Matty P to Play In Jolly ‘Ol Finland

perrealt
Artist rendition of what Matty P will look like in a fresh HIFK Helsinki away jersey.

In pre-official news it looks as if Mathieu Perreault will be heading to Finland to play for HIFK Helsinki to become the 8th Capitals player to leave for Europe. Earlier Friday, Perreault's agent broke the news of the move that would be made official next week. Finland's SM-Liiga would be home to the first Capitals player this season. Perreault, who scored an impressive hat trick against the Boston Bruins last season, had worked out a 2 year contract extension during the off season with the Capitals that would make him an RFA for the 2014-15 season. After conversations with Adam Oates and others he was promised to be a top 6 forward for the 2012-13 season. Coming off of last year's career record 16 goals, Perreault is starting to turn into a permanent fixture in the NHL.

Let's take a walk through what Perreault will be experiencing with his new setup after he signs on the dotted line.

A video starring Perreault's future teammates with epic music and dramatics (Watch this in full screen mode) Video via HIFK.fi

The "beast cave" or Helsinki Ice Hall is home to HIFK and can hold approximately 8,120 people but they haven't looked into profiting off of the concrete floors and plopping people in painted squares. Yet.

If you have no idea where Helsinki let alone Finland, here's Perreault's potential new digs


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This would be the club's logo. IFK stands for Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna which at this time Google Translate did not help us out with the meaning.

Matty P gets to look forward to sizing up yogurt containers in the locker room. Fast forward to 25 seconds in, and you'll see what we're talking about. Video via HIFK.fi

 

In the "ZOMG I WANT A PERREAULT JERSEY NEOW!" department, once he does sign and has played a couple of games be sure to go here, in order to order your very own jerseys.

HIFK Helsinki jerseys  Home Authentic Away Authentic If you wondering, there is a Joel Perrault on the injured reserve roster for HIFK which they have no relation (although it is very close in spelling. We made that mistake already)

A preview of the home jersey with sponsors from a copier company, bank, and candy bar. Makes sense.

A preview of the away jersey with the same random sponsorships.

And as a bonus, Matty P getting a hatty against the then Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins on January 24th 2012.

Creator of this lovely blog and also part of the creative side of things. Follow me on Twitter @md_dc for even more random musings.

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  • A_A_K

    Here's few things to add to your summary.

    "Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna i Helsingfors" stands for (roughly translated) The Comrades of the Athletic Association of Helsinki. No catchy brand names in 1897 I guess. The name is actually in Swedish which is the second official language of Finland.

    The club has a long tradition in North American hockey influence. Carl Brewer played and coached HIFK in late 60's. In late 90's both, Brian Rafalski and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Tim Thomas played for HIFK.

    Here's a vid of HIFK in 2011 winning the local Winter Classic against their local rival Jokerit. They went on to win the championship later that spirng. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxhBGAXB5No

    • http://twitter.com/hockeyshopped Hockey Shopped

      Ah nice. Thanks for the head's up on that translation. When doing the research, Google Translated melted down on all of those umlauts. Do you know if the Winter Classic is always played by them? I saw one of their Winter Classic jerseys and damn it looks niceee (stars around the collar)

      • A_A_K

        The Finnish Winter Classic has only been played two times until now. In 2010-2011 and 11-12 seasons. On both occasions it's been between the Helsinki rivals HIFK and Jokerit. (HIFK won both times). This season it's not going to happen however, but to my knowledge there are plans for 2013-2014 season.

        To cut a long story short, the Finnish league doesn't want to get financially involved in organizing the Winter Classics so it's going to be up to the clubs to organize further Classics. Most of the clubs are running on such tight budgets that many of them don't want to take the risk in organizing it solely on their own money. So far it's been only HIFK and Jokerit who have had the will to do so.

        I agree about the jerseys, those Winter Classic jerseys look so much better than the regular season jerseys! They used the same jerseys in this years off season games but for some reason (beyond my comprehension) decided to stick with those uglier ones for the regular season. The sponsor logos are a sore to my eyes (and for the most of the fans as well I guess) but unfortunately the clubs are dependent on the sponsor income so the jerseys stay the way they are.

        According to HIFK, Mathieu might play already on Friday. The fans are hoping he can turn things around here. HIFK is at 1-4 of last 5 games and currently out of the playoffs spot.

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