Valtteri Kemiläinen became a two-time Champions Hockey League Champion when Tappara Tampere beat Swedish side Luleå Hockey in last night's 2023 CHL Final.
The Finns scored two goals in the opening period before adding a third at the very start of the final frame, but a late comeback by Luleå, during which they scored two goals in under six minutes, had everyone worried.
"The last 10 minutes were total panic"Valtteri Kemiläinen, Tappara Tampere
"It was a tough game," said Valtteri Kemiläinen, "the last 10 minutes were total panic, it was just surviving."
"But Heljanko was so good in net," he added, highlighting teammate Christian Heljanko who was the star player of the Final.
The 25-year-old has been a key player all season long for Tappara and with 12 games to his name in 2022/23, the Finnish international has made waves with his 95.12% Save Percentage, one of the best in the CHL this season, having let only 1.33 goals into his net on average per game.
The goaltender was also awarded the prestigious LGT MVP Award for most valuable player of the season after the game, as decided by an expert jury and fan voting.
Kemiläinen also talked about another of his teammates in the immediate aftermath of the game - Kristian Kuusela.
"We played for Kristian Kuusela, this was probably his last chance to win the trophy so it was really nice to win it for him"
Kuusela is a veteran of seven CHL seasons and has played a total of 61 games in the pan-European competition. The 40-year-old, as Kemiläinen hinted, is closing out his hockey career and the title of European Club Champion had been one that had been eluding the four-time Liiga champion, SHL champion and World Championships gold medalist.
"I'm a back-to-back CHL Champion!"Valtteri Kemiläinen, Tappara Tampere
For Kemiläinen, this wasn't the first time he got his hands on the European Trophy. The 31-year-old won the CHL last season during his spell with Rögle Ängelholm. How do they compare? What are his thoughts on that?
"I couldn't be happier," he said, "this is such a great group of guys - I've played with most of these guys for over five years, but now I'm a back-to-back CHL Champion!" he ended.