Home HOCKEY LIIGA Liiga Finals: Tappara Crowned Champions Again After Game 7 Thriller

Liiga Finals: Tappara Crowned Champions Again After Game 7 Thriller

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Tappara Vs KooKoo
Tappara win epic game 7 to retain Liiga title over KooKoo  

Tappara survived a late KooKoo push to win 2-1 and lift the Kanada-malja trophy for the fourth time in five seasons.


Ondrej Pavel and Joachim Blichfeld scored as Tappara sealed a 4-3 series win over KooKoo in the 2025/26 Liiga Finals.. 


Tappara are champions of Finland again after edging KooKoo 2-1 in Game 7 of the 2025/26 Liiga Finals. The win gives them the Kanada-malja trophy and their fourth league title in the last five seasons.


KooKoo had put themselves on the brink of a first-ever championship with a 2-1 win at Nokia Arena on May 9. Tappara answered two days later in Kouvola with the same scoreline, forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 back in Tampere.


Home ice hadn’t meant much in this series up to that point. Four of the first six games were won on the road, so KooKoo had every reason to believe they could pull it off again.


That confidence didn’t last long. Just four minutes in, Tappara struck first. Ondrej Pavel grabbed the puck at his own blue line, skated through the KooKoo defense, and finished to put the hosts up early.


KooKoo’s chances of hitting back right away took another hit when Marcus Davidsson was called for hooking seconds after the faceoff. They killed the penalty, but it didn’t change much - Tappara controlled the first period. The hosts allowed just one shot on goal while firing 14 of their own.




That pressure paid off with 90 seconds left in the period. Benjamin Rautiainen held the puck behind the net, then fed it to Joachim Blichfeld parked in front. The Dane had time to pick his spot and beat Eetu Randelin for his fourth goal in four games. Jesper Mattila picked up his second assist of the night on the play.


KooKoo got caught with too many men on the ice midway through the game but managed to kill that penalty as well. Not long after, Tappara found themselves down to three skaters when Justin Addamo went off for tripping and Jyrki Jokkipakka for delay of game.


Tappara got back to four skaters, but spending that long shorthanded caught up with them late in the second. KooKoo still needed some luck - a deflection off Marcus Davidsson’s pass sent the puck right to Miska Siikonen, who made no mistake from close range to beat Christian Heljanko.


 

KooKoo outshot Tappara in the third, just as they had in the second, but penalties in the final 10 minutes killed their momentum. Ville Puhakka sat for roughing, and another too-many-men call left them playing a man down to the final whistle.


That sealed a 2-1 win for Tappara, who took the series 4-3 in a thriller to claim their 14th Finnish championship. For KooKoo, playing in their first ever finals, the wait for the Kanada-malja continues.



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