The owner of Helsinki's Jokerit pro ice hockey team Harry "Hjallis" Harkimo considers it already almost a done deal that NHL ice hockey will be played in the Helsinki Arena next autumn.
According to Harkimo, the contract negotiations will be concluded within a week.
”We are in continuous negotiations. The games will be realised in Helsinki with an 80-90 per cent certainty, but since contracts have not been signed, I cannot guarantee it just yet”, explains Harkimo, who aspires to present NHL hockey in his arena.
The Florida daily Miami Herald wrote last week that the Florida Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks teams would start their 2009-2010 season with two matches played in Helsinki.
According to Harkimo, the teams that would appear in Finland have not been decided yet.
”We can and we cannot have an influence on which teams might come to Finland.”
Harkimo points out that ultimately the NHL will dictate the terms of the agreement.
“This is a question of the first-ever NHL game played in Finland, and therefore which teams will show up is not of the utmost importance. But of course we hope that we will get suitable teams to come and demonstrate their skills to the Finnish audience.”
The Florida Panthers would probably be quite a good draw: they have on their current roster the Finnish veteran Ville Peltonen.
Last year, two start-of-season NHL matches were played in Sweden at the Globen Arena in Stockholm.
