Jarno Pikkarainen: this is Petteri Riihinen's situation now

Pori Ässät defender Petteri Riihinen suffered a frightening injury in the match against TPS. The Turku defender Oliver Lauridsen tackled the defenseless Riihinen directly in the head in the neutral zone. For his actions, the Danish defender received a two-game suspension.

In an interview with SuomiKiekko, Ässät’s head coach Jarno Pikkarainen shared the current situation regarding Riihinen.

– It’s hard to assess. The important thing is that he is in good spirits and health, but how he performs as an athlete and what the strain produces will take time to evaluate. It takes days and weeks, and in the worst case, months.

Is the assumption that Riihinen will not play anymore this season?

– I can’t say that. It’s been such a short time, and there is a protocol in place. What kind of end to the season we have and how long we will play is impossible to say.

Pikkarainen has a strong opinion about Lauridsen’s tackle.

– Yes, it was a tackle that you wouldn’t want to see in hockey. It was a frightening situation.

Ässät’s Three-Phase Season

Pikkarainen sees that there were three different phases in Ässät’s season. In early autumn, everything went well and victories came in abundance.

– We got into a flow at the start of the series and had successes that fed into each other. Then even after the national team break, we started well, but a few injuries created holes in both the offensive and defensive ends. We then got into a bad spiral that we lived with for quite a while. However, we managed reasonably well, Pikkarainen says.

During the last ten games of the regular season, Ässät managed to regroup, played better, and started to get results.

Ässät’s goalkeeper Jan Bednar has also had a multifaceted season. In the autumn, the Czech goalie was among the best in the league, but his level has dropped significantly in the spring.

– There is definitely a strong trust in him, and he had a good game at the end of the regular season. He is still a young goalie, so it’s clear that the season will have various phases. He kept the team afloat in the autumn and won us many games, Pikkarainen says.

– You can’t expect everything from a goalie either. When the team’s performance fluctuates enough, it also affects the goalie. It’s a two-way street.