The Finnish Floorball Federation awarded the season’s best for 2018-2019 in different categories on August 17th 2019.
Season’s best in Finland
Players & Coach
Male player: Joonas Pylsy
Last season was perfect for Joonas Pylsy. He played a significant role in the Finnish national team winning the World Floorball Championships in December 2018 in the Czech Republic. He was was also selected for the WFC 2018 all-star team. With his club team Classic, Pylsy, 29, helped his team to reach the national championship gold in the Finnish Floorball League, the Finnish Cup victory and the gold in the Men’s Champions Cup. Pylsy has become a man of big games improving his performance as stakes get high. He was the top scorer of the Finnish Floorball League 13 + 17 = 30.
Female player: Veera Kauppi
Veera Kauppi, 22, who moved from Koovee to the Swedish Super League last season, played a superb debut season in IKSU. She was set new all-time top scorer and assist records in the world’s toughest floorball leagues with 60 + 31 = 91 points in the regular season. It is hard to find any weaknesses in Kauppi and she was voted best female floorball player in the world 2018. Of course, Veera Kauppi is also one of the key players in the women’s national team. She was elected best female player of the season for the second time in a row.
Coach: Samu Kuitunen
The experienced Samu Kuitunen, 63, led the Classic men’s team as the head coach to a perfect performance that included only victories. In January, Classic won the Champions Cup in Gävle, followed by the Finnish Cup victory in February. In April, Kuitunen and his team got to celebrate the Finnish Floorball League Championship gold. He is also a member of the men’s national team’s coaching team led by Petteri Nykky, who led Finland to the WFC gold in December 2018. Kuitunen is characterised as a tough but human-oriented coach and an excellent player developer.
Boy junior: Oskar Sillanpää (23.4.2000)
Girl junior: Taru Nordman (20.7.2000)
Referees
Men’s Floorball League, Salibandyliiga: Mikko Alakare – Vesa Vilkki
Women’s Floorball League Salibandyliiga: Juhani Kirves – Henrik Snellman
The representatives from the league clubs elected the best referees
Most successful floorball club: Classic, Tampere
Floorball event: TPS Salibandy’s play-off game events
Pekka’s Trophy (named after Pekka Mukkala, the first President of the Finnish Floorball Federation): Tero Töyrylä, who has for many years, been the most dedicated Finnish floorball fan and supports the teams in the stands. Tero is also known as the father of the big cardboard fan portraits of players’ faces, making them a phenomenon that has spread beyond the floorball stands.
Source & more information: salibandy.fi
