Valtteri Filppula teamed up with his brother, Ilari, to register a point in his debut for Jokerit of the Finnish SM-Liiga on Tuesday. Jokerit welcomed 12,000 fans to the game, according to the team’s website, but fell to Saipa, 4-3.
Ilari Filppula, 30, was once a member of the Red Wings’ organization himself. Detroit signed the forward to a two-way contract in 2010, then assigned him to Grand Rapids. He had 64 points (20 G, 44 A) for the Griffins during the 2010-11 season but opted to return to Finland for the 2011-12 season, where he signed with Jokerit.
Valtteri joined him just a few days ago and Tuesday marked his first game with the team — and his first since the NHL lockout began.
It took the brothers just 5:47 to team up on a goal, with Valtteri setting up Ilari for one-timer that snuck into the net. Ilari scored again in the third period to tie the game at three, but Saipa tallied the game-winner with 9:19 left.
Jokerit is now 1-3-0 on the young SM-Liiga season. Its next game takes place on Thursday against Ilves.
