Tampere set to welcome Blue Jackets with open arms

Helsinki is one of Europe's true gems. The capital and most famous city in Finland, it is ranked one of the most livable metropolitan areas in existence, is considered an environmental pioneer and is full of shops, restaurants, museums and everything else one would expect in one of the world's great cities.
But while the Blue Jackets have stayed in Helsinki for the first three nights of their visit to Finland for the NHL Global Series games vs. Colorado, today the team travels to Tampere, a two-hour train ride about 110 miles north where the actual contests will be played Friday and Saturday.
So, what should Blue Jackets fans know about Tampere?

"To me, it's the greatest city in the world," Blue Jackets star Patrik Laine said.
OK, Laine admits he's a bit biased, given he grew up in the Tesoma region of the city. But at the same time, he's beyond excited to show off where he's from to not just his teammates but the entire CBJ fan base.
"Everybody is going to say that about their hometown, but I don't know," Laine said. "It's awesome. It's between two lakes. There's a lot of trees. It's cold. We have a bunch of saunas. That's nice. You will see it when you go. It's hard to describe it, but it's a great city."
NHL GLOBAL SERIES COVERAGE: Finland's hockey history | Meet Patrik Laine | SvoNotes: Kekäläinen and Korpisalo head home
Let's start with the lakes, then. It's the first thing anyone brings up about Tampere, and why would they not? The lakes Näsijärvi (which stretches north from downtown out of the city) and Pyhäjärvi (which curls into the city center from the southwest) provide a magnificent natural backdrop to Tampere. The Tammerkoski rapids, meanwhile, connects the two lakes and runs a handful of blocks through downtown Tampere.
"It's a beautiful city," Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo said. "It's between two lakes. Really nice people. Just an all in all great town."
But what makes it the perfect spot for the Blue Jackets and Avalanche to drop the puck is the tremendous hockey history in the city. The location of two of the top teams in Finland -- Ilves (Korpisalo's former team) and Tappara (Laine's former team), who have a combined 34 Liiga championships -- Tampere is the spiritual home of the game and even houses the Suomen Jääkiekkomuseo (Finnish Ice Hockey Museum).

"It's like the Montreal or Toronto of Finnish hockey," said Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen, who was born in Tampere and has an honorary doctorate from the city's university.
As one might expect, there is quite a rivalry between the two top-level teams. The blue, orange and white of Tappara (Finnish for "battle axes" or "poleaxes") has had the most recent success with championships a season ago as well as in 2016 (spurred on by Laine's 10 playoff goals) and 2017. Ilves (the "lynx," in green, yellow and black) was a dominant power in the league's early years but is searching for its first title since 1985.

"In most cases you were born to root for one of the local Liiga teams and you were stuck with it," said Saila Sotavalta, a Blue Jackets follower who lives in Tampere and falls on the Tappara side of the divide. "Those local Liiga games have an awesome atmosphere."
Making matters more interesting is the fact the teams have shared the same home rink. Both now play in the sparkling Nokia Arena, which opened less than a year ago and will host the Blue Jackets and Avalanche this weekend after serving as one of the site's for this past summer's IIHF World Championship.

Previously, the two shared what is known as the Hakametsä ice rink, also called the Tampere Ice Stadium, a historic venue built for the 1965 World Championship that is the oldest rink in the country.
"It's not fancy, but there's a lot of history in that place," said Joona Luoto, a Blue Jackets forward who helped Tappara win the league title a season ago and was the postseason MVP. "Last year when we moved to the new rink, I was kind of like, 'Hmm, do I really want to go away from here?' But then we moved and it was really nice … but I appreciate the history of Finland and Tampere especially."
While many Blue Jackets fans are likely unfamiliar with this city of around 250,000 and a metro area around 400,000, it should feel like home while the team is in town. While it's the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries, it's a bit like Columbus in that it's welcoming and the size is just right.
"What I love about Tampere is that it´s big enough and small enough at the same time," Sotavalta said. "You can easily go to enjoy city life, but you also have nature at your doorstep."