A perennial powerhouse and seven-time champion in Finland since being promoted to the top-tier Liiga in 2000, this past season was bitterly disappointing for Kärpät Oulu. Despite the high hopes and a high payroll, the team finished 13th in the 16-team league, missing the post-season for the first time since the turn of the Millenium.
Keeping the puck out of the Kärpät net was a particular issue for the team, and during the course of the season the team acquired, among others, defensemen Dominik Mašin, Marcus Björk and Ville Pokka and goaltender Damian Clara, with limited success. As the transfer deadline approached, native son Jesse Puljuärvi was rumored to be headed there after securing his release from the Pittsburgh Penguins, but he instead signed with the Carolina Hurricanes.
On Monday, club sports director Mikko Myllykoski and GM and CEO Tommi Virkkunen offered somewhat of a public apology for the team’s performance and a promise to strive for better results in the future.
In the 2024-25 season, Kärpät had its worst Liiga season in terms of results in the entire 2000s. After the spring of 2024, which ended in bronze, expectations were high and hopes for an even better season than the previous one were in the air. Unfortunately, however, the season was a big disappointment.- - Mikko Myllykoski, club sports director
When building the team, the idea was to assemble at least two scoring lines. The goalies and defense were already ready, and in addition to these, the offense had to be built to be powerful. Especially from import players, strong results were expected and they were achieved – Michal Kovařčík ended up second in league scoring and Reid Gardiner was seventh. Doing well in the offensive direction took energy from the defense, and on the back end, we experienced the biggest failures from everybody – the goalies, defensemen and forwards.
The team did not adopt a hockey-like style of play well enough. This led to individual mistakes early in the season, and the general conversation around the team started going in the wrong direction. A gloomy November was hard, but December gave us hope for better. After the Spengler Cup, the teams that participated there have usually done excellently, but we did not get the boost we were looking for from that trip. In January and February, we occasionally played well for a period or two, even a full game, but we failed to win consecutive games. We made successful acquisitions at the transfer deadline, but unfortunately, not all the transfers we wanted came to fruition.
There was a lot of talk about the coaching situation, and Ville Mäntymaa’s skills were questioned in the media from the very first games. Mäntymaa chose a very comprehensive coaching philosophy – both on and off the ice – and everyone had faith in it on the whole. We trusted in his perseverance and that the course would still turn. However, the results dragged on and we ended up replacing Mäntymaa with Petri Matikainen at the beginning of March. Matikainen was able to generate the spark the team needed, which unfortunately did not have time to fully ignite, and we finished the regular season in 13th place.
The season left us with experiences that we need to learn from and that will help us be better in the future. We need to do better in building the team, as well as in leading the coaching team. Training needs to be reasonably harder both on and off the ice.
The city of Oulu, Kärpät and our passionate fans can provide the team with all the tools we need to succeed in the league. Next season offers another chance to win, and we are working towards it with even more hunger!
Czech Defenseman, Ex-Lightning Prospect Moves From Czechia To Finland
Czech defenseman Dominik Mašin, 28, has signed a contract to play the remainder of the current season with Kärpät Oulu, <a href="https://karpat.fi/tsekkipuolustaja-dominik-masin-siirtyy-loppukaudeksi-karppiin/">the Finnish Liiga club announced</a> on Monday.
Club CEO and GM Tommi Virkkunen reiterated a lot of Myllykoski's points but also brought up the financial ramifications.
“Throughout the fall and winter, Kärpät was heavily featured in various media outlets, and events surrounding the team received a lot of attention,” he said. “The new league format and changes to the playoff system meant that the regular season remained interesting right up until the very last round of games – in the final week of the regular season, the standings were still completely open.”
Virkkunen continued, “Although our attendance in 2024-25 was similar to the previous season, missing the playoffs is a heavy blow financially. The on-ice goal was far from achieved, and the organization is not satisfied with the outcome.”
However, he too concluded on a positive note, promising fans that “our everyday practices and strategies will be examined, mistakes made will be acknowledged, and corrective measures will be taken.”
2022 Olympic & World Champion Returns Home To Finland
Finnish defenseman Ville Pokka, 30, has signed a contract to play the remainder of the current season with Kärpät Oulu, <a href="https://karpat.fi/ville-pokka-loppukaudeksi-karppiin/">the Finnish Liiga club announced on Wednesday</a>.