Yle: Ismo Lehkonen delivers a harsh assessment of Jokerit: "All the daydreaming needs to be thrown in the trash can"

The Jokerit fired their head coach Tomek Valtonen on Sunday. The team’s new head coach is Juuso Hahl, who served as Jokerit’s assistant coach at the beginning of the season.

Yle Urheilu’s expert Ismo Lehkonen stated that Hahl’s promotion to head coach of Jokerit was a terrible surprise.

– I don’t see this as a solution at all. On the contrary, this might even weaken Jokerit. I doubt anything will change, Lehkonen charged.

Hahl previously served as the head coach of Vaasan Sport in the Liiga. He was fired from that position last October.

– There are similar signs in Jokerit’s nihilistic playing style as there were in Sport’s last season’s struggles. Hahl was let go from Sport back then. I think this is now a mysterious solution from Jokerit. I would have never believed that Jokerit would promote their assistant coach to head coach.

Jokerit has only managed to win one of their eight games this season. They have collected four points and are in second-to-last place. Lehkonen gives a straightforward assessment of Jokerit’s goals for the rest of the season.

– Now we need to humble ourselves enough that Jokerit plays for their league position. All this kind of daydreaming and dreaming of playoff success needs to be thrown in the trash. We need to start from the point that Jokerit fights for their league position one way or another.

– For example, winning against Ilves and TPS, who played on Sunday, is really difficult. When you also consider teams like JYP, the much-improved Kärpät, and Lukko, who are currently playing well, we need to humble ourselves. Jokerit’s only goal is to play for their league position. The fans need to be involved in that as well, Lehkonen states.

Jokerit will play their next game on Tuesday against HPK. The match will be held at Veikkaus Arena.