Tomek Valtoselta harsh revelation about the state of the Jokers: "The fact is that..."

The Jokers’ difficult start to the season continued on Thursday when the team returned to play in front of a home crowd for the first time in over 12 years.

The Helsinki club hosted JYP, which took the points from Veikkaus Arena by winning the match 4–2.

JYP, which was predicted to be in the top battle of the league, is at the top of the standings with a full point tally after four games, and it was also in control during Thursday’s match. The Jokers, on the other hand, have started their season with four losses out of four games.

The Jokers’ head coach Tomek Valtonen commented on the game to the media after the match.

– It was awesome. Great to have an audience and a good atmosphere. The game was quite fast-paced, and there were a lot of incidents. Ice hockey is a big thing in Finland and a great sport at a high level. As we saw again today, with the kind of facilities we have here, it is indeed wonderful.

The Jokers took a step in a better direction with Valtonen on the ice. The former Jokers player clearly considered the JYP match to be the team’s best performance of the season.

– By far the best game of the season, but we know where our Achilles’ heels are. We need to work on and fix those.

“We’ve taken a step back”

According to Valtonen, the Jokers’ overall play has actually taken a step back since the preseason.

– The fact is that we have taken a step back from the preseason games. There’s no point in lying about it. It’s about self-confidence and playing under pressure. It’s a sum of many things.

One clear problem area has been the power play.

The red and yellow team has had 17 power play opportunities at the start of the season, but the net has only been shaken twice. Even in the JYP game, the power play was struggling.

– Too slow. We aren’t getting enough shots, and we’re passing too much outside the game. It’s great when 9,000 people are clapping and passing outside the game, but it’s not effective. We need to get shots, move the puck with the first unit, and through that make the square uncertain.

The expectations surrounding the Jokers are naturally high, but Valtonen is not worried about that.

– The expectations placed on us are quite enormous. The playoffs are the goal, but there are 60 games left, so I wouldn’t rush it. If we had played poorly in our home opener today and there had been signs of a lack of fire, I would be very concerned, but I didn’t see that at all. We did our best, but this time it wasn’t enough.

“It doesn’t feel good”

The pressure on a brand like the Jokers was also visible in the stands on Thursday.

During the home opener, shoes were thrown, and fans raised a “results or out” banner during the first period. A line was drawn over the word “results,” indicating dissatisfaction with Valtonen, who is leading from behind the bench.

– It doesn’t feel good, but experience dulls it. Anyway, we move forward, Valtonen commented.

The Jokers continue their matches in the league the day after tomorrow on Saturday when Valtonen’s team hosts the reigning Finnish champion Tappara.

Väinö Helenius