Perspective: One thing about Olli Jokinen's dismissal is puzzling

HIFK made a tough decision on Wednesday and fired head coach Olli Jokinen. His replacement is Tommi Miettinen, known from TPS and KalPa.

The dismissal was not a big surprise. During the early part of the season, HIFK has been one of the weakest teams in the league. When looking at the ratio of expected goals created to those given to opponents, HIFK has been the third weakest in the league. Only HPK and KooKoo have fared worse.

And there has been no improvement lately. Whether looking at the last five or three matches, HIFK has been weak. Really weak.

In fact, the only exception was the Tuesday night match against Rauman Lukko. HIFK was clearly the stronger team in the match but ultimately succumbed to a 2-3 loss in a shootout. Even in overtime, HIFK dominated the game and created several scoring opportunities that should have been converted.

The Lukko match may well have been HIFK’s best performance this season. Why on earth was Jokinen fired just now, when the first small glimmer of hope was visible?

The answer is likely very harsh: HIFK’s improvement in play came far too late. It had already been decided to let Jokinen go. No matter what kind of wonders the head coach could have achieved in Rauma, his days behind HIFK’s bench were already numbered.

Miettinen now faces a huge challenge. The players acquired by Jokinen are surely mourning the departure of their charismatic leader, the game is in disarray, and team building has gone awry. On the other hand, there is hope in the fact that the situation with the neighboring Jokers was very similar. Now the Jokerit have significantly improved their game and are on track for the playoffs. HIFK still has time to turn things around.

But what a season it has been. Currently, the relegation spots are occupied by silver medalist KooKoo, Jokerit, and HIFK, and all three have changed their coaches. Who could have predicted this in advance?