Helsingin Sanomat: Russia was interested in Jokerit, it was supposed to be the most diverse
Helsingin Sanomat: Russia was interested in Jokerit, it was supposed to be the most diverse
The Finnish edition of Helsingin Sanomat commented on the official withdrawal of Jokerit from the KHL.
“Jokerit’s path in the KHL was problematic almost from the very beginning. This league was created by Vladimir Putin, it is one of the forms of his power. When Jokerit joined the KHL in the summer of 2013, the game in the East looked very different than after the events in Crimea in 2014.
The KHL wanted to expand to the whole of Europe and partially achieved this success – by the time Jokerita was recognized in the league, there were clubs from Latvia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Croatia. But the league began to shrink as quickly as it grew. Last year, Jokerita had 28 clubs in the championship, eight of them had left the KHL by this time.
Russia was interested in Jokerit, but in recent years the club has been constantly criticized. The Russian media attacked Jokerit when the club did not go to Minsk. Then the situation in Belarus got out of control.
Prior to this, Jokerit was removed from the playoffs during the pandemic. It is understood that the club’s decision was correct and timely, and the KHL canceled the playoffs.
Jokerit was supposed to be the best club in the KHL, but it never happened. In none of the seasons, the Jokers could not go beyond the second round of the playoffs. Plus, the economic club was completely dependent on the Russian oligarchs. Irrational spending turned out to be too heavy for the Finnish market,” the statement said.
“Completely breaking with Russia is the right decision.” What they say in Finland about “Jokerite”