Hagman foresees good things for Finnish hockey

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2006

By Lucas Aykroyd

Olympic years have been very good to Niklas Hagman. In 1998, the robust winger scored the overtime gold medal winner versus Russia for Finland at the World Junior Championship in his native Helsinki. 2002 saw the 6-foot, 205-pounder named Best Forward at the IIHF World Championship in Sweden. This year, the son of Finnish hockey star Matti Hagman has already captured an Olympic silver medal as a member what most observers would agree was the best team over the duration of the Turin tournament. One of six Finns on the 2005-06 Dallas Stars, Hagman saw limited NHL playing time this season, even after being acquired from the Florida Panthers for a draft pick in December. Sure, this gritty battler has some way to go before he surpasses Larry Hagman as the most famous Hagman in Dallas history. But he did grab the spotlight with two big goals in Game Four of the Stars-Avalanche first-round series. IHWC.NET’s Lucas Aykroyd caught up with the outspoken 26-year-old before Dallas was eliminated from the NHL playoffs.

IHWC.NET: For you, what was the best part of the whole Olympic experience?

Niklas Hagman: I would have to say the atmosphere inside our team. We had a lot of injuries, and a lot of guys couldn’t make it. They had to make seven changes or something like that from the original roster. When we went into the tournament, nobody expected us to do anything. In Finland, people almost expected us to end in a disaster, as if we basically wouldn’t win any of our games. But the whole set-up of the tournament was good for us, because we knew we had a good team. We knew we had to play as a team. I think, of course, the last game we lost in the finals was tough, but overall the tournament was unbelievable. The Olympic atmosphere is special. I had the privilege of playing in Salt Lake four years ago, and after having been there, I knew I would have to play as well as I could to make it again. This time, it went down to the last minute in terms of when they called me [as a replacement for injured Stars teammate Antti Miettinen]. Still, it’s always an honor, and everybody’s always ready to go. The tournament started on Tuesday, and I got the call to play on the team on Sunday. But that’s something you just have to put behind you and play as well as you can.

IHWC.NET: You seemed really fired up to be there. Was that some of the best hockey you’ve played since Sweden 2002?

Hagman: I would say that for me, it’s good when the ice surface is a little bit bigger. I consider myself a pretty decent skater. That’s my main thing when I play hockey. I try to bring my energy and get chances out of my skating. At the Olympics, teams like Canada, the USA, and the Czechs had very big defensemen, big guys. It’s not that easy [for them] to play on the bigger ice surface. In the NHL, you’ve got to be ready for contact all the time. But over there, sometimes it seems like you are just floating around for a whole shift, because you’re at the other side of the rink. For me and everybody, it also brings an extra boost when you’re playing in a big tournament like the Olympics. All the best players are there. You want to show the people in the NHL: “I know how to play hockey too.” I’m trying to get the same momentum going now [when I play in the NHL]. The playoffs are coming and I haven’t played a single playoff game yet. I’ve played almost 300 NHL games in four seasons and no playoff games yet. I’m excited about that. I played with Niko Kapanen in the Olympics and we clicked pretty together. We had little things we set up over there that I’ve noticed we’ve managed to keep going over here. Of course, the hockey is different in the NHL. You can’t do too much stuff like drop passes or small dangling stuff. But every now and then you can try a little bit, and I’ve noticed it’s had a positive effect for me over here too.

IHWC.NET: Is it getting to the point now with Finland where people won’t be surprised to see your country in the finals? You were there in the 2004 World Cup and then you followed that up at the Olympics.

Hagman: I don’t think it changes that much. I think people still consider us as underdogs. There are six or seven big teams that could win every time. But it’s usually Canada, Sweden, the Czechs, and Russia that are the main candidates. Still, when you look at Nagano, we won the bronze, and then in Salt Lake we came sixth. Like you mentioned, we’ve had two second-place finishes recently. So in the last four big tournaments, we’ve basically been up there. And that’s the funny part. In Finland, after the World Cup, everybody was just trying to find negative stuff about hockey. I don’t think the people in Finland have recognized that the national team has played so well. Every year the World Championships are held in Europe, and Finland hasn’t played that well over there. I think it’s a good thing for hockey to play the World Championships every year, but sometimes it’s tough when you have a long season and a lot of games and then you go and play in the tournament. Every year they expect Finland to play badly, and when our team doesn’t play so well, they kind of give you bad press all the time. But when you look at the four tournaments we’re talking about with all the best players, Finland has played so well. Inside the team, when we play, it gives us a little extra boost. We try to show everybody we’re a good team, and we’re not going to let them give us bad press. I don’t think we deserve that.

IHWC.NET: And Team Finland has taken its play to a whole new level since the disaster on home ice at the 2003 World Championship.

Hagman: Yeah. We’ve lost a couple of times in the quarter-finals before the medal games at the Worlds. Last year we lost to the Russians in a shootout. So it’s little things. There’s been a lot of criticism directed toward the coaches and Jari Kurri and stuff like that. But the good thing is that it’s out of our hands. There are a couple of [journalists] who’ve talked about changing the whole system in Finland, and it’s ridiculous to read those stories.

IHWC.NET: Erkka Westerlund sure seems like he knows what he’s doing. You guys were really well-prepared throughout the Olympics.

Hagman: You know what? We didn’t practice at all at the Olympics. And I’m not saying there was a lack of coaching. The schedule was so tough and so crazy that we got [to Turin] and we had one skate. Then all the morning skates were optional. I didn’t skate at a single one. We had two games, a free day, two games, another free day. On my free days, I didn’t do anything. I just woke up, had breakfast, went downstairs, watched a little TV, and got a massage or something like that. It was just about getting your mind off hockey a little bit. It worked out perfectly over there. The system that we played, when we had a chance we went hard, and when we didn’t have a chance, we backed up a bit. And our goalie [Antero Niittymaki] was unbelievable. It doesn’t matter what system you play if your goalie plays like that. He played unbelievable. Without him, we wouldn’t have gone that far.

IHWC.NET: Not to take anything away from Miikka Kiprusoff, but your team didn’t seem to care that he wasn’t there.

Hagman: You never know. He could have played unbelievably, but he couldn’t have outplayed how Niittymaki performed in Turin. Kiprusoff and Kari Lehtonen both got injured before the Olympics, and I think it was good for Niittymaki that he was told before the tournament, “You’re the number one guy. We’re going to trust you, and you’re going to get your chance to play in the biggest tournament in the world.” Finland has so many good goalies nowadays. Thank God we have a very good selection to take into those tournaments.

IHWC.NET: How is Finland going to replace Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu when they retire?

Hagman: I haven’t even thought about it that way yet. There is also Teppo Numminen to consider. He’s an older guy who played unbelievably at the Olympics. He played the best tournament of his life. You know, it’s going to be tough. We have some young guys coming up, like Jussi Jokinen. Olli Jokinen is kind of putting himself in position to take Saku Koivu’s place as the number one center. Tuomo Ruutu is coming along too, although he’s had so much bad luck. It’s got to end sometime for him, I hope. It’ll be a big loss, for sure, when Selanne and Koivu retire. Selanne, like Jari Kurri, has been one of the best goal-scorers in the NHL and in the world. Koivu has been a tremendous captain. But I’m not that worried about our future when you look at our young guys.

IHWC.NET: Is there a final ingredient Finland needs to add in order to come out on top in those one-goal championship games?

Hagman: The difference has been so small. We’ve lost two 3-2 games. Someday it’s going to be our day. Against Sweden [in the Olympic finals], Koivu’s stick broke and they got a chance to go 4-on-3, and Lidstrom took the shot of his life at the right time. I’m positive we’re going to get the bounces in a final game one of these days.