Finland’s JYP Jyvaskyla tipped as the favourites as they get off to a flying start in the new season
JVP Jyvaskyla, who have been one of the top teams in the Finland hockey in last 3-4 years, are again off to a flying start and have already been tipped as the favourites to defend their title.
Having win regular season in three of the last four years and Kanada-Malja in two of the last 4 years, have been clearly the most dominant team in the league in the mean time.
Last season they did not have a very good season and even slipped to 4th position in the table but they were able to come back into form at the right time showed phenomenal performances in the playoffs to get the title.
The team which was founded in 1977, ripped apart Assat Pori in the first round of the playoffs by winning all four games and also won semi-finals very easily by beating strong team of Jokerit Helsinki in five games, by the score of 4-1.
Their real test came in the finals as they lost first two games against Pelicans Lahti, who were seeded second. But they managed to win all four next games and that too with convincing margins and a combined score line of 16-9.
Many teams are expected to challenge Jyvaskyla and give them a tough time as there are some strong teams with experienced players, including their arch-rivals Jokerit Helsinki, who would be looking to avenge their semi-final defeat in last season’s playoffs.
Other teams which would be looking to stop JYP from defending title are 2011 champion HIFK Helsinki, Karpat, who enjoyed a period of dominance in early 2000s, like JYP is enjoying right now and another team which would be inspired to do good in KalPa Kuopio.
Their captain in this season is former NHL player Eric Perrin was very happy to become captain as he said,
“This is a big day for me and my family. The way the team was last season, growing extremely unified and bound for the championship, it was magical. I feel confident in JYP's future path as a team, because we're paving the way towards a path of strong, shared
leadership.”
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