The Ice Hockey World Championships are currently being played in Russia (May 6th – May 22nd). This year Finns are particularly excited about them. Since hockey is a national sport in Finland, it is good to know something about the important figures in Finnish ice hockey. Here comes an attempt to summarise the minimum that everyone new to Finland should know about Leijonat (Lions), i.e. the national ice hockey team in Finland, and Finnish ice hockey in general. If you feel important details are missing, feel free to help me out!
While writing this and re-living some of the highlights, I have to say that in a culture where modesty and keeping one’s emotions under tight control is valued so much, it is worthwhile to know something about a sport where the passion that underlies everything we do becomes visible, and participate in the excitement. If I were to move to India, I would certainly like to know something about cricket, which I assume has a similar role there in bringing people from all generations together to share memorable moments.
World championships
2016 World Championships
This time the nation is particularly excited about Men’s world championships because Finland has already won two junior championships this year; both for players under 20 yrs, and under 18 yrs. As many of the key players of Team Finland have recently ended their active playing career, it is uplifting to see that there is a whole bunch of talented young players on the way. The U20 WC tournament was held in Helsinki earlier this spring.
In this tournament, one line stood out, and it was nicknamed PuLa-Aho for the players Jesse Puljujärvi, Patrik Laine and Sebastian Aho. This line made up the top 3 of the tournament’s leading scorers. Puljujärvi and Laine are both expected to be among the first picks in this year’s NHL entry draft. In the U20 tournament, one more player got a lot of attention. This player is Kasperi Kapanen, who scored the winning goal in the final. Kasperi’s dad Sami Kapanen is one of the long-time key players of Team Finland, so this added an extra joy to the achievement. The musical piece that became associated with this tournament is Peto on irti (The devil is loose) by VilleGalle, essentially it is an alternative version of Antti Tuisku’s hit with the same name. The Peto on irti clip shows you some of the highlights of the tournament, and some more images of the celebration are provided in Poika saunoo, a song about bringing the trophy home to the sauna. The head coach for the winning team was Jukka Jalonen.
Patrik Laine and Sebastian Aho are playing also in the current 2016 Men’s WC tournament. In the second game of the tournament, Patrik Laine just beat the existing record of points scored by an 18-year-old-player in the Men’s WC tournament. So, WAY TO GO PATRIK!!! After two games he had 6 points, and eventually he got 7+5=12 points, i.e. almost 2,5 times the previous record of 5 points held by Jaromir Jagr. Jagr’s record was not broken for 26 years, and in those years he has made his way to the 3rd place on the list of NHL all-time goals leaders, so people are excited about Laine’s performance for a good reason. Eventually Laine was selected as the most valuable player of the tournament.
In the semifinal, Sebastian Aho also showed that he stays cool under pressure by scoring two out of three goals against the host country’s team, Russia. Defence players, such as Atte Ohtamaa, showed their amazing work morale, and the goal keeper Mikko Koskinen kept frustrating Russian stars such as Ovechkin and Datsyuk by excellent saves. Mikael Granlund, the young hero in the 2011 championships as explained below, was also excellent in this tournament. Eventually Finland lost the final 0-1 to Canada, and got a silver medal in the Men’s 2016 tournament that inspired this post.
Highlights in the history of Men’s world championships
So far, Finland has won the Men’s world championships twice.
The first victory came in 1995, and after many close calls and bitter disappointments, the whole nation partied when Team Finland finally got the gold medal. What made this victory particularly sweet was that it came against our most beloved opponent, Sweden, in Stockholm, Sweden with goals 4-1. Even these days, when Finland is doing particularly well in the championships, you may hear the song ”Den glider in” (Swedish for ”it glides in” sung by Nick Borgen and Team Sweden) playing on the television, in sports bars and other locations where people are gathered to watch hockey. The link given shows you all the goals scored in the final, so it provides a big part of Finnish ice-hockey history right there.
During the 1995 championships, a line of young players were in flames and became the heroes of the tournament for the Finnish public. The players in this line were Saku Koivu, Jere Lehtinen and Ville Peltonen. The line was given the nickname Tupu, Hupu ja Lupu after Donald Duck’s nephews Dewey, Huey and Louie; in the link provided the players are reflecting on their career in Team Finland. In the final, Ville Peltonen scored three out of Finland’s four goals and assisted in the fourth one. The fourth goal was shot by Timo Jutila. In the following years, these players became key figures in Team Finland when they were available. Fans would keenly follow their careers abroad and in Finland, and when Saku Koivu was fighting cancer, a big part of the nation was standing by him in their thoughts. The coach to lead Finland to its first victory was Swedish Curt Lindström. A junior member of the coaching team, Hannu Aravirta was later to become a long time head coach for the national team.
The second victory came in 2011, again against Sweden (6-1), though this time in Slovakia. Again the team had a young player with whom the whole nation fell in love, Mikael Granlund, especially after his ”lacrosse-style” ilmaveivi =whirl-in-air goal against Russia in the semifinals. The post issued a special stamp to celebrate this achievement, and the Finnish hockey mafia issued a single Taivas varjele! (Good God!) featuring another Finnish hockey icon, the legendary commentator Antero Mertaranta. Another figure that you will often see in the studio is the coach Juhani Tamminen, nicknamed aurinkokuningas (Le Roi Soleil). You will recognise him from colourful outfits, some of which are currently auctioned for charity.
Mertaranta is in a key role in another musical piece that you will hear any time Finland is in flames: Ihanaa Leijonat ihanaa (Wonderful Lions wonderful! with highlights from the 2011 final). The original, more musical version published by Yle is here. One thing many were happy about with the 2011 victory was the fact that when Saku Koivu won the championship in 1995, his little brother Mikko was about 12 years old, and in 2011 the player who had the honour to lift up the trophy first as the team’s captain was this same Mikko Koivu. (Koivu is also the captain of the 2016 team.) The coach was Jukka Jalonen.
This account leaves out many important players, for example, a number of world class goalies and defence players. An account of the goalies is offered by Finnish soul is reflected in goalies, and for an non-Finnish analysis of Finland as a hockey country, check for example Why Finland is the best hockey country in the world.
Two ”must know” legends in Finnish ice hockey
If you have ever heard of ice hockey, you’ve probably heard of Wayne Gretzky, the NHL all-time goals leader. What you may not know is that Gretzky’s pair for several years was the ”Flying Finn” Jari Kurri. Together they paved the way for Edmonton Oilers with 429 goals. As the legends of hockey site summarises: Jari Kurri finished his career as the highest scoring European-born player in NHL history with totals of 601 goals, 797 assists, and 1,398 points. He was the eighth NHL player in history to reach the mark of 600 goals. He also finished with 106 career goals and 233 points, third all-time behind only Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. He played 101 games for Team Finland in adult tournaments with points 36+37=73. He ended his career in the national team after Team Finland got a bronze medal in the 1998 Olympics, a tournament in which all of the world’s best players were able to participate.
The other legend you need to know about is Teemu Selänne (or Sel8nne, as 8 was his number). Selänne still holds the NHL all-time record of goals scored in the rookie season with 76 goals, and since the next two have about 50 goals, it is unlikely that the record will be beaten very soon. In total, he scored 684 NHL scores in regular games, and is currently on the 11th place on the list of NHL all-time goals leaders. The only other non-North American player ahead of him is Jaromir Jagr, and together Kurri, Selänne and Jagr are the only three Europeans in the top 20 scorers. Interesting, as Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, for example, have all sent great players to the NHL.
For Team Finland, Selänne played in five World Championships, winning a silver and a bronze medal. He has also played six times in the Winter Olympics, bringing back three bronzes and one silver medal, and is the all-time leader of points scored in the Olympics with 24+19=43 points scored in 37 games. A documentary about Sel8nne was published in 2013, and this spring he has hosted Finnish sports legends from various fields in the TV series Supertähdet (Superstars). A few episodes are still to come, and you can find the previous ones on www.ruutu.fi. Selänne is also active on twitter, if you want to follow his thoughts about the games, check out @TeemuSel8nne. Selänne is also known as an active charity figure, for many years he has been a sponsor for the children’s hospital, contributing financially, and perhaps even more importantly, spreading joy by visiting the small patients.
Team Finland in Women’s tournaments
The female Lions have won gold in four European Championships and one bronze. From the World Championships they have brought home 11 bronze medals. In the Olympics in Nagano 1998 and Vancouver 2010 they also got a bronze. Although hockey is not hugely popular as a hobby among Finnish girls, the team has done very well, and certainly contributes to the popularity of the sport.
Why are Finns obsessed with beating Team Sweden?
This is a question asked by, for example, an exchange student in Dear Finland 12 things we don’t understand about you. One part of the answer is our common history, Finland was part of the Swedish kingdom for over 600 years, and we’ve always been something like the smaller sibling wanting to show that we can shine just as well as the older one who’s had a head start. In the context of hockey, there are also two, or three, particularly bitter losses.
World Championships
In 1991, the tournament was held in Finland. Finland faced Sweden in one of the initial games. Finland led 4-2, but Sweden scored twice in the last 52 seconds. You can see the most important moments in Yle’s Living archive, I think the voice explaining the feelings in the background belongs to Jari Kurri.
In 2003, the tournament was again held in Finland. In the quarterfinals Finland led 5-1 against Sweden, but eventually lost 5-6. Selänne scored 3 of the goals, and told afterwards in an interview how tangible the panic in the whole arena was when Sweden started scoring. And yes, it was very clear also from looking at the game on the TV screen at home. One of the happy facts in the most recent U20 tournament was that even when Russia evened the score in the final, the youngsters did not freeze, but joyfully scored their way to a victory. Again, a clip about the most important moments is provided by YLE, the commentator is the goal keeper Pasi Nurminen, who was called to play mid game after Sweden had scored several times.
Olympics
Torino Olympics 2006 is often mentioned as the tournament where Finland was better than ever (so far). However, Sweden won the final 3-2. Obviously everyone wanted the gold medal as an overall achievement, but many also hoped that key players, such as Selänne, could get one as well, and this adds to the bitterness of the disappointment. YLE offers some audio files about the final here.
Because Swedes are not only skilled but also often seem to have luck on their side, we tend to call them Hannu Hanhi (Gladstone Gander).
Personally, I can still vividly remember the freezing disbelief and disappointment I felt when watching these games, particularly the 1991 game with its two goals in the last 52 seconds. Any time Finland plays against Sweden, I am still unable to believe in victory until the game is completely, definitely, decidedly over. So, very few people can appreciate the skill of Swedish players as well as Finns, but it is probably wiser not to praise them very much in our company.
Hockey as a hobby in Finland
According to a recent news clip by urheiluuutiset.com, the number of registered hockey players in Finland was 73,900 for the 2014-2015 season. Out of this figure 67,648 are men or boys, and 6,252 are women or girls. As many play hockey informally outside clubs, the estimated total of people regularly playing hockey is about 200,000.
Essential vocabulary for Finnish ice hockey
Finally, a few phrases you need to know
maali = goal
Suomi johtaa = Finland is leading
Suomi voittaa = Finland wins
XX tekee maalin = XX scores
XX häviää = XX loses
Hyvä Suomi, Hyvä leijonat, tämä on ihanaa!!! = Way to go Finland, … Lions, this is wonderful!
To give you a taste of Antero Mertaranta’s commentary, here are some ”lyrics” from Ihanaa Leijonat ihanaa:
.. even if it hurts, it doesn’t matter… there’s your spot, why don’t you shoot?… the defence is played to a kebab kiosk… Now we shout wonderful Lions wonderful, this is wonderful!!!
Mertaranta’s diction is very clear, so by listening to him, you’ll quickly pick up the correct pronunciation for key phrases in hockey :-).