Ilves: cooperation with the new club!

Tampereen Ilves and Imatran Ketterä announce that they will start a loan cooperation, which concerns the upcoming season and initially covers the transfer deadline for the Liiga and Mestiksen. With the cooperation agreement, Ilves can essentially send one player at a time on loan to Ketterä.

The purpose of the cooperation is to provide playing time and team practices in Mestiksen for a player who remains in a smaller role at Ilves. Ketterä simultaneously receives reinforcement from a player who is on the brink of the Liiga or already has Liiga experience.

– A long season will inevitably include injuries and illnesses, so we need a wide player circle available for the upcoming super season of the Liiga. In addition to Liiga games, we will participate in the Spengler Cup at the end of the year, so we wanted to ensure our cooperation agreement with the Mestis club well in advance, says Ilves’ sports director Timo Koskela in the club’s announcement.

– It was important for Ilves that this agreement does not weaken our internal competition for positions in the Liiga team and that the model of our cooperation agreement is also functional for our U20 team. In addition, we wanted a Mestis organization as the other party that can support the development of our players and provide high-quality everyday conditions and a high level of demands at the Mestis level. Imatran Ketterä offers some of our players an excellent opportunity for additional responsibility and personal development.

The background to the agreement’s formation is also the tightened loan rules between the Liiga and Mestiksen.

– The rules regarding player loan transfers are significantly stricter for Liiga teams this season than before. The open league will likely result in fewer player loans between Liiga teams than in previous seasons. Essentially, at least Ilves’ contracted players will play in our Liiga team, our U20 team, or on loan in Mestiksessä, Koskela states.

Ketterä’s CEO Carlo Grünn is also pleased with the new cooperation.

– The upcoming season is important in Mestiksessä as well, and from a competitive standpoint, we see it as a good thing that the number of loan players between the Liiga and Mestiksen is now clearly limited. In terms of loan players coming to Ketterä, we are primarily looking for quality. It is great that we found a clear concept with Ilves that serves all parties well, says Grünn.