The league champion moves to Tappara!

Defender Iivari Räsänen, who has played for KalPa since last season, is moving to Tappara with a 1+1 year contract.

The 24-year-old Räsänen has played only seven games for KalPa this season, with stats of 0+3. The 185-centimeter defender won the league championship last spring with the Kuopio team.

KalPa and Räsänen mutually agreed to terminate the contract earlier on Monday.

Räsänen is originally a product of Tappara, having represented the Tampere club throughout his entire junior career. The defender moved from Tappara’s U20 team to North America, where he played for over four seasons before moving to Kuopio.

– It’s great to have our own product back in Tampere. As a good-natured player, Iivari will surely fit well into the team and bring the necessary depth to our defense, says Tappara’s GM Janne Vuorinen in a statement.

Räsänen is the brother of Tappara forward Aapeli Räsänen. There are now historically three pairs of brothers playing in Tappara.

Help for the offense

In connection with Räsänen’s contract announcement, Tappara announced that forward Verneri Ahonen is returning to the team. Ahonen has been on loan at Mikkelin Jukureissa for the beginning of the season.

Tappara has faced quite a few injuries. The team is missing captain Otto Rauhala, Julius Mattila, Jyrki Jokipakka, Emil Järventie, Jesper Kotajärvi, and Olli Juolevi.

Additionally, center forward Oiva Keskinen received a one-game suspension from the Jukurit match.