Superfinal in Finland

Finland’s first ever Superfinal on April 16 broke admission records for both men’s and women’s final games. No less than 10 087 spectators saw Classic beat Oilers 8-2 in the men’s final and 6 631 already occupied their seats at 1 pm to see NST upset Classic 3-2 in the women’s final. The national broadcasting company YLE showed both games live, filling the intermission with floorball guests in the studio.

Old record: Six times beaten
Before the big day, the men’s final record audience had been established in 2002 as 5,580 accepted a sponsor’s ticket offer to see Oilers beat Josba in the more than full packed Joensuu ice hall. For women, the previous record was 1,039 from NST-Classic in Lappeenranta in 2006 which was more than six times less than on the Superfinal day.

_{Kurre Westerlund}

Kurre and co.
Kurre Westerlund Superfinal 2016Finnish Superfinal took place at the mighty Hartwall Arena that had hosted floorball WFC for men in 2002 and 2010. It is the home arena of the Finnish KHL hockey team Jokerit. For the floorball Superfinale, the Hartwall Arena’s doors were opened at 11 am to let the audience feel the vibrations of the occasion and visit the aisles filled with sponsors’ product demos and vending desks. The moments before and between the games and periods were filled with local artists and performers like Poju, Jokerit Dance Team, Gasellit, Lenni-Kalle Taipale, Musta Barbaari, Prinssi Jusuf and Paleface, most of them clearly chosen for floorball’s teenage fans. The most popular artist for posing together for fans in their selfies, though, turned out to be Amanda Harkimo who is not only the Arena DJ but also a well-known reality TV star with looks to make young fans’ hearts beat faster. Yet, you can’t arrange anything big in Finnish floorball without including Kurre, the legendary SSV manager and pop singer who won a big national song contest in 1991. The final intermission of the day between men’s final second and third period was saved for Kurre.

Rewards for the current and previous stars
The Superfinal day was also the perfect occasion for the ceremonies rewarding the best players of the season. And it was not a surprise that both of them were actually members of the days  winning teams – the NST`s goalie Jonna Mäkelä was the choice for women’s trophy, Classic’s Eemeli Salin for the male one. Classic’s victorious final clinched Petteri Nykky’s name as the coach of the 2015-2016 season in Finland. A number of players including names like Jaakko Hintikka, Vesa Punkari, Jonna Kettunen and Henri Toivoniemi were also declared Finnish Floorball legends continuing the system that had started with Pekka Mukkala, Jarmo Perttilä, Heikki Vienola, Kurre Westerlund and Janne Tähkä being elected in Finnish floorball’s Hall of Fame in December 2015.

_{Petteri Nykky}

"He" did it again
The Finnish men’s Superfinal never evolved to the thriller everyone had been waiting for as Classic were simply too good for Oilers, de facto deciding their historical first Finnish title already in the second period to win it with 8-2. Actually, Oilers scored the opener of the game but were then run over with Classic’s second line Eemeli Salin - Nico Salo - Lassi Vänttinen - Mikko Leikkanen - Mika Savolainen. The super five scored Classic’s first five goals in the game. The biggest thing about Classic’s historical achievement was that that it only happened now. The club, playing their 17th season in Salibandyliiga, has for years now been the richest and best organized floorball team in the country, regularly drawing larger audiences than anyone else. Many times they have played spectacularly in the regular season only to choke in the playoffs when tight defense and cool nerves decide games. Just as for the Finnish national team, it took the alchemist Petteri Nykky and his lieutenant Samu Kuitunen to help Classic’s players ease themselves over the final hurdle. Nykky himself claimed in the post-game interview, that he did not remember what he had said to the team before the final, but it worked. This time Classic played relaxed, harmonic floorball without showing the slightest sign of nerves. All year, they only lost twice in the regular season and once in the playoffs.

The most moved man of the arena was the all day wiping tears of joy Mr. Classic, the club’s legendary founder and CEO Pasi Peltola, who had worked for 25 years to bring his club to this point. Also, Classics former coaches were mentioned as Ray Backman was the one to teach the team to attack and Jarkko Rantala the one to teach them to defend their net.

_{Katriina Saarinen}

The sweatest revenge for NST
Before the big day, hopes were high for Classic’s double triumph but they were crushed already in the women’s final. NST stormed the rink with lots of heart and Juuli Hakkarainen’s shot put them ahead already in the first minute. Hakkarainen’s 3-0 goal at the end of the second period was the first moment people others than members of NST started thinking the underdog could actually win this one. In January, mighty Classic had ruined NST’s hopes with their 3-1 win in the Cup final. This time Hanna Sipiläinen and Sanni Nieminen were able to reduce the score in the end but time ran out for Classic. The final buzzer let NST celebrate their second title after having beaten Classic precisely 10 years earlier, too. For players like Jonna Mäkelä, Tiia Ukkonen, Mia Karjalainen and Jaana Lirkki, the third big final of the season (WFC 2015, Cup final) finally brought success. On the other side, the game saw Finnish women’s floorball’s number one legend Katriina Saarinen retire without a golden ending. A victory would have meant Saarinen’s 9th Finnish title and it would have lifted her to the top of the record. Now she shares the number of eight gold medals with Kati Suomela and Irja Lahtinen.

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Comment by the author: Definitely a success
It is no secret there have been varying opinions about deciding the Finnish title in one single game. The advocates for a final series continue to preach for the most sporty solution but the ones doubting the idea of a floorball celebration day now mouth their thoughts with a sordino. Not everyone was happy with the price of tickets or the choice of artists or the choice of venue but the 10,000+ spectators showing up were a good sign. In Sweden, the first single final in 2003 was played in front of an audience less than 5,000.

Certain things can definitely be improved but we now know that even in Finland, one final floorball day can attract this number of people to celebrate the climax of the season together. And for someone like me with 30 years of experience, the thought of someone criticizing a floorball occasion with 10 thousand spectators and hours of live national TV time feels almost absurd. Back then, we used to dream about an arena with a floorball rink that would not need to be assembled for every practice - and then laugh heartily at our fantastic but unrealistic dreams.