EV Zug centre Jarkko Immonen played his first competitive club game in Finland in a long time on Sunday. Unfortunately, it wasn't under better circumstances, as Zug already had no chance of advancing to the CHL Round of 32 and finished the group stage without any points. 

by Sami Koljonen

TAMPERE – After six seasons in the KHL, Finnish international player Jarkko Immonen signed a contract with Swiss team EV Zug. On Sunday, Zug were beaten by Tappara 3–1 in Tampere. The game was Immonen's first official club match in Finland since 2009.

“We came to play pre-season games in Finland with Russian teams once in a while, so it wasn't super special. It's always nice to play here though,” Immonen said after the game.

Zug didn't spend any extra time in Finland, so Immonen didn't have a chance to visit friends or family.

“This was just a quick gig,” he said. “We landed last night, spent the night here, played the game and now we'll fly back to Switzerland.”

Zug didn't get any points from the group stage, so Sunday's game was the end for them in this CHL season. With Sunday's win, Tappara eclipsed Djurgarden for first place in Group B, but both teams advance to the Round of 32. 

“The game was pretty tame from both teams. It could be seen that either team had pretty much nothing to play for. It was just playing around,” Immonen said.

Zug started the game pretty well in the first period but the weren't able to score. Tappara took the lead and eventually held on to win it.

“Tappara played well today, nothing special though. They played tight as a team, but like I said, it was pretty much just playing around.”

The same teams went head-to-head in Switzerland a couple of weeks ago. That time Tappara were superb compared to the home team and beat Zug 7–0. These two games showed that Tappara were the better team.

“We didn't play as tight as they did. They played a smart game and we didn't play together as a team as well as we should have,” Immonen said of the first meeting between the teams.

Zug faced Djurgarden and Tappara in this year's CHL group stage. Immonen didn't notice any major differences between their game styles.

“Well, I don't know. Djurgarden came on very fast, but Tappara played a bit slower. Tappara clogged up the neutral zone very well, but actually I think every team play quite similar.”

Zug's CHL season ended after the game in Tampere. Immonen thinks that the team still has much to do and learn before the first National League A game against Lugano on Friday.

“We have a quick team but we have to play much tighter. All the players are not always on the same page yet. When somebody goes to some direction, someone else goes somewhere else,” he figures. 

During his career Immonen has played in Finland, North America, Russia and now in Switzerland. Playing in Switzerland has been in Immonen's thoughts for a few years now.

“We spent many years in Russia and I was interested in Switzerland for some time. Now I've got a chance to play there, which is nice.”

Immonen hasn't regretted his decision.

“Switzerland is a nice country, everything seems good over there. Everything's taken care of very well by the team. We've enjoyed our time there with my family.”