The Finnish national team trusts in the proven concept in the Olympics

The Finnish national team has been camping at Vierumäki fascilities before getting to the Olympic city Beijing this week. The head coach Jukka Jalonen told about the team’s routines preparing for the big tournament.

”We’ve been practicing both on and off the ice and not much else, but resting as well. We are not having team meetings at camp and outside the practices we spend time on our own.”

On top of the already named roster each team is permitted to name six extra players, who shall be on hold in case of covid cases come up.

”The case with extra players is interesting. It’s a good start that such are a possibility. It has come up that you can change players even in a case of an injury and you can also substitute the injured players back to roster again. We’ll see how we work – do we take somebody with us or are we having extra’’s staying in Finland. We can’t take such players, who are playing in their clubs during the Olympics.”, Jalonen enlightened.

Ready, set, go

The team is about to leave their home country very soon to go on a journey towards their big dream.

”On Tuesday we’ll practice here in Vierumäki and in the evening we’ll go to the airport hotel, where we’ll have the last tests. On Wednesday afternoon we should have our take-off. We see this as the best possible way to get ready and stay healthy.”

The Olympic tournament will be played in an NHL sized rink and even though the players from the North American top league aren’t there, the conditions remain the same. Finland has taken that in their minds.

”Our rink here is a few meters narrower, but equally long. We shall play the same way as we used to before. We fix stuff a bit as some things come more of often on the smaller rink. We know how to play in such environment and how to win and focus the right way.” head coach Jalonen said.

It’s a very common way to prepare for Finnish team to stay together rather long tme before the actual tournament.

”I don’t know, how the other teams have been together, but I am sure we’ll get our things cleared up here. From here it’s all about the exection of the plan and that’s what’s the deciding part in the end.”

Even though the camp life before the big tournaments is a pretty common thing for everybody taking part in the Olympics, still the head coach wouldn’t say they are at ease.

”I wouldn’t say it’s familiar and safe. We do our best to keep it that way, but covid is a threat for sure. We go on full effort in the practices and our focus is on our own business. The off-ice part is a bit different as we spend to much time on our own and don’t have that many social contacts.”

Head coach Jalonen has been coaching the Finnish national team through many victories and disappointments. He knows very well, what to expect from the Olympics without the NHL players.

”I assume that the tournament shall be somewhat the level of the World Championships as everybody has their best players from Europe participating. We’ve been doing well in the WC’s, even though there have been NHL players present.”

Anttila knows the ways of the national team

Marko Anttila has been Jalonen’s choice for a team captain in the recent tournaments. He is a good fit for the Olympics as well, even though the final decision hasn’t been announced yet. The Jokerit forward looks forward to the Beijing tournament.

”In the Olympics everything is bigger. The hustle, other sports and athletes bring their own atmosphere. We count on our united game and our material is strong as well. We have a variety of players and strenght in every role. We’re able to make everything as ready as possible and the group united. That’s how we do well for sure".

The presence of the covid virus makes everything much more vulnerable and the people joining in the Olympics have to deal with a lot of stress about the situation.

”For sure the covid test results make us nervous as we’re very determined to get into the tournament. We’ve done a lot of tessting and in Beijing we should do a lot more. For sure it’s on our minds, but luckily we have something else to think about in the practices. We have a lot of energy in our group.”, Anttila mentioned.

Anttila was the captain in the last year’s World Championships in Riga, when the Finnish team came in second.

”We have a huge motivation to win. It would be pretty sweet to win the gold medals. Even though the NHL isn’t there, there are plenty of great players in Europe too.”

The trustworthy giant

Anttila tells that he’s not sure, why the coaches have selected him to be the player carrying the letter C on his jersey so often. Over two meters tall Anttila is the captain of the KHL team Jokerit, which is coached by the former national team coach Lauri Marjamäki.

”I’ve tied to do my own part and be good in my role. In my whole career I’ve aimed to be an overall good and reliable player. By doing that I get the credit from the coaches.”

When in Beijing, Anttila wants to take as much out of the event as he just can. He also has his methods for fighting the boredom.

”I’ll try to watch as many other sports as possible. Cross-country skiing and biathlon are interesting and I’m following the a lot in general too. I also brought some books with me and for sure I’ll keep in touch with the family, even though the time difference is here. Fortunately contacting others is relatively easy these days.”, he concludes.