Helsinki rivalry ends with big outdoor final

The weather forecast predicts around 0° Celsius this Saturday in Helsinki. If we’ll have a minus or a plus in front of the temperature is not yet clear. And somehow this also reflects the feelings of the many hockey fans in town (and most probably everywhere else in Finland). Depending on which Helsinki team they support, they might go out of one of the biggest rivalries in Finnish sport with a frozen face or a big warm smile.

As Jokerit leaves the league in order to join the Russian KHL next year the last regular season match-up between the jokers and IFK will also be the last ever match between the two rivals. Provided of course there won’t be any Play-Off meetings this year, which seems unlikely looking at the standings.

But it is not just about who wins that last game, it is also about the overall wins in the rivalry. In 44 years both teams have faced off 227 times. Both teams have split the wins and won 105 each. Even if you look deeper it is all even. They both won 96 games in regulation each and 9 games each in overtime/shootout. This means that after all this time and matches it comes down to one game to decide forever who is the hockey champion within the capital’s city boundaries.

And the stage for this final couldn’t be better chosen in any way. The Olympic Stadium, built for the 1952 Helsinki games, will see its third Winter Classic (or in Finnish: Talviklassikko) between HIFK and Jokerit. The first two were played in 2011 and 2012. In both games IFK came out with wins, so maybe they have a slight edge on outdoor rinks.

However, the city of Helsinki and the Olympic stadium will see at least 60 minutes of ice-hockey that will go down in sport history, so the nearby Finnish sport museum should already make some space for skates and sticks of the goal scorers on Saturday.

Tweets by @eurohockey