Game report BIKO - Sählykerho

BIKO - Sählykerho 5-12 (0-4, 2-5, 3-2)

1-5 Henri (Miika)

2-7 Miika (Craig?)

3-10 Kalle (Anni)

4-11 Artur (Miika)

5-12 Miika (Henri)

As you probably already knew by reading the comments in email list, Sählykerho is a tough nut. The team consists of such players that it begs the question : what the f*** are they doing in Play Liiga, low skill level series. Oh well, everybody get their kicks out of something :)

First period was paralyzing for us. It is hard to play once in a while against a team, who aggressively just comes and takes the ball and doesn't let you play your game. So we were kind of caught our pants down. And shoe laces open.

In the second period we remembered to which direction the attack went again, and got back to the game. It was obvious that we would have to defend like heck to prevent 21-1 disaster, and we did that. Jani got really acrobatic towards the end of the game. In addition to this, Sählykerho left gaping holes in their defense, and if we'd had anymore skill or luck, we might have had the chance of scoring closer to 8 or 10 goals. We were constantly running through and behind them.

Yours truly managed to botch one of these situations, by losing the ball on a straight run towards the goal. The situation continued as blind and futile slashing of empty air in front of the goal keepers nose. In the end Kalle, the helpful gentleman as he always is, came to the situation and put the ball in. Thanks.

Against this kind of team, we scored 5 times, and - I have to say - they got lucky at least twice, so we definitely steered away from a disaster and came out with flying colors. Thanks to all. I hope next game sees more faces than today, two in change is almost but not quite enough.

Anni

Game report BIKO - CoBTra

BIKO - CoBTra 2-7 (0-4, 0-1, 2-2)

1-5 Miika (Topi)
2-6 Miika (Topi)

This time we were five field players and Jani. Myself and Miika in defence, Sarah left wing, Topi center and Craig right wing. Great experience and talent was accumulated in this floorball team. However, our self-confidence was not as high level as needed to win the game.

Our aim was to keep moderate pace, to score with high percentage, to defend in a aggressive manner and to keep out from the penalty box. I think we succeeded in all these areas in some extent but not perfectly which would have been essential to win the game against such a skillful opponent. Furthermore, we would have needed a bit of a good luck in the first period. The ball bounced into own net from our turtle defence twice.

Throughout the game the opponent was shooting hard and accurately and Jani did a couple of magnificent saves. Miika and Topi showed their scoring skills in the last period, especially their second goal was a excellent demonstration how to play floorball. Sadly, Sarah and Miika got cramps in the third period and Topi injured his angle, so there was not much running during the last minutes of the game. However, our whole injured team was fighting like a lion and blocked the shots successfully.

Despite the clear and ugly box scores, we had our chances to win the game. And if the attitude continues to be like in this game, that´s more than possible. See you in the next game.


Sami

Game report BIKO - Hunters

BIKO - Hunters 7-6 (3-1, 2-3, 2-2)

1-0 Topi (Craig)
2-0 Miika (Topi)
3-1 Artur (Henri)
4-1 Craig
5-2 Topi (Miika)
6-5 Kalle (Miika)
7-5 Kalle


Heh! The game started with me looking the other team in scorn and announcing :"We don't need to be so defensive today." It did not, for a change, turn out to be the famous last utterance before disaster.

This time we had plenty of players, a change for each. Sadly, Jussi managed to injure his ankle so that he had to stay out after the second period had just started. That was patched by shuffling the changes a little. In the end we had a little different setup from the usual, Jukka playing defense and Kalle in the center. That worked out very well indeed.

Not defending was the word of the first period, simply because we did not seem to have to. We got 4-1 lead to the beginning of the second period, and then Jussi injured himself. After that it got a little confused, and the Hunters scored all the way 5-4. It started to look a little scetchy. We reshuffled the players, emphazised defense, and managed to balance the game again.

That was that, basically. We were not at any point in real danger of loosing our victory, although we did let the opponent to come unnervingly close. Everybody had their chances to score goals (even me!) and many of us succeeded. It was a very fun game to play, it gave us all the opportunity to try a more relaxed and adventurous style, that we seldom dare to do.

Excellent, all in all. Some of us are going to Sport Pub Chelsea to watch Finland-Russia tomorrow, Wednesday, we may see there.


Anni

Game report BIKO - Leppäkorven läppä

BIKO - Leppäkorven Läppä 3-5


We thought to start like last time, stalling the game from the very beginning. It worked to some extend. The other team however managed to put quite a lot more spirit into their game than our opponent from the last game, and they did not fall so easily to the walking trap we set for them. They got sufficiently frustrated though, I've rarely seen a team getting so easily so heated. the whistle was blowing for us all the time.

I've not seen such a lucky bunch for a while. We have never been too lucky with the bouncing ball anyway, but this time it was ridiculous. Jani was a little disappointed in the goal, and I don't blame him. At least 2 of their goals were just done blind.

We managed to keep up with the game until the very last seconds. We had an absolutely fabulous heat for the last 7 minutes or so, and Läppä was in serious trouble with us. It was really heart warming to see the whole BIKO team pushing as a group and doing it as hard as possible. Unfortunately they got lucky again, and went ahead with two goals. Tie was so damn near. We even cheered twice for a goal that than did either not happen, or was not noted by the referee.

A very good fight indeed. We should be doing fine if the spirit of the first two games stays up.

See you in the next game

Anni

Game report BIKO - Dynamo

Play Liiga, BIKO - Dynamo 4-3 (1-1, 0-2, 3-0)

1-1 Jussi (Miika)
2-3 Artur (Jussi)
3-3 Miika (Kalle)
4-3 Kalle

I do not remember, when was the last time we've won the first game of the season. And we won it practically at walking pace. And we did it from 2 goals defeat position.

Could it be that we have finally found the league we belong to? After 10 years of searching we have finally found our group?

Joking aside, after 4 months of immobility (floor ball -wise) it felt rather nice to be able to start with a slow and easy, reggae -like pace. We decided to stall the game right from the start, as we saw our opponent outnumbered us quite considerably. Dynamo made the mistake we very typically do: they started to follow our pace. That was their doom.

Even when two goals behind, we stuck to our course. It succeeded. There was no nervousness or hastiness on our side, save perhaps one or two blind passes, and we took the control of the game quite efficiently. I could hear at the end of the third period some hard words to the referee from Dynamo boys, but at least to me the guy seemed to manage his job adequately.

Excellent start! See you in the next game. Keep looking at the calendar, we might get an update to the schedules very soon.

Anni

Season 2008-2009 starts

We're back from the summer vacation, and the next Play Liiga will start soon. The page has an added feature, the Calendar. Some scheduling is already been done, but most of the season is still open.

Be prepared for BIKO 10th anniversary! Should be coming soon.

Anni

Beers

There was a suggestion after the game to go to Soopeli pub for beers on 6th of June (Friday). As far as I'm concerned, that's as good a time as any, so let's meet there.


Anni

Game report BIKO - HEL ry

HEL ry - BIKO 7-2

6-1 Jussi (Artur)
6-2 Kalle (Craig)

I seriously can't remember, when was the last time we won against HEL. They play the kind of skilled and calm passing game that is poison to us. The first period was fairly uneventful but in the second they really got an upper hand for awhile.

It was a fun game, nevertheless, and being the last of this season, it was good to finish it with a nice fight for a third goal right until the end. In the third period our pressure started biting them, probably because of lack of players on their side. They were anyway a bit too far ahead at that time.

Against skilled team like HEL there's really not much else to do than take the ball, and don't give it back. When they control the ball, getting the run of the game back to ourselves is extremely difficult. Try to break the passes, and when doing yours, make sure your passes are aimed where you can actually see someone. There were a few wishful passes from our side, ending in the mid rink to a wrong guy.

All in all, we did not have that much time to concentrate on passing, and our defense could have been a little more vigilant, but it ended with a good feel and nice effort from our team. We got a new player in there, Craig, who did a convincing job in the defense. Welcome aboard.

Thanks for the excellent season, I hope many of you can find the time for the next one as well.


Anni

Game report BIKO - FinnSteve

Arena-Liiga last night:

BIKO - FinnSteve 6 - 8
1 - 0 Henri (who passed?)
2 - 1 Henri (who passed?)
3 - 2 Miika (Artur)
4 - 2 Henri (Topi)
5 - 4 Douwe (Topi)
6 - 7 Miika (Henri)


Our game, so to say. but we lost it. It was an enjoyable game to play for
(most of) us, may be the "problem" was that it was too enjoyable. We played
fairly well, but this applied only to FinnSteve's side of the rink. There we
were able to construct the game by passing and managed to have a decent
number of shots. At first, FS goalie had some difficulties, but he improved
his catch rate like a pig its running (translated Finnish proverbs are
hilarious, eh?) as the game progressed. On the other end of the rink,
however, defending was a bit sloppy at times resulting in too many goals for
FS. We just gave too much space and time for them in front of the goal. At
the end of the first, the game was tied 2-2, but we remained confident. In
the second period, after 4 -2 goal, our minds clearly shifted towards
scoring and we forgot the defending. Felt a bit sorry for Jani, who again
played a good game, but had to give in too often due to our lazy team
defence. This was especially true in the mid of the third, leading to 5-7
lead by FinnSteve. Miika still managed to make one goal but that was not
enough.

All in all I felt that we were overconfident of our victory, which then
backfired. Against other teams we have shown a bit different attitude. We
also went along to the walking pace of FS which we could have used in our
advantage. In the forthcoming game, it might be good to try to keep the team
defence in mind, especially the forwards should do this. It's likely that
the defenders will be, well, erm, *out there* more often than we have used
to lately.

Fun game to play, anyway! Thanks

-Jukka-

Game report BIKO - Säätäjät

Wednesday evening,
BIKO - Säätäjät 4-8 (0-1, 1-2, 3-5)

1-1 Miika (Tuomas)
2-4 Topi (Henri)
3-4 Miika
4-4 Topi (Jussi)


Right. Säätäjät has always been tricky. I do not remember, when was the last time we've won a game against them. This time we made a big effort though. From 1-4 situation to 4-4 was such a fight! Then they got the right gear in and went their own way.
A good game, and a relapse to the old habits as well. Now that Henri was once more playing, the old Miika-Henri combination left our defense quite open a few times. When people were reminded of the fact, our wingers dutifully dropped down.
It was a fast game, faster than usual, and we got really nagged at the end. The third period was quite lazy defensing, and that gave Säätäjät the opportunity to really beat us.

Oh well, still some to go. I thought the tough ones were over but apparently not quite yet.

Anni

Game report BIKO - Fonecta

On Thursday night

BIKO - Fonecta 2-7 (0-1, 1-4, 1-2)

1-2 Topi
2-5 Topi (Kalle)


We played a very good game. Fonecta is the team with the occasional appearance of players, who actually play in quite a lot higher level than this league is meant for. Taking that fact into account, there was nothing in our game we should be embarrassed about. With similar style we could have beaten any other team in the whole league.

With players like these it might not be meaningful to talk about luck in the rink, but it did feel like the ball was bouncing an awful lot for them, and not for us. Couple of their goals hit the post first, and from all directions on the 360 scale they managed to bounce in to our goal. On the other hand, our ricochets did not behave similarly. Jani was understandably quite miffed about this, but there you go. Game is hard.

Fonecta in its normal composition is definitely one of the low end teams. Their defense starts trembling when facing even the slightest possibility of pressure. their midfield guys were quite easily blocked and steered away from the passes. However, keeping their unnamed ace under check was very challenging indeed. In this game we did not bend over backwards for him, that is definite. In Thursday night there was still a tiny sniff of respect towards him in the air, but mostly our people just pressed on him, despite the very real possibility of getting a stinging 'kiss'.

Good work! Nothing to be ashamed of there. Excellent job, and we have to keep the same spirits up until the season is over. It is not getting a lot easier, but I think most of the tough teams are now behind us. Let's enjoy the game!

Anni

BIKO 10th anniversary plans

As we've been discussing in the mailing list, BIKO 10th anniversary approaches. This is the 10th season we're playing as a team, and we would like to celebrate that properly. The original plan was to have the party this April, but inviting people from abroad or even from elsewhere in Finland will take more time. And we really, really would like to make the occasion memorable, which requires quite a lot of work.

I hope you'll be patient with the organizing of the party, our tentative schedule now is September. The program will be fairly simple, but some extra events are in planning, and we hope you'll enjoy them.

This is also a call for missing team members. If you know of someone, who should be invited, but who you think is perhaps now mistakenly left out, let us know.


Anni, Jukka, and Miika
the 10th anniversary committee

Game report BIKO - Lopen Ilma

On Wednesday evening at 20:00
BIKO - Lopen Ilma 1-11 (0-1, 0-3, 1-7)

1-7 Tuomas (Artur)


Heh. It was quite a game :) I think we had real fun there, and we did play very well. The pure fact was that Lopen Ilma is genuinely a lot better team. We stalled the game in 0-1 half the game, but then Lopen Ilma got a big gear in and started shooting.

I believe that the only way we could have made those numbers look any better would have required us to continue a tight box defense and stalling. That would have killed their spirit, and made our life a tiny bit easier. Alas, we tried to tie too eagerly, and they caught us. When a team like that has a good day, they'll score from any position available.

I have to say it is really nice to see people laughing despite the numbers. It felt like we're a real team again. Thank you for that.


Anni

Game report Vandals - BIKO

Game on Wednesday night
Vandals - BIKO 1 - 3 (0-1,1-1,0-1)

0-1 Miika (Jukka)
1-2 Miika
1-3 Miika

Miika Miika Miika. He also got the only penalty in the game. Which eventually lead to Vandals tying the game to 1-1. I have to note here, that Vandals won their last game against HEL ry 0-12, and have been, as I said before, playing very uneven season.

There were only two in change in our team, but Vandals did not have two full chains either, so it was fairly even. Their ball control was way better than ours, but despite of that we managed to pass around and keep the ball and build attacks very nicely indeed.

Once again our game was solid and smart, for the most part. In the third people got slightly over-confident by our 1-2 lead, and that produced some really confusing situations, where most of our team was behind, or at, the opponents goal. In a situation like that, back down. Always. Play safe, and keep the lead. It could have easily turned 2-2 or even 3-2, but luckily we found some sense before any disasters could happen.

Having just two players to change with is not easy on anyones fitness, but it forces you to play smart. That was exactly what people were doing in the rink last night, and I'm very impressed with you. Sadly, I myself had to take the coaching position because of mi cold. It was very educational. It looks quite different when you're not participating in the actual game. I also noticed, how much I spend energy in just shouting during the games. It is not a small amount, I have to tell. Thanks to the game, I've been partially speechless today, and will be perhaps tomorrow.

Well, this victory will take us closer to Finnsteve and Fonecta, and they play against each other next Thursday, so with good scores we may leave Finnsteve behind us. Catching up with Fonecta is not as easy. Five more games to go, lets keep this style!


Anni

Farewell, Enni and Ville

On Thursday we had a small farewell party for Enni and Ville. Not that many people were able to make it, but we who did had a nice chatty evening with good tex-mex food and a couple of beers. Enni was definitely quite tired, and no wonder, she's having her dissertation this Friday. Good Luck! just a hint to the other team members: go and see it. From experience I can tell that the dissertator's level of nervousness is considerably lower, when there are friendly faces in the audience.
Ville has his visa and other matters settled and is flying away this week. We wish both Ville and Enni lots of luck and happy coming years.

On the behalf of the whole BI Knockouts

Anni
the captain

Game report BIKO - YTT

BIKO - YTT 7-3 (1-1, 3-2, 3-0)

1-0 Miika (Ville)
2-1 Miika
3-1 Sarah (Jaakko)
4-2 Topi (Jukka)
5-3 Topi
6-3 Tuomas (Jukka)
7-3 Topi (Jaakko)

It is really nice to win sometimes this big. Especially when this was Ville's, and probably also Enni's, last game before they take off to do their postdocs. Let's hope Enni can still make it to the next game :)

YTT is one of these teams that heat up quite a bit when they are in a chasing position. And that they were during the whole game. Not once did they lead. In the last period, when it still looked like they would have the chance to tie and get past, they started to play dirty. Jani got nasty hits to his fingers, Tuomas was coldly pushed over and all kinds of little nastiness took place in the rink tonight. It is a really good thing indeed that we kept our heads cool.

Skill-wise this was nowhere near our best game. we got over enthusiastic about our clear upper hand, and forgot to defend. Two of YTT:s goals were made in 3-1 situation. Not good. I mentioned the box a few times. Because YTT played such a slow game, we did what we usually do, and stepped in their pace. This made the turtle game very difficult for us. Turtle requires hard slaving at defense, rapid attacks, and even quicker falling back to defense. Now we ran with 1/3 speed.

Regardless, we won, at that is always fun :) Enni and Ville are leaving so next week we'll be organizing a little fare well party during the mid week days. I'll send more details about that later.

See you next week, and if not, in the next game, at least,

Anni

Game report BIKO - Pakkaus Öhman

Arena-liiga 14.2.
BIKO - Pakkaus Öhman 4-9

1-0 Tuomas (Miika)
2-0 Tuomas (Jukka)
3-4 Topi (Miika)
4-N Tuomas (Miika)


Blood on the dancefloor(ball)! Nasty numbers, although the game was not that
uneven. Frankly, we could have taken the points home tonight, but… something
happened. We got a good start with two-nil lead after the first period.
However, towards the end of the first period PÖ was getting more and more
into the game and we started to play less controlled game. During the first
break Miika - with all good reasons behind him - called for more controlled,
calmer and relaxed play from us. And we obeyed dutifully, TOO dutifully. We
stopped running altogether, or at least it felt like it. That wasn’t part of
Miika’s message, I guess. PÖ used this effectively, and soon the score was
2-4. They sort of dragged us to their rather slow playing. They were also
passing very well in the midfield - and we gave them too much space. We were
really sloppy in front of our goal, too. Despite a rather good start in
third, this thing even escalated and they made a number of goals from close
range. The last five minutes is probably something that Jani won’t tell to
his grandchildren (Jani played a solid game, it was just us in front of him).

Tuomas played a good game, as the scoreboard shows. I can’t say that anybody
would have played badly (ok, I myself can confess couple of gross mistakes),
it was just one of those nights the engine stalled. In the end Miika was
almost elbowed by an opponent, but he skilfully managed to put his head in
between... The bleeding looked almost as nasty as the numbers on the
scoreboard at that stage.

Not much to brag about after this game, but let’s be awake in the next!

-Jukka-

Game report BI Knockouts - HEL ry

BIKO - HEL ry 4 - 4 (0-1, 3-1, 1-2)

1-2 Tuomas (Douwe)
2-2 Miika (Tuomas)
3-2 Miika
4-4 Kalle (Miika)


It is really nice to play, when you can see everyone in the team concentrating on the game. The spirits were very high yesterday, perhaps, in part, a bit too high. We got two quite unnecessary team-penalties for continuous wrong playing style. This means mostly slashing, and hitting the stick. HEL did it too, they just did not get penalties from it. It was close though, the referee gave them a warning. Keep it cool, and play by the rules, even in tight situations.

We have now had two games in a row, where we've actually been in the chasing position, and managed to pull even, and even go past. This requires some backbone, and I've had the feeling that we've been lacking it previously. It looks like we're gradually growing some :)

HEL is a really skilled team, and their passing game is better than ours. Even more, they have one or two players, who are really confident with the ball, and can run laps around anyone else in the rink. Our tight box defense worked quite nicely, although in the first period it was almost non-existent. It got too tight, and everyone was just standing in the front of our goal. The second and third went a lot better. This killed their goal-spree efficiently. We forgot the defense a few times in the third period and they managed to shoot a fairly simple one. Their other goal in that period was quite good, and we would have had hard time preventing it anyway.

One thing to note, especially in the last period: When HEL had the ball, there were three of us up there after it. This is a no-no. Only one tries to tackle the ball. The winger on the side of the attack has the responsibility to tackle, and tackle hard. The rest of the attack chain has to drop down at that point, because if the guy gets a pass past the chasing winger, the ball is immediately in our end, with just two defense men.

The wingers also have the responsibility to drop down, if our defense runs up. This we forget too often. Take notice! Also, making a mask in front of the opponents goal is very very important, so there are lots of things that fall on the wingers :)

Next game in about three weeks. See you there!

Anni

Game Report BIKO - Finnsteve

BIKO - Finnsteve 5 - 4 (0-2, 2-1, 3-1)

1 - 2 Topi (Petri)
2 - 3 Artur (Tuomas)
3 - 3 Kalle
4 - 3 Topi (Anni)
5 - 3 Miika (Tuomas)


Well well well, it pays off to do things the way you know the best. Although not everybody was available in the briefing before the game, and we did not exactly find room to practice, I think most of us got the hang of our 'turtle'. It is about guarding a plot in the rink, not about guarding a specific player. There was still some confusion visible in the rink, but all in all the turtle was well packed, and made Finnsteve's game quite difficult.
On the other hand, Finnsteve let gaping holes in their defense, which we managed to use with some efficiency.
Finnsteve is second in the league. Our turtle has gotten us a 1-1 tie against the league leader, and now, a victory against these guys. And, to be quite honest, our game was not the best possible turtle game I've seen us play. The result is impressive. Also some crucial changes to balance the strength probably helped. Thanks for the hints, and big thanks to Enni, who slaved through the changes. It really made a difference.
This game should have ended 6-3, that's something that will bug me for some time. In the second period, I managed to shoot off an open goal, and immediately after that, Kalle scored, but on the end whistle - no goal. In the third period, right before the finish, Tuomas got an obscure penalty (pressing the stick? I was right next to the situation, I must have selective vision), which Finnsteve managed to exploit. Darn.

This is looking a lot better now! As far as I'm concerned, BIKO will continue with this style in the next game. See you there!

Anni

Game report Säätäjät - BIKO

Säätäjät - BIKO 10-2 (5-0, 1-1, 4-1)

5-1 Topi (Ilya)
9-2 Marko (Ilya)

I know. It is so frustrating to have two games like this in a row. What is positive in this is that now I know, what does not work. Two games lost so magnificently, when we tied against the best team in the league...

From now on, the tactics will change. We will stick to our own game, no matter who and on what level our opponent is. It is quite telling that after the little speach in the first break our second period looked so much better than the first.

There are a few things I'd like to remind people of:
1. Appear to the game early enough. A minute before the whistle is not 'early'. 5 minutes after the game has started is outrageously late! It will mess up the game completely, if we need to play with temporary positions for the first half of the first period, or change defense to offense and vice versa in the second period.
2. Practice basic skills. Arriving early helps here, too. There is no shame to go to the rink and start passing a ball in a circle with a few friends. Many of us may have that as the only opportunity to train basic skills for weeks in time. Especially important this is to those who are not going to the Tuesday practice anymore...
3. In game, listen to the goal keeper. Trust me in this. He sees the game far better than anyone else in the rink most of the time. If you hear him shout "Kaks muuriin!", make sure that there really are two players forming a wall where he points.
4. On the bench, shout warnings. Again, from the bench you are more likely to see the attackers sneaking behind our defenses. Tell the people about it.

OK, our next game is on 17th of January. I'd like to see as many as possible appearing at least 20 minutes before the game. We're going to shift our tactics to the good old turtle, which means tight guarding of men. We need to rehearse that. The game is so early, that it would be also nice to see somebody staying after the game for a chat in the bar.

See you in two weeks!

Anni