Finn-tastic quotes

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2003

By Lucas Aykroyd

The Finnish Lions are coming home to roar. In the weeks leading up to the 2003 World Championships, IHWC.NET’s Lucas Aykroyd spoke with Finnish players and asked them what it means for the tournament to return to their homeland.

Hannes Hyvonen (Forward, Farjestads BK): Of course it’s a big thing for our country, because Finland is a big hockey country. If we don’t make the playoffs, I’m ready to play there if they ask me. When I was a teenager, I liked to check those games out. 1995 was great when we won the whole thing. Hannu Aravirta has done a pretty good job with the national team. He’s got five medals or something, so I think he’s the best coach we’ve ever had. It’s always been a tight tournament. We come so close every year. We always have good players coming up, and I hope we win this year.

Lasse Pirjeta (Forward, Columbus Blue Jackets): It was a great experience for me to play at the World Championships in Sweden last year. It was my first time to make the team. It was too bad we didn’t make the finals. We had a good team and we had the possibilities to have a big success, even the gold medal. But we lost the semi-finals on penalty shots, so that was bad. Maybe one of the good things for me was that I’m here now with the Jackets, because I made the national team. The people are crazy about hockey in Finland. It’s absolutely the biggest sport there. They’re going to be crazy this year too. I think Hannu Aravirta has been the perfect guy for our national team. He’s always got the tactics under control. He can get players to understand those things in a few days, and in a short tournament you don’t have that much time for that. But the team always plays well. I think all the players will make a good effort to help him get a gold medal this year.

Sami Salo (Defenseman, Vancouver Canucks): I think it’s going to be huge. The last few years, our guys have done an awesome job. They’ve gotten medals, bronze or silver. They’re still waiting to get the gold again like they did in Sweden. After that, hockey just skyrocketed in Finland. I know when the tickets are on sale for a tournament like that, they go in a couple of hours. Jari Kurri’s going to be coaching his first tournament back in Finland. There’s a lot of emotion for many guys when you’re playing in your homeland. In Germany, when I played my first tournament in 2001, we happened to get the silver and it was a great experience, even though we lost to the Czechs in the finals. The Swiss and German fans were very loud. It almost doesn’t matter who’s playing for those teams. It’s more like a soccer atmosphere.

Miikka Kiprusoff (Goalie, San Jose Sharks): It’s a big thing for us. So many guys who don’t make the playoffs here will want to go there. A few years ago when Finland won the gold, it was huge, so it would be nice to win again. We’re starting to develop more goalies, too. Here, we have guys like [Pasi] Nurminen playing in Atlanta and [Jani] Hurme in Florida. And we’ve got good young goalies back home. I’ve been to the Worlds twice, and both times we lost in the finals. My first time was awesome. We had guys like Teemu [Selanne] and Saku Koivu and they played great. We’ve been so close so many years. If we keep playing the same way, we’re going to get the gold more often. I think Raimo Summanen will be a great replacement for Hannu Aravirta after this tournament. Hannu’s been there a long time and the guys like him. Now, Raimo was a good player and he’s been doing a great job as a coach with teams back home.

Kimmo Timonen (Defenseman, Nashville Predators): It is pretty exciting. I remember in 1997 I was there, but I didn’t play, and the whole country was so excited. It was a full house for pretty much every game. I’m sure it’ll be the same thing this year. I think our team will have a balance with half guys from the NHL and half guys from back home. I don’t know the coach’s exact ideas, but that’s what I’d guess. Obviously, in terms of the style, for a guy like me, there’s more room and you have more time to move the puck. It’s good for me. I know Raimo Summanen will do a good job next year too, after Hannu Aravirta moves on. He’s a good coach, a demanding coach. I think it’ll be a good move for the Finnish national team. We’re starting to develop more good goalies too, and any time that happens, it helps your team. We’ve got some over in Finland and some over here now. I’m sure that’s not going to be a problem. I’m sure the team’s going to do pretty well.

Jere Lehtinen (Forward, Dallas Stars): The World Championships are always a big thing in Europe, and now they’re in Finland. It’s pretty exciting waiting for them to start. It was great for me to play with Saku Koivu and Ville Peltonen in 1995. The whole tournament, our team played great overall, and it worked out for us to win the gold medal, our first ever. It was even sweeter for us because it was in Sweden! Maybe the Swedes will be looking for some revenge this time. It’s a lot of pressure for the Finnish team. It’s Hannu Aravirta’s last year, so I hope they have a good tournament and get a medal. In the past, the Finnish team hasn’t been there in the end too much, except the last six or seven years. It’s going to take a while to get used to being on top and needing to win those games. There are going to be some good goalies available this year, like [Jani] Hurme and [Pasi] Nurminen and [Miika] Kiprusoff. About the 20 minutes of 4-on-4 they’re having this year in playoff overtime games, I think it’s better than a shootout. It’s a good idea.

Ossi Vaananen (Defenseman, Phoenix Coyotes): It’s a huge deal back in Finland. The cities will go nuts. Everybody’s been talking about it for years. Hockey is the biggest sport in Finland and the fans are excited. Expectations are high. Last year, Finland didn’t make it to the medal games, but I think we’ll have a good team, whether we get lots of players from the NHL or not. It’s a home tournament, so it’s going to be good. I played in Salt Lake City last year, and we didn’t do too good there, losing to Canada. But in 2001 I was at the Worlds in Germany, and that was a great experience, even though we lost to the Czechs in overtime. We had a great team spirit and everybody had fun. It was a close thing, and I’m sure it’ll be the same this year. Sometimes teams get a lot of guys from the NHL and they think they’re going to be good, but it has to be the right mix. You can’t have a team full of players who are used to lots of ice time, for instance. It’s up to the coaches to decide who fits in. The rink is European-size and there’s no red line, so it’s an advantage to have guys who play over there. Petteri Nummelin is a good example. He’s a great skating defenseman who sees the ice really well, a typical European defenseman. As well as Finland, I think Sweden will be really good this year and the Slovaks too.