Comment | Ville Peltonen is now facing a serious situation – the reputation of HIFK's club legend is at stake

Pelicans against HIFK. The most interesting and explosive series of the quarterfinals of the SM League starts on Wednesday. The still lifes are tickling. Both teams have invested so much into this season that relegation at this stage would be a huge failure.

Last season's silver medalist Pelicans decided to use the euros they earned in the sensational spring and built the team with the largest player budget in club history. In Lahti, it was thought that more success must be sought now that the head coach Tommi Niemelä is still in its last season in the sticks of the Lahtelaisueura.

HIFK also invested heavily in this season. The sports director frowned at the criticism Tobias Salmelainen built by the head coach To Ville Pelton a team bursting with big names that should at least reach the finals.

The meeting between Pelicans and HIFK will likely be emotional and heated. The people of Lahte make a lot of sense Ben Blood always confusing in the playoffs. Last spring, for example, he leaned and shook someone who played in Tappara Jori Lehterän with, and the same duo can very well drift into the focal point in this series as well.

Lehterä is the undisputed conductor of HIFK, but in addition to his insightful passes, he knows how to skillfully swim in the borderlands of the rules and provoke opponents with his little pig-like tricks.

When the Pelicans' human ball jumps into the rink Antti Tyrväinen and HIFK Leo Komarov, the soup is ready to boil. Emotional control is one of the keywords of the playoff series.

Also with coaches can spill over. Niemelä and Peltonen have both publicly ripped the judges this season. They hardly keep quiet even now if controversial situations are seen in the rink. Both coaches are under so much pressure to achieve success this season.

Especially Peltonen is facing a tough spot. Finishing only sixth in the regular season can already be considered a blow to the stomach, relegation in the quarterfinals would be a harsh continuation of the lackluster performance of the Helsinki team that has lasted for many seasons.

Peltonen HIFK has so far avoided the biggest criticism this season under the pretext that an experienced and physical team is built for the playoffs.

There's no need to guess whether HIFK will suddenly be able to play a top team in real games after a poor regular season. You certainly can. HIFK already showed during the regular season that they are at their best even the best team in the entire series. However, this joy rarely lasted for an entire match.

The biggest question is whether HIFK can play at a high level throughout the matches or even a series of matches in the playoffs. HIFK's biggest problems in the regular season were volatility and sensitivity to mistakes. HIFK often had dark moments from which it did not recover within the matches.

The tendon of the experienced team miraculously broke too many times, and Peltonen's troops must now get rid of this problem.

Experience and as a counterweight to the physicality, HIFK's team is heavy and a bit slow-footed, which can become a problem in the playoffs. At least in a speed bump, HIFK's juices might run out in the middle of everything.

The goalkeeper is also a big concern Roope Taponen23, who has not been as convincing as expected this season.

HIFK has a better-known and more meritorious team than Pelicans, but Niemelä's team has a slight advantage in the way they play. Under his leadership, even in last spring's playoffs, the Pelicans played brave, proactive and progressive hockey, while Peltonen's HIFK has been more exciting and exciting.

Peltonen HIFK cannot afford to lose this playoff series, even though the Pelicans are a really tough opponent. Club legend Peltonen is already coaching the red shirts in his third season, and under his leadership HIFK has yet to reach a single finals place.

Despite the lackluster results, Peltonen already received an extension until spring 2026 in the fall. The decision surprised HIFK fans. If HIFK with this season's super team misses the quarterfinals, the fans' trust in Peltos is gone.