The Helsinki Jokerit emerged from the Northern Conference to face the Berlin Smurfs for EURO Cup #12. Their team nicknames would lead you to believe this will be a fun series. But trust us, both clubs are taking it very seriously.
The teams met three times in the regular season with the home team winning each time. In this series, Helsinki will have the home ice advantage in games 1,2,5 and 7.
Helsinki defeated Vienna, Copenhagen and Belfast en route to the finals. The Jokerit have two of the top veteran centers in hockey with Jonathan Toews and Anze Kopitar (he’s scored in the last 10 straight games), who are both in their first year with the team. It will fall to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Aleksander Barkov and Coach Adam Oates hopes checking center Erik Forssell to slow them down. RNH, meanwhile will be counted on with wingers Vadim Shipachyov and Eliezer Sherbatov to continue to do the bulk of the scoring for Berlin.
These two teams were 1st and 2nd in powerplay efficiency during the regular season, so penalties could be more painful than usual to the offending team in this series. Speaking of team stats, Helsinki was the best offensive team AND the best defensive team in the league this season, going by goals per game statistics.
The Smurfs – who beat Munich, Bratislava and Lisbon, all in 5 games – might have the edge on defense with Shea Weber on the second pairing behind Staffan Kronwall and Morgan Rielly. The Jokerit need top pair stars Zach Bogosian and Nerius Alisauskas to remain healthy for the next 4 to 7 games.
In goal, it’s first-year Jokerit Kari Ramo (89.5 save pct. in the playoffs) versus veteran Smurf Calvin Pickard (90.4).
The Northern Conference has won the last 9 EURO Cups. Berlin knows that better than anyone, considering they were the losing Southern Conference representative 4 times, including the last 3 years. For what it’s worth, League Secretary/Accountant Rose attended the Germany/Hungary EURO 2020 football game today struck up a friendship with Hungarian gypsy Judit Mechtler. Judit had a crystal ball with her and Rose asked he to look into it. The gypsy said “Berlin will be struck by injuries, lose the first 3 games, and storm away, thereby forfeiting Game 4.”
