Ville Lastikka from Tampere Classic was again the spring point shark in the men’s F-league floorball. However, the national team player, who was also chosen as the best player in the World Championships, recalls the junior championship gold won with Lopen LFT’s C-96 team as the most impressive experience in his career.
Jussi Jäkälä,
Sam Such
– It is undeniably the sweetest achievement of my career, the recent two-time Finnish champion, Tampereen Classic Ville Lastikka says with a smile.
He refers to the C-Junior Championship gold he won in 2012 with the Lopen Floorball Team born in 1996.
– It is the kind of thing that still warms up perhaps the most, even though other great things have happened. Winning something big with friends who have had that spark on floorball makes it the coolest thing in my career, he says.
The 26-year-old merit list for Lastika is quite. He has now won two Finnish championships. There is also a gold medal in Switzerland. The national team shirt has become one world championship. Last December, Lastikka was chosen as the best player at the World Championships, when Finland was in the silver at home.
In Finland, Lastikka won the F-League regular season points exchange with 60 power points (30 + 30) during the season. The track was also effective in the playoffs, where Lastikka scored 34 points (19 + 15). With these powers, of course, the spike in the playoffs also came off.
The Finnish junior championship, which was won by a small locality (more than 8,000 inhabitants), still goes beyond all these merits. At that time, Lastikan LFT reached the championship in C-juniors. The big clubs Classic and Espoo Oilers were left with dimmer medals.
– It was the community that was built around that team. Coaches, other management team, parents. Everyone had a fire to do things together. It caused a great fire and love for the species itself, as well as for the community, Lastikka recalls.
In addition to Lastika, that team has risen to the league level Teemu Metsälä, Markus Sipronen, Timi Ahola, Nico Matilainen and Roope Grönholm. It has also strongly shaped the career of one of the best floorball players in the world.
Asphalt fields increased
– No wonder the ball stays on the stage after leaving these fields, laughs the chairman of the Lopen Floorball Team walking on the asphalt in Lopen Taari Olli Mustajoki. He is Lastika’s old teammate from the juniors, also part of the team that lost the Finnish Championship gold.
Mustajoki is one of the first to capture Lastika’s fiery shots, which today are the scorer’s trademark. In the yard games and exercises, the shots have equally been pushed behind the back and caught.
– At its best, there were quite a few chess little guys playing yard games. We played as a tie for one goal. Thus, from the goalkeeper’s point of view, many of Ville’s current delusions have been familiar for so long, he says.
Lastikka himself also recalls his shots developed in yard games. The number of repetitions has been a decisive factor, as have many other scorers.
– We often just dragged in the gang when one was at the finish. It has developed my shots.
Mustajoki emphasizes that many of Lastika’s current ways of playing have been evident in him since he was a junior.
– His insanely good understanding of the game was already visible when he was young, in addition to his shots. He was always smiling a little around the corner and every time the Reality came up, he stepped forward.
The student has wanted to support his junior club as a professional when playing. Lastikka donated a large bundle of old toy bats to Mustajoki and LFT.
– I want to give my beloved breeder something back. They can be prizes or even loan sticks, I wanted to give them to Olli for free use, preferably in a way that would benefit as many people as possible, he says.
– In the end, however, it has become the basis of my play and my passion for everything.
Not yet maximum
Much of LFT’s weight in the 1996 age group for Lastika is also indicated by the fact that the man popped in the team’s 10-year gold medal in the middle of the playoffs. He says he wanted to show how much he values a special group and their time together.
However, a return to the ranks of Lopen LFT has not yet been agreed, even though the old playmate Mustajoki is the chairman of the club.
– Yes, it was a joke when we gathered as a team to reminisce about what happened ten years ago. Fortunately, for my part, I will have to return there in the next few years, even though it would be great to play with that legendary bundle, Lastikka laughs.
The growing desire to develop as a junior further encourages Lopen’s breeder. Although the glory has come on many different levels, Lastikka feels that he has not yet reached his maximum.
– Surely there is always room for improvement. Even when it comes to personal merits and team performance, I’ve always been the kind of player that I want to constantly evolve. Such that you will never even be able to reach that ultimate potential.
Game style from 2012
The playoffs have also been strongly present in Lastika’s relationship. His partner Emmi Riikilä is one of the top players in the women’s volleyball championship league and was pocketing SM-silver this spring in LP Kangasala’s shirt.
The couple playing in the finals has not shared tips for the finals, but has given each other space to start advising on how to play. Balling unites, but according to Lastika, it doesn’t push into a relationship.
– Surprisingly little it spins. We understand each other well when we are both at the top of our sport. We can see well what time one needs to concentrate on something else or something else, Ville says.
– We haven’t seen much of each other when we had games in Kuusamo. However, when we are at home, we are able to relax well from everything, Emmi says.
So what is the secret of Lastika according to Riikilä?
– Whatever it is. I say calm and hard pull! Riilä throws.
Yes, that shot. The wrist shot polished on the parquet and asphalt streets of Lopen Elmola Sports Hall is the sum of many factors.
The style of play and gigs at Lastika are the same as in 2012, if you believe your teammates.
– Just earlier this week, one of Classic’s teammates said that my game was just like that now. And apparently he meant it in a very positive way. I guess the same elements can still be seen there, but hopefully that C-Junior championship year has developed somewhat.