The praised Pelicans manager praises the atmosphere in his team and the emergence of young players. Lahti now have a good chance of progressing to the medal games.
*SM-League quarter-finals start on Friday 17.3. with Pelicans-KalPa and Tappara-KooKoo. Yle Radio* *Hockey round* *at 18.15. From now on, the Ice Hockey Round will be present at all spring play-off matches.
Lahti Pelicans finished fourth in the regular season and qualified for the quarter-finals. The Lahti team’s regular season finish is their best since finishing third in the 2018-19 season.
Before the start of the season, Pelicans were widely ranked outside the playoffs. For example, in the Jatkoajan veikkaus, the Pelicans were ranked 11th on average.
Pelicans’ player budget was said to be 2.3 million euros. Kärpät, HIFK, TPS and JYP were left behind in the regular season among those operating with a tighter player budget. The winner of the regular season, Tappara, Ilves and Lukko managed to advance.
– I don’t know if it’s actually a trick. We have approached the season in a different way than we had previously planned.
Before the start of the season, the Pelicans were worried about the team’s inexperience and the fact that the team was assembled – at least publicly – quite late.
Niemelä flatly denies the late gathering of the team. He stated that it was just a matter of when the club announced their players.
Niemelä, 39, is considered a coach who masters the creation of a positive learning atmosphere. The head coach, who piloted the Lahti players from the 2020–21 season, is happy that in the Pelicans’ organization every player dares to openly be himself.
– The players have been tremendously committed to our common way of working from day one. It has grown into a really positive snowball. The working atmosphere has been excellent and has given the guys the opportunity to throw themselves into the path of development with an open mind.
Pelicans’ dressing room must be “really cool”
Although there were plenty of doubters before the season, seven of Pelicans’ young players with more than 15 power points set their point record, expert Nättinen calculated. It says that the team has been playing at the upper limits all along.
According to Nättinen, \”there is nothing incredibly wonderful\” about the Pelicans playing, but it is open-minded.
– It’s really fresh. Players are given permission to play. We try to play with the puck, sometimes even a little too boldly. Playing puck control is, for example, a really ambitious goal in Pelicans’ home rink, which is the smallest rink in the SM league.
The successes have fueled a courageous atmosphere. Nättinen believes that there has been a \”really cool feeling\” in the Pelicans dressing room.
– Add to that Tommi Niemelä’s sometimes even overwhelmingly positive and humane leadership. It’s a pretty good package on the mental side.
This does not mean that the Pelicans do not have a really high level of demand. Nättinen believes that Niemelä is a genuine person, so he will certainly be listened to even when there is something tougher to say.
Niemelä knows the young players from Lahti very well. For years, he served as the pilot of Pelicans’ U16 and U18 teams before a two-year gig in Lausanne.
Of course, with the atmosphere alone, the Pelicans would not have reached the fourth place in the regular season.
– Niemelä is not only an atmosphere coach, but the structures of the game are in order. Not many people would have the first thought that this is a really skilled and talented group, Nättinen reflects.
– I think this is one of the best examples of how coaching has been able to combine the advancement of players and team play. Of course, thanks to the club management as well, for the kind of players they have managed to acquire.
Young Gaeltacht players show off their skills and a strong goalkeeper tandem
The Pelicans conceded 136 goals in the regular season, the third fewest.
Niemelä remains silent on Nurminen’s role
Niemelä’s contract still covers the 2023–24 season.
Has the success brought a lot of courtships from elsewhere?
– I don’t need to comment on it in any way. Next year is the contract left, it’s the fourth year of this project, all the bangs are there.
In the fall of 2019, Nurminen retired from coaching and later told Yle about his work burnout.
Last fall, Ilta-Sanomat reported that, according to insider sources, Nurminen once again exercises great decision-making power in the Pelicans.
Pelicans head coach Niemelä did not want to comment on whether Nurminen is somehow involved in the team’s activities and what kind of support he will receive.
– I don’t need to comment on any of our background issues. We focus on sports. I can say that all the people who are in the Pelicans organization in Lahti work together to ensure that the entire community grows and develops.
KalPa is the second big winner of the season
In the semifinals, Pelicans will face another positive sensation team of the SM league season, KalPa, who finished fifth in the regular season.
KalPa was only ranked 13th in the aforementioned Jatkoaja season prediction. Last season, the team finished 11th in the regular season.
– Good continuity both in terms of coaching and player material. Lots of players who have been at KalPa for several years. Unwavering faith in what we were doing last year and have been doing for several years already, it carries. We have been on the right track.
Miettinen, 47, took the helm of KalPa in the middle of the 2019–20 season. He emphasized before the start of the playoff games that Kuopio has a huge hunger for success.
– It is time for our organization to step forward.
*SM league quarterfinals start on Friday 17.3. with matches Pelicans–KalPa and Tappara–KooKoo. Yle Puheen* *Hockey round* *at 18:15. From now on, the ice hockey tour will be present at all spring playoff games.*