Always a chance to improve. Intrinsic motivation. Autonomy. Community spirit.
I wrote down those key terms in my notes as I listened Tommi Niemelän lecture last fall on the Swedish ship.
It wasn’t just any cruise, but the development days of the Ice Hockey League.
Niemelä was one of the most anticipated speakers at the event. Listening to his lecture, it was easy to understand why.
The head coach of the Pelicans is sprinklingly positive, inspiring, outspoken, excellent in his presentation skills – and still has a sense of humor. Niemelä’s trademark is a Hankon cookie type smile.
And yet some people don’t like Niemelä’s behavior. We’ll come back to that later.
First, it is appropriate to look at those Niemelä theses mentioned at the beginning. They are especially relevant, because Niemelä just led the Pelicans to the finals of the SM league. As he did last spring.
So there must be something special about this coach.
A dealer in continuous development
Always a chance to improve.
At first hearing, it certainly seems like a flat consultant’s speech to many ears, but when it comes to coaching a hockey team, it is surprisingly far from obvious.
I inquired about it from a few experienced players who have been under Niemelä’s coaching. According to them, Niemelä is exceptionally good at selling the idea of continuous development to the players.
For young hockey players who are at the beginning of their careers, trading ideas is not necessarily difficult, but the veteran section is not often used to that kind of thing in the ice hockey team. Meritorious, older generation hockey players go to the rink to do what they already know how to do.
Niemelä demands and cherishes continuous development. And it pays off.
An excellent example of the correct handling of experienced players is Juhamatti Aaltonen. The puck artist who traveled the world came to Lahti in the middle of the season. Many are wondering how Aaltonen will adapt to an environment where the boxes of star players are already filled.
Golden helmet Ryan Lascha hippie rapper Good morning “kid” I will leave, Nate Schnarr, Lars Bryggman and so on. Top chains full.
Just like that, Aaltonen kindly took a place in the lower chains. “Juhis”‘s problem-solving skills are known, but he adapted confusingly quickly to become the workhorse of the four chain. Defense has never interested Aalto so much before.
Freedom and the responsibility it brings
Intrinsic motivation. Autonomy.
In previous years and decades, a hockey coach had to be stern, tough and believable. In one word: authority. Today, the role of the pilot is completely different. And Niemelä is one of the signs of the new age in Finland.
– The general public may think that we (coaches) are something like puppet masters who control the players from above. But we are for the players, with the players.
That’s what Niemelä said at the Jääkieckoliito development days. And then revealed how difficult it is for many hockey players to internalize.
– It took two years for our players to understand and believe that we are really on their side, that the atmosphere is always the same regardless of victory or defeat.
At Pelicans, the players are given a lot of freedom, autonomy, which also comes with taking responsibility.
The Pelicans team exudes freedom. And when everyone has a good time at the workplace, it’s much easier to create the sense of community that Niemelä mentioned.
Päijät-Häme’s dream
Oh yes, you meant to forget! That is, the answer to the question why some people in hockey circles do not like Niemelä’s behavior.
The reason is that, despite his positivity and ear-to-ear smile, Niemelä does not act fairly and exemplary towards all parties involved in the sport. I now mean activities directed outside of one’s own club.
Niemelä plays a game behind the scenes – sometimes through the media – that many insiders don’t like. He constantly annoys the referees, embers the SM league at any time, tries to influence in a way that is far from positivity.
It’s really hard to understand why Niemelä works like that. I am fully convinced that the success of the Pelicans last season and this season would have been just as good without the unnecessary chirping and childish mesmerizing going on in the background.
When Pelicans beat Kärpät in the semi-finals for the fourth time, an expert on the Ice Hockey Tour Jesse Saarinen reminded of the speech that Niemelä gave after the poorly run 2021-22 season. Then the lahti club was eliminated from the playoffs already in the first round.
– Although not everyone necessarily believes it, we took a step towards our shared dream, where in Päijät-Hämee the hands are the last to be raised and the pytty is on the hands.
Few believed.
Only two years have passed since that statement. Päijät-Häme’s big dream is four wins away. And even if Tappara is better in the finals this spring, one thing is clear: Tommi Niemelä’s theses are working.