Christian Heljanko became a Champions Hockey League Champion when Tappara Tampere beat Swedish side Luleå Hockey in Saturday's 2023 CHL Final.
The Finns scored two goals in the opening period before adding a third at the very start of the final frame, but a late comeback by Luleå, during which they scored two goals in under six minutes, had everyone on the team worried - but not Heljanko, who pulled off world-class save after save to keep his side in the game.
His performance was so good that he was named man of the match, whilst also receiving the prestigious LGT MVP Award for best player of the season.
"We are so proud!"Christian Heljanko, Tappara Tampere
"It's unbelievable, this is a huge milestone for us," started the 25-year-old goaltender, "we played so many good teams all season and we beat all of them."
On their way to the CHL Final, Tappara Tampere beat reigning Swiss NL champions EV Zug, last season's CHL Champions Rögle Ängelholm, HC Davos, the organisers of the oldest ice hockey tournament in the world, the Spengler Cup, and German mega club Red Bull Munich.
Christian Heljanko played in all but one game and ends the season with a 95.12% Save Percentage, one of the best in the CHL this season, having let only 1.33 goals into his net on average per game, and four shutouts to his name.
"The main thing is the trophy is ours," he insists, modestly shaking off any personal responsibility for Tappara's success this season, "I'm just happy to have helped us win."
Luleå were awarded the hosting rights for the 2023 CHL Final due to their superior points record leading up to the Final, but that didn't stop hundreds, thousands even, of Tappara fans making the trip to neighbouring Sweden to pack the away section of the Coop Norrbotten Arena.
"It's so nice they came," thanked Heljanko, "I was told there were almost 1000 fans here, we are so grateful to the fans that made the trip."
Back home in Tampere, thousands more cheered the team on from a fan zone. The support for Tappara could really be felt with every fan wishing only one thing - that the European Trophy goes to Finland this season.
"We are so proud!" ended Heljanko, who was totally exhausted after the game but still made time for everyone wanting to speak to him and take photos with the MVP of the 2022/23 CHL season.