

READ ALSO: This is how Jokerit’s Juuso Hahl commented on the equipment manager controversy of the local match