Behind the scenes of the iconic Leijonien match, Kalervo Kummola had his own battle with the authorities: “You don’t take anyone out of here in the middle of the game.”
A hockey legend Raimo Helminen pulled on the Lions’ shirt for the last time in February 2008 in the unofficial EC series match against the Czech Republic in Tampere. Hidden from the festivities in Hakametsä’s ice hall, there was an extraordinary twist.
Puck influencer Kalervo Kummola was there to watch the match. At the beginning of the second period, the police appeared to arrest the player in the match Tony from Salmelaibecause he was suspected of military desertion, according to Helminen’s recent biography.
The timing didn’t suit Kumola. He started to figure out the situation so that the match could be played to the end without any problems.
“I told the police that you don’t take anyone from here in the middle of the game. I started to call and got hold of the personnel manager of the Defense Forces [Hannu] Mr. I got an agreement with him that the matter would only be dealt with the next morning,” says Kummola in Raipe’s biography.
Raimo Helminen in his last match for the national team in February 2008.
Salmelainen eventually received a 45-day suspended prison sentence for military desertion, but he played to the end of the struggle.
The match after that, the friends gave Raipe a rocking chair and a snow shovel. Kummola was supposed to give a speech on the ice after the match, but the plans were changed due to the incident.
“While I was handling this matter, the rocking chairs and other gifts had already been distributed. The investigation took so long,” Kummola recalls in the book.
At the end of the match, Raimo Helminen sat down in the rocking chair that was given to him.
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While I was handling this matter, the rocking chairs and other gifts had already been distributed.
The match ended with a clear 6–1 victory for the Lions. Above all, the match will be remembered for the goal four seconds before the end, which Raipe passed For Tuomas Pihlman. Video the situation has been circulated on YouTube hundreds of thousands of times.
A pearl played 331 matches in the Finnish national team, including 11 in the World Cup and six in the Olympics. He is the male ice hockey player who has played the most international matches in the world.
I met Salo written by Raimo Helminen’s biography Raipe – Koikkar’s Kaukalo to lion icon (Docendo, 2023) published on September 13.
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