Tappara Tampere went through to the Champions Hockey League Semi-Finals last night as they beat the Rouen Dragons in the Return Game in France 4-0. The First Game ended 3–3 a week prior.
We caught up with Tappara defenceman Santtu Kinnunen after the game.
”We had a good game against them in Tampere as well. Scoring was tough back then and they capitalized on their chances well.”
”Yesterday their goaltender made some big saves and played an incredible game. Luckily we scored the goals we needed and also a couple of empty-netters at the end,” he said.
"They defended their net tightly"Santtu Kinnunen
Tappara controlled the puck more than their opponent, but Rouen had their chances, especially in the First Game
”They were a resilient group for sure and they defended their net tightly,” said Kinnunen, ”when they got on the counter-attack you could hear the audience pushing them to strike.”
”We needed to minimize such situations and prevent them from having attacks,” Kinnunen mentioned.
Rouen’s home arena has a capacity of nearly 3000 and the crowd is very intense and they are a huge factor in Rouen’s game. The French audience also showed some good manners in the moment of defeat.
”The atmosphere was amazing! I can’t remember being in a game in which the crowd were so loud all the time. No matter what happened, the fans were chanting.”
They gave us a round of applause after the gameSanttu Kinnunen
”When Rouen was falling behind, the crowd kept on cheering and they also gave us a round of applause after the game – and that’s what we respect a lot,” Kinnunen said.
Kinnunen has enjoyed himself in the CHL during their Playoff run with Tappara. The competition has brought a good variation of different styles of play for everybody to see.
”As there are teams from different countries, they all play a slightly different style. It’s great to have the opportunity to play against teams from all over and with various styles of hockey.”
”With the other countries it seems that the style is more offensive-minded than here in Finland. They play more of an American kind of game.”
Even though the game is a bit different in the Finnish Liiga, Kinnunen thinks that having to play against different teams helps Tappara to be more prepared in their national league as well.
”This experience gives a chance for growth as there isn’t the same type of play against us every game. There are different kinds of situations in the game – a more challenging game gives room for player development,” he said.
Tappara will face Red Bull Munich in the Semi-Finals. The Germans eliminated Lukko Rauma in the Quarter-Finals, the only other Finnish team left in the Playoffs. Lukko were defeated in overtime of the Return Game.
”We’re feeling good as a team. We’re determined to go even further. It’s the first time for us in the Semi-Finals in the CHL. It boosts us, when we realise that we’re capable of competing against these top level clubs in Europe,” said Kinnunen.
Tappara will take their time to prepare for these two important games against Munich.