Luleå Hockey and Tappara Tampere will line up for the 2023 Champions Hockey League Final in under one week’s time to battle it out for the title of European Champions.
For Tappara’s Valtteri Kemiläinen, this will be his second consecutive CHL Final but for a different team, as the last time he skated out for the all-or-nothing game, he donned the white and green of 2021/22 victors Rögle Ängelholm.
“The meaning of this Final is big”Valtteri Kemiläinen, Tappara Tampere
“The journey to the Final has been different this season,” started the 31-year-old defenceman, “last season with Rögle I only played in the Final. Now I have been around for all the games, so in that sense, things are very different.”
“I’ve been with Tappara for a long period of time throughout my career, so the meaning of this Final is bigger,” added Kemiläinen.
The defenceman remembers the 2021/22 Final in which he faced current club Tappara very clearly. Rögle defeated Tappara 2-1 and lifted the European Trophy as the Swedish club won their first piece of major silverware.
“The atmosphere in the arena was insane,” said Kemiläinen, “it was a full house and the crowd gave us an extra boost in the game.”
“Rögle hadn’t won much before so you could sense what the Final meant to them. Everybody lived through the day with every piece of their soul!”
"Winning something big in the middle of the season tightens the group a lot"Valtteri Kemiläinen, Tappara Tampere
As a pan-European competition, the Champions Hockey League can be demanding in terms of travel and adjusting to situations and shifting environments. Combining the schedule for European games and domestic competitions can be challenging, especially for Kemiläinen who also had to combine representing Finland at the Olympic Games last year.
“It was a tough season,” he said, “first the Olympic Games and the major outburst when we won gold. But everybody got themselves together after that and got back into shape for more games.”
The Olympic gold medalist got back into the saddle as the season went on when the CHL Final rolled around.
“Then came the CHL Final, and these kinds of moments feed the hunger to win. Winning something big in the middle of the season tightens the group a lot. We had a little celebration and party after winning the CHL with Rögle.”
“The Final was on Tuesday and the SHL continued on Thursday, so we weren’t able to go all out. We had to get back into our routines again quickly,” added Kemiläinen.
This season’s CHL Final will be played in Luleå, Sweden, as Tappara's Swedish opponents were awarded the hosting rights for the ultimate game of the season due to their superior points record. Tappara would have loved to play the Final at home, but only one team can. Other competitions play finals at neutral venues, but Kemiläinen thinks this is definitely better.
“I prefer it this way,” said Kemiläinen, “it’s better that one team are home rather than playing the game on neutral ice. It brings up the tension more than if it would be played somewhere unfamiliar.”
The Final is now under one week away: “Of course the Final is on our minds! We’re trying to develop our game to be in the best possible form,” he said.
There is a large number of players on the Tappara roster that felt what it was like to be on the losing side during last season’s Final, what does the game mean for them?
“Let’s say that we have a score to settle,” admitted Kemiläinen, “there’s a group of players that were on the losing side last season, so the hunger to win this season is even bigger,” he ended.
Tappara Tampere will face Luleå Hockey in the ultimate one-game CHL Final in Luleå, Sweden on 18 February 2023 at 16:20 CET.