Playing Hockey in Finland (Minor League)

[goodoldhockeygame]

Hey Guys

I'm moving to finland in July 2014 and looking for a club in Suomi Sarja and i dont care in which area. I struggled a little bit to get in touch with the finnish clubs. Maybe some of you have some advices or is there maybe some "Amateur Agents" or something similar in finland. Any help is apreciated Thanks in advance

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[Hzzz]

Are you sure that you are good enough?(no disrespect or anything, just asking) Suomi-Sarja isn't a beer league.

 

[JJTT]

Are you sure that you are good enough?(no disrespect or anything, just asking) Suomi-Sarja isn't a beer league.

This. Level of play there is really high compared to your average beer league. Most of the guys playing are former pro and top level junior league players. Unless you have that kind of background it will be a really tough to even get a spot on a team.

 

[goodoldhockeygame]

Are you sure that you are good enough?(no disrespect or anything, just asking) Suomi-Sarja isn't a beer league.

No offense taken

I guess i am, but u can never be sure about a league, u never played in. That were just the recommendation when i used to attend to goalie camps in finland the past years.

I played in swiss 3rd highest league, which is pretty competitive, and should be about same level. But I would be open to play in Div. 2 if that would be more my level.

Id just like to get some tryouts or anything to figure that out

 

[JJTT]

No offense taken

I guess i am, but u can never be sure about a league, u never played in. That were just the recommendation when i used to attend to goalie camps in finland the past years.

I played in swiss 3rd highest league, which is pretty competitive, and should be about same level. But I would be open to play in Div. 2 if that would be more my level.

Id just like to get some tryouts or anything to figure that out

Ok, looks like that could get you a try out.

Here are some contant info's for player agents

http://www.pssfi.com/yhteystiedot.php
http://www.mprhockey.com/yhteystiedot
http://www.jksportconsulting.fi/yhteystiedot/

Email them and see if they can help you to get a contact info of some Suomi Sarja teams.

 

[goodoldhockeygame]

Ok, looks like that could get you a try out.

Here are some contant info's for player agents

http://www.pssfi.com/yhteystiedot.php
http://www.mprhockey.com/yhteystiedot
http://www.jksportconsulting.fi/yhteystiedot/

Email them and see if they can help you to get a contact info of some Suomi Sarja teams.

Great! Thanks man!

 

[supersoaker]

a little bit off topic, but something i asked myself for a while:
is there even a 'market' for import players in finnish lower leagues? i thought of playing there during an exchange year (university) that never happend... are they even interested in paying for the 'transfer card' (fee that is about 600-1000€) in tier 4-6 leagues? in germany its a common thing to have an import in 5th league who is paid between 400-800€ (mainly former pros from cze), u wont find that in finland, right? are imports even allowed in leagues that low? there are almost no imports in mestis... just curious about that subject...

 

[Rekin]

I don't think it's realistic to find such an organization in Finland, maybe in the 4th league there are still some semi-pro players but to get paid as a foreigner you'd really need to be pretty good as there's no real market or need for imports unlike in much of Germany. As for getting the most immediate expenses paid and playing somewhere as a "guest" there shouldn't be a big problem, just need to contact the teams and ask.

 

[McGlassbangers]

are imports even allowed in leagues that low? there are almost no imports in mestis... just curious about that subject...

Absolutely. There is a lot of players in Suomi-Sarja and II-divisioona from foreign countries, mainly from South Korea and especially from Latvia and Estonia. If I'm not mistaken, there's couple of Canadians as well.

Yep:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=116511
http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=110518

 

[Rekin]

The case with the Koreans was a bit different though what I've heard as they actually got financially involved in the 2nd tier Kiekko-Vantaa and sent a bunch of their prospects there. However most of them were of way too poor level for Mestis and were temporarily sent lower to Suomi-sarja before the too independent Kiekko-Vantaa staff got purged by the Korean owners and the guys went back up again.

 

[QnebO]

What they can offer you is probably free sticks and hockey in general, and they can help you to find some easy job to live on.

They might pay you extra by the points you score. One guy made around 5000€ extra (50€ per point from sponsor) in a season after posting 100 points in 20 games in 2DIV.

If you are looking to make living with hockey, you need to play Mestis at least.