Jokers | Severi Auvinen, 22, praises his employer from the ground up: “You are the most feared group”

Jokers the return to the domestic puck map is worth noting the best thing in Mesti’s history, even though the series founded at the turn of the millennium has lived through better times in terms of sports.

Due to the expansion of the league, the leading star of the series is a club that arouses strong emotions all over Finland and makes the cash registers sing in the provincial centers.

“I think it’s a wonderful thing,” the Jokeri’s number one guard Severi Auvinen tells.

“We pretend we didn’t go [Liigaan] through any back door, but we will start building the foundations in order. It’s a good thing for the village teams as well, when the so-called a big club comes there and runs in the same league.”

The importance of the Jokers and reigning Mestis champion Kiekko-Espoo to the entire sports community can also be seen in the fact that the pressure to change the current league system is constantly increasing.

More and more people understand that the pursuit of dreams is not the exclusive right of the golden pig club of 15 teams.

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“It’s a good thing for the village teams as well, when the so-called a big club will come there.”

22 years old Auvinen pursues his own dream one step at a time. In the spring, he became the responsible defender of Imatra Ketterä and among the best goalkeepers in the series.

Auvinen’s time between the poles of the long-distance runner ended in the spring with a silver medal around his neck. The goalkeeper, who also celebrated two Mestis championships at Imatra, felt that the Jokers offered him the best place to develop.

“The whole story drew me in, and when you’ve grown up with the Jokers, what could be better than going to this fair,” says Auvinen, who started his hobby at the club’s hockey school.

“I’ve always liked to go step by step and go to the next level when I’m sure I’m ready. I felt that this season improves my own game, brings experience and prepares me for the next level.”

The goalkeeper got used to high-quality everyday life and the culture of winning already in Ketterä. The tough level of requirements is also present in Jokers.

“Daily activities are really good. We try to aim for it to be as close as possible to everyday life in the league.”

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“I’ve always liked to go step by step and go to the next level when I’m sure I’m ready.”

Jokers tells values ​​of community, honesty, positivity and individual development. The list does not remain just a jingle of words: according to Auvinen, we also want to bring values ​​into everyday life in a big way.

“There is so much competition here and everyone wants to play, that it pushes everyone forward. Both us players and coaching, as well as certainly all those who are also on the management ladder.”

The Jokerit will open the regular season on Thursday as a guest of Kiekko-Espoo in the Metro-arena. The match has been sold out for a long time.

“This is really sweet. This season will definitely be unprecedented in what kind of haipi there is around here,” says Auvinen.

The Jokerit is the team that everyone wants to win. It raises the standard of playing clown shirts night after night, when passing games are not enough. According to Auvinen, the situation is in Jokeri’s advantage and develops the players more.

“It’s sweet that you are the most feared team that everyone wants to win and that everyone is excited to play against. In its own way, it is a bit the same as IFK in the League. Everyone charges extra [peleihin].”

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“It’s sweet that you are the most feared team that everyone wants to win and that everyone is excited to play against.”

I’m working The nuanced history of the club, which changed from Vesa to Jokers in 1967, with the Jokeri phenomena of the early 1990s and the KHL adventures that started in 2014, can also be seen in a certain way in the everyday life of the current team.

“The management and the coaching have wanted to bring out that 90’s rise to the top. Bringing our own young people to the top as well as street boy culture and Eastern Helsinki have been highlighted,” says Auvinen.

“Jokerit has sometimes had the role of being the money gang. I think that now there is a desire to bring out traditions. The fact that this is a working-class team and stuff like that.”

During its successful years in the 1990s, the Jokerit played in the Helsinki Ice Hall. The team returns to the “Nords” this season in 11 regular season matches wearing green-purple retro outfits and silver helmets.

“They are clearly the sweetest jerseys I’ve ever worn. After the season, I’ll probably have to try to get one for myself on a board or something,” says Auvinen.

“It reflects how much we want to show fans and others what this new arrival is, when traditions are brought back.

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“Jokerit has sometimes been given the role of being the money gang.”

Ice rink in addition, the Jokers have two other homes this season. The team trains at the Herttoniemi ice rink in Eastern Helsinki and plays its 13 home matches in Kerava.

“Maybe we’re a bit of a caravan group, but it hasn’t bothered anyone. A big hat-trick, especially for our maintenance, which moves our equipment to different places”, Auvinen acknowledges the arrangements.

The Jokerit started their new arrival at the beginning of August in the Lace Tournament played in Rauma.

“I got really cold shivers when we went against Ässi for the first time in that ring and there were so many of our fans there, who had a terrible shack,” Auvinen recalls.

The goalkeeper’s heart is warmed by the good reception received from supporters of other clubs as well. Auvinen has also noted that other Mestis clubs have started investing in their activities in a different way.

He cites as examples the activation of Turku’s Tuto on social media and the winter classic organized by Joensuu’s Kiekko-Poikie, to which Jokerit and Kiekko-Espoo are traveling as guests.

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“Maybe we’re a bit of a caravan group, but it hasn’t bothered anyone.”

Helpful was a third-generation agile player while playing for Imatra. His grandfather Taisto Auvinen defended Ketterä in the 1960s and 70s and his father Tero Auvinen rejected the club in the juniors in the 1980s.

“Actually, I have always talked a lot about ice hockey with my father. Grandpa is deceased, and I never got around to talking about these things with him,” says Auvinen.

For the youngster, Ketterä was like a team from his own village, because his maternal grandparents are also from Imatra. The five-year gig in South Karelia was instructive and brought us closer to our grandparents.

“It was a great honor to play there. Getting into the team was one of the biggest things for me, and when success came and top people ran the business, I improved a lot. It was a stage that had to be taken during a career.”

Tero Auvinen is remembered off the ice, especially for playing rink. He has also worked as the CEO of FC Honga and the Volleyball Association and has written Arto Kuuluvainen with books In the inner circle of sports clubs and In the inner circle of sports stars.

“The biggest thing he has taught me is to believe in yourself. Sometimes the sun shines a lot, when all you can do is press on,” says Severi Auvinen.

“Yes, I have heard really funny stories from there. I think it has taught me that you should just enjoy the moment when you can do this job.”