Ice hockey season drawing to close: HPK shut out Ässät in first game of final series

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HPK of Hämeenlinna are two victories away from the ultimate dream, their first-ever Finnish ice hockey championship title. The cornerstone of the team in Saturday's first game in the best-of-five final series against Ässät of Pori was their goalkeeper Miika Wiikman, 21, who nullified all of the opponents' offensive attempts for the third game in a row in the play-offs.
     
Wiikman blocked 25 shots fired at his goal in a game that was played in front of a sell-out crowd of 5,000 people at the Ritarihalli arena of Rinkelinmäki.
      Three victories will secure the championship. The second game will be played at the Isomäen arena in Pori tonight, Tuesday.
      In the media fuss that followed the game, Wiikman's appearance was an extension of his persona on the ice: composed, balanced, and modest.
      "This is my career-first three consecutive games with a clean sheet. It is difficult to compare them, but from the personal point of view I think Thursday's last semi-final against HIFK was my best game ever", Wiikman pondered.
      In the 34 games played in the actual League, Wiikman managed shut-outs on three occasions.
     
In the first period of the game, HPK managed to produce the game's only goal while Ässät hothead Matt Nickerson was sitting in the penalty box for holding.
      In the League, Nickerson acquainted himself with the interior of various penalty boxes across the country for no less than 236 minutes' worth of downtime.
      HPK's Latvian reinforcement Janis Sprukts was credited with the goal, as it was his behind from which Jyrki Louhi's shot bounced into the Ässät net. HPK captain Mikko Jokela was credited for passing the puck to Louhi.
      Jokela belonged to HIFK in 1998, when the Helsinki team secured the championship. Still, Saturday's game was his first time playing in the actual final series. In 1998, at the time of the finals Jokela was elsewhere playing for Finland in the Under-18s' European Championships.
      The fate of the bronze medals was decided at the weekend in a match that few players wanted to be involved in. Last year's champions Kärpät, surprisingly dumped out in the semi-finals by Ässät, triumphed 6-2 over HIFK in a winner-takes-all encounter in Oulu.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Oulu Kärpät retain Finnish ice hockey title after 2-0 win in Helsinki (18.4.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat