MOSCOW, June 15 Former coach of Khabarovsk “Amur” and Vladivostok “Admiral” Finn Hannu Jortikka linked the decline in the results of the Finnish national team in the international arena with the departure of Finnish hockey players from the Continental Hockey League (KHL).
«»We had 30 hockey players in the KHL, and here they were replaced by juniors. And then we suddenly started winning youth world championships, because juniors were allowed to play in the league. And now we have the same situation again — we only have hockey players from the Finnish league. We no longer have an advantage,” Iltalehti quotes Jortikka.
The Finnish national team won three youth world championships in 2014, 2016 and 2019, in 2019-22 they played in the finals of the adult world championship three times, winning two victories, and also took Olympic gold in Beijing 2022. At the last two World Cups, after the Finnish hockey players left the KHL, the Finnish team was eliminated twice in the quarter finals.
«The KHL is a men's power league, where not many young people play. The Finnish Championship is not even close to its level,» concluded Jortikka.
The Finnish Jokerit played in the KHL from the 2014/15 season to the 2021/22 season. In the 2023/24 season, the only Finn in the KHL was Beijing Kunlun Red Star forward Teemu Pulkkinen.