Following four Swedish teams and a trio from the Swiss NLA, this year's Chance Czech Open will also present floorball from Finland, the country of the last world champions. The elite Finnish Salibandyliiga will be represented in Prague by the team Koovee from Tampere.
The only men's elite Finnish team will come to Chance Czech Open for the very first time. Nevertheless, they could continue in successful performances of their compatriots from the years 2000 and 2007, when the summer Prague tournament was won by players from Helsinki, or of the popular Finnsta selections.
In the past season, Koovee finished on the fifth position and won silver medals in the Finnish national cup. Despite the team have played only a few seasons among the Finnish elite under the name Koovee, they draw from long-time experience of their predecessors, the Gunners, which they directly follow and can therefore lay their claim for the silver medals from 1995 as well.
The Czech spectators will be interested in Koovee also thanks to their new acquisition, the Czech forward Tomáš Sladký. In the attacking phase, the team from Tampere relies on Veli-Matti Luukko, the team's most productive player. The Finnish defence is then secured by Janne Lamminen. The well-known figures also include the experienced goalie Pekka Nieminen and the forwards Tommi Ahola and Ville Matikainen. The club legend, Kari Jussila, will come with the team as a manager.
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