A strong claim from Tommi Niemelä about Ilves' game

Ilves suffered a 2–1 defeat to HIFK on Wednesday in Helsinki. After a scoreless first period, Ilves opened the scoring in the first minute of the second period through Canadian center Luke Henman. However, HIFK came back in the final period and took the lead with goals from Jere Somervuori and Lassi Vanhatalo.

Ilves won eight out of its first nine matches of the super season. Since then, the team’s performance has declined. In the last nine matches, it has only collected three victories. However, Ilves’ head coach Tommi Niemelä is not worried about the team’s play.

– We are playing better now than we did at the beginning of the season. Currently, the results are not what we want. Probably at the start of the season, we won a game we shouldn’t have, and now we are losing one we should win.
Ilves has lost two consecutive matches by a score of 2–1. The offense is currently missing Lukas Jasek, which according to Niemelä affects the team’s play.
– Henman’s line creates a lot of chances and opportunities to score in every game. However, there is a clear lack of purposefulness in the scoring play. It really bothers me that we don’t quite understand the importance of playing towards the goal and driving to the net.

Niemelä has been rumored in the media as a potential coach for HIFK next season. According to Ilta-Sanomat, negotiations have already progressed significantly. When asked about the topic after Wednesday night’s game, Niemelä did not elaborate on the matter.