An exceptional situation with the coaching of the lions – experts demand this kind of risk-taking from Antti Pennase immediately | Sports in a nutshell

Sports expert Ismo Lehkonen remembers well his debut as the head coach of Leijoni Antti Pennanen since his player days and has closely followed the different phases of his coaching career since then.

– I’m pretty sure that throughout his coaching journey – especially the last two to three years – he’s been preparing himself for that fight. Pennanen has tested and tried all kinds of things in the club team. Some have worked and some haven’t.

In Lehkonen’s opinion, Pennanen has slowly gathered lessons at the management level and through that has aimed for the position of Leijoni’s head coach.

– When he came to the national team, Pennanen has followed closely Jukka Jalonen action, and knows the game like the back of his hand. Of course he wants to bring new things to gaming. And it is necessary to bring it, because the Finnish way of playing has become clear to quite a few teams and it needs to be reformed.

The expert wants Pennase to be given a chance.

– Let’s start with a clean slate and see what the game brings. When it comes to the head coach of Finland, the first three tournament games show a lot. It’s such a windy place. Let’s start by looking at Antti’s body language, how he handles the stress level.

– However, it must be remembered that when the EHT starts, there is a generational change going at a fast pace towards the World Championships. The Four Nations tournament of four countries (NHL players) is a completely different tournament, reminds Lehkonen.

Humility as an asset?

Top Nättinen sum up Leijoni’s expectations for the starting EHT tournament as follows.

– When thinking about a long continuance in Leijon, Pennanen is one of the best options. As an assistant coach, he has seen adult and young Lions’ prestigious competitions and won world championships in them, as well as winning as a head coach in club teams. He has all the necessary experience to succeed.

Nättinen notes that the world works in all its simplicity in such a way that even a coach sometimes has to experience adversity in order to learn something new about himself and his leadership style.

– I believe that the humility that has come to Pennas during the two Ilves seasons can even be a big key for him. If he had come to Leijon wearing braces as Finnish champion, it could have been a different starting point.

Nättinen says that he follows the head coach of the Finnish national team more critically than anyone else in Finnish ice hockey.

– When there are less than 15 EHT games during the season, you have to start evaluating them already after the first three EHT games – especially in relation to the game itself. What is important is what is brought to the game and how it is coached. I don’t think that Jalonen’s template will be completely imitated, Nättinen thinks.

Lehkonen: “The defense is activated”

Ismo Lehkonen is convinced that Finland’s defense will be activated in the Pennanen era in all areas of the field.

– So let’s defend even with a small risk and move forward strongly. The defenders will participate in this even in the offensive zone. No national team coach wants to give superior attacks, so the attackers’ game reading is required for this and that they make sure if necessary.

Lehkonen also wants to see what nuances there will be in the defensive play of the Lions’ own area.

– The earlier you get stops and puck possessions, the more you can attack. Pennanen certainly wants to sharpen the attacking game. I believe that there will be an increased risk factor for opening plays and crossing in the middle area and breaking the offensive blue line.

Nättinen: “Coaching wants to look at its limits”

Topi Nättinen expects that activity is a theme for Finland that is easy to “sell” to players.

– I thought about the project a bit through two ways of playing. So let’s do a bit of a hybrid, let’s go Euro. It’s there for the World Cup for these players, and then in the Four Nations tournament we go to a smaller rink with slightly different things.

– I believe that the coaching itself wants to look at its own limits and take a look at the North American tournament. So, what things can be seen a little bit here.

– Still, I would look at the starting EHT games as if they were World Cup games. Even if a little more passive hockey is played now, it does not automatically mean that NHL players will come to play it. This is such an exceptional, historic situation in Finnish national team coaching, when such a different tournament comes in the middle of the season program.

The Four Nations will be played by NHL players from 12 to 20 February 2025 in the USA and Canada.

– Now there’s this Helsinki tournament and then the EHT in Switzerland in December. I don’t think that the whole pack will necessarily be revealed yet or even played in the same way as in the Four Nations, which the general public is more interested in in terms of results, Nättinen reflects.

Risk factor and usual game things

Lehkonen says that he especially follows Finnish defenders in the EHT tournament in Helsinki Santtu from Kinnu, Robin Saloa and A glass of Thomsonwho have returned from their trip to North America and ended up playing back in Europe.

– It’s actually interesting to see how they play in Sweden – also Frölunda’s attacking duo Mikael Ruohomaa and Arttu Ruotsalainen – are fine. The skills of Finns playing in Switzerland are pretty much already known.

– I believe that the boys will be able to cope even with the risk factor in a completely different way than before. In the big picture, my eyes are fixed on things common in the game, emphasizes Lehkonen.

Nättinen has her own theme, which she follows in the tournament. He brings up the fact that the level of the SM league has been underestimated in relation to Switzerland and Sweden.

– I personally watch the six Finns playing in the SM league on EHT and how they adapt to the European top level and the team’s internal hierarchy. Pennanen also underlined in his comments that there are simply better players in other leagues. Now you can see where the top level of the SM league is going.

League players include defenders Atro Leppänen (Sports), Otto Leskinen (Poleaxe), Nuutti Viitasalo (Lock) and attackers Petteri Puhakka (Poleaxe), Brother Matti Savinainen (Tappara) and Kristian Vesalainen (HIFK).