April 19th, 2009
SSV Helsinki is Finland’s champion again. SSV won the title after it swept Tapanilan Erä away with three victories in a row. While Helsinki was defeated six times during regular season it didn’t have any real opponents during the play-offs. SSV celebrated nine wins in nine matches. The old and new champion is famous for its stars. Many of them were part of the Finnish World Champion Team of Prague 2008. But SSV is also famous for its small fanbase. In contrast to the most of the other matches, the last game of the final series was seen by a large crowd. 2350 fans saw the Vikings win over Erä.
Picture and information: www.salibandyliiga.fi
February 1st, 2009
On this weekend the semifinals and the final of the Finnish Cup were played in Tampere. On Saturday SSV Helsinki won over Josba Joensuu 6-5 and G-Koovee defeated Classic Tampere 6-5 in overtime. Only 505 fans wanted to see the final on Sunday. The Finnish Cup title was won by SSV Helsinki, the reigning champion. In the 54th minute Kari-Matti Ratsula scored 7-4 and the match was decided. For further information use this link to salibandyliiga
information and pictures from salibandyliiga.fi
January 12th, 2009
In December Lassi Vänttinen scored three times in the world championship final. 14208 fans in the O2-Arena in Prague saw Finland become world champion for the first time ever. Only a few days and weeks later Lassi Vänttinen has to play in usual sports halls in front of small crowds. Last weekend at least 820 people wanted to see Vänttinen’s team SV Wiler-Ersigen winning over UHC WASA in Appenzell, Switzerland. A lot of kids tried to get an autograph of the world champion. Nevertheless we managed to interview Lassi Vänttinen.
wfn: You are world champion, congratulations! Tell us about the reception of your team back home in Finland.
Lassi Vänttinen: I didn’t go to Finland after the world championship final. I directly came back to Switzerland where I play for SV Wiler-Ersigen. But I was told that some people came to the airport to celebrate the team. My team mates were not allowed to celebrate for too long because there were matches in ‘Salibandyliiga’ on Wednesday again.
wfn: How did the media react in Finland?
Lassi Vänttinen:Our world champion title was a great thing in the media.
wfn: Today four countries are dominating the floorball world: Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and Czech Republic. Which nations could become strong opponents in the future?
Lassi Vänttinen: The other nations are still far behind. It’s hard for other teams to keep up with the top four. It will take a long time until this can change.
wfn: How many years does it take until floorball will be an Olympic sport?
Lassi Vänttinen: I don’t want to guess how long that will take. At the moment there are only four nations with a large number of licensed players. The growth in other nations will decide about that question.
wfn: Do you only play floorball or do you also work?
Lassi Vänttinen: I work two days a week but not all day.
Interview by Matthias Dudli
Photograph by Matthias Dudli
