Talking hockey with Finland’s Jyrki Lumme

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2005

By Lucas Aykroyd

His first NHL game was documented in Ken Dryden’s CBC TV series, “Home Game,” but Jyrki Lumme left the NHL with considerably less fanfare after completing the 2002-03 season with Toronto. Nonetheless, he earned himself a nice legacy. With 468 career points, he remains the second highest-scoring Finnish defenseman in league history after Teppo Numminen. For fans, it was always fun to watch Lumme make his forays into the offensive zone, stickhandling with his wide-legged stance as he crossed the blueline. And the Tampere native represented his country with pride in three Olympics, five World Championships, and two Canada/World Cups. IHWC.NET’s Lucas Aykroyd caught up with Lumme after the recent RE/MAX Sea to Sky Hockey Challenge at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum, which featured a mix of current NHLers, oldtimers, and celebrities raising funds for Canadian amateur athletes.

IHWC.NET: Looking back on your career, who was the most talented player you ever played with?

Jyrki Lumme: Most talented? He’s probably sitting right there [points to Igor Larionov signing autographs]. It would be him and Alexander Mogilny, I’d say. But I was pretty fortunate to play with a lot of talented guys in my career. My first year in Montreal, they still had Larry Robinson and all those guys there. It was amazing!

IHWC.NET: One of your great skills as a player was your ability to lift a super-high backhand out of the defensive zone, say, on the penalty kill. How did you develop that?

Lumme: Well, I was usually the right side defenseman and I’m a left-handed shot. Going back in the right corner, I would end up going to the backhand. It was like, get the puck out or get killed by the forecheckers! So, it was just about survival, out of desperation. Especially on the penalty kill, you can’t go for a slapshot around the boards or you’re going to get killed. But a backhand helped me get away from those forecheckers. It worked out pretty well, so I kept doing it.

IHWC.NET: You had an impressive international career too. What stands out among your favorite international hockey memories?

Lumme: Calgary ’88 was the first time I played for Team Finland at the Olympics. That was the first time we got a medal in men’s hockey there, so that was huge for the whole country. Nobody expected that, and we beat the Russians to get our silver medal. And then we finished third in the 1991 Canada Cup. That was pretty good in those days. As well, Nagano ’98 was amazing. We got the bronze after beating Canada.

IHWC.NET: These days, the Finnish national team is strong in goal and pretty good on defense, but you could use a few more Koivus and Selännes to get the scoring up. Why do you think there’s a lack of snipers?

Lumme: We’ve always had a lack of snipers! We’ve had Selänne, like you said, and Jari Kurri before him. And we always have one or two guys. Tuomo Ruutu’s coming up, for instance. But Canada, say, can put out five or seven guys who can score 50 goals in the NHL, and we don’t have that kind of depth. That’s why we rely on team play. I think being the underdog is a good thing for Finland, like at the last World Cup of Hockey. They just stuck together and got good goaltending, and it got them to the finals. At all the tournaments I’ve played, and I still know most of the guys on the team, the team concept is the main thing. Even at the World Juniors, Finland’s gotten medals four or five years out of the last six or something like that. You don’t always have to have big names. And lately, our goalies have been unbelievable! I don’t know what it is, maybe they’ve had bad defenses in front of them and so they had to get better! [laughs] Just kidding!

IHWC.NET: Do you think we’ll ever see a day where Finland will actually enter an international tournament as the favorite to win?

Lumme: Probably not. If that ever happens, we’ll probably choke! [laughs] But right now, getting the goaltending is huge. We’ve got a lot of solid players. There are plenty of Finnish NHLers who play second, third, fourth line. You can rely on them for penalty-killing and good forechecking. If we can come up with a few more big-time playmakers and scorers, we’ll have a good shot. But you know, international hockey is so tight right now, with teams like the Slovaks emerging. Even Switzerland’s getting better. It’s all great for the sport.

IHWC.NET: You alluded to Finland’s World Cup success. What did you think about Raimo Summanen getting fired?

Lumme: Well, I’ve known him for years. He has a cabin about five miles down the road from my cabin in Finland. We played together in the 1991 Canada Cup. He also played for my Finnish club team in Tampere. He’s really intense. And I think he’s so intense that sometimes it boils over a little bit. But he definitely knows hockey. He’s unbelievable. He prepares better than anyone I know, and he pays attention to all the details. He demands a lot from himself, and he demands a lot from his players. His style is a little different. But if you look at the SM-Liiga, most of the coaches who have had success over the last ten years or so have actually been more like North American hard-ass coaches. Now, it’s true that most of the coaches there aren’t guys who yell and scream and go crazy. There’s a fine line. You have to go crazy at times, but you can’t do it all the time. But if you never go crazy, sometimes players are like little kids. If they get away with one thing and do it again and again, it’s tough to correct.

IHWC.NET: Have you thought about making a comeback as a player?

Lumme: Hmm, everybody comes back these days! [laughs] Yeah, I’ll come back here to the PNE [Pacific National Exhibition fairgrounds] and buy a dozen doughnuts and ride the roller coaster! [laughs]

IHWC.NET: So what have you been up to lately?

Lumme: I’ve been staying home here in Vancouver with my wife. We have two little girls. I’m fortunate that I can spend time with my family. No interest in coaching or whatever right now. I do the odd charity game and stuff like that. I have lots of things to do, but I’m not tied into a schedule, so I can walk the kids to school and so on. It’s great.