The Czechs are my friends, says Mikko Mäenpää

- Photo Elena Rusko

One of the players, who is looking forward a lot for the game Finland – Czech Republic, is Mikko Mäenpää, who plays for Amur Khabarovsk with two Czech imports Jakub Petruzalek and Petr Vrana. They both are parts of the Czech national team here in Moscow.

"We play together the whole year and talk a lot with each other and have fun. As Petruzalek and Vrana played in  Canada, they speak great English, which you cannot say that much about the Russian players. I live right near Petr Vrana and we spend plenty of time together. For instance, we have a common driver also. We talked a lot about this tournament as well," said Mäenpää.

Khabarovsk has an extremely good season this year. They are on the top of Chernysev division. "The team did not have that good results past two years and the chiefs changed a team a lot, brought new imports and also changed a coach. There was a lot of work going on during the summer. Some teams might have underestimate us and still some people think we are an element of surprise, but look at the standings. That always tell you the truth. It shows the coach and we all do a good job."

What are the main factors of Khabarovsk's success? "I think we have a good team spirit. We all try to play our system and follow the game plan, which coaches makes for every game. One thing is important for sure, we never go on baza. (smile) That is one reason, I´m absolutely convinced about,” said a player who played also in Swedish Elitserien.

Khabarovsk is a way most Eastern city in the whole KHL, only 20 kilometers from Chinese border. The Amur's players have to travel much more than those ones, who play in Moscow area. "It is true, that traveling is not easy for us. However, we would go to Moscow with Amur next week anyway, so I would not miss this long trip. I did not think about having a rest. Most players prefer to play rather than having just a practice and what is more, it is a great honour for me to play for the Finnish national team. I never make excuses in this issue."

Finns won the World championship for the second time ever this year in Bratislava. They played very well also at Karjala Tournament. Before the Channel One Cup the head coach Jalonen completely changed the roster and gave an opportunity to new young players. "Hard to say. I was not at Helsinki and did not see the games. On paper we had a strong team, similar as at the World championship. Now our team seems to be weaker, but it is a great news for Finnish hockey, that also new players from our home league cannot lose on the international level."

Finland played well against the Russians. The game was still open after the 1st period, Russia was in front only 1-0, but Finns could not score. "The deciding part was a 1st period, where we could not score and did not use our chances. We still had 40 minutes to turn the games over, but we were unable to do so. Russians played very well and improved their game by the time. Our opponent hold the puck a lot and it was very tough to create chances later in the game."

On Saturday, Finns meet the Czech Republic. "It will be a different game. Czechs play different style of hockey, they are not on the puck that much. They also have a strong team, they are very good on breakaways. I hope it will be high-quality hockey," said Mikko Mäenpää.

 

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