Ice hockey coach Antti Törmänen was in February 2021 a happy man. In the summer of 2020, Törmänen, who was diagnosed with gall bladder cancer, had received the so-called recovery papers after half a year of heavy chemotherapy, i.e. medical cancer treatment. He returned to his job as the head coach of EHC Biel-Bienne, which plays in the Swiss NLA main series, and the cancer hell was a part of his life left behind.
It was the spring of 2023, and the team was preparing for the playoffs when the head coach underwent a routine check-up after cancer treatment. Törmänen had visited them for two years, every three months.
– Two years was specifically a critical period in terms of cancer recurrence. The pictures still looked good, but the blood cancer markers, i.e. tumor markers, were elevated. The specialist doctor concluded that the cancer had recurred, and two months later the recurrence was already visible in the pictures, Törmänen recalls the crushing moment about a year ago.
– The playoffs started on the same day when it was confirmed. It was hidden from the players at first, but I informed the club management immediately.
Chemotherapy at Lausanne’s highly renowned public health care university hospital was so brutal that Törmänen 2021 recalled feeling like Pavlov’s dog. The man started vomiting already on the way to treatment. Now the same was ahead, even harder.
– The second round led to really dark waters. If the first episode was like the opening round of a boxing match, then now we were hit really hard.
Törmänen, who approached his situation realistically and calmly, admits that he was mentally tough last spring.
– First I hear that the pictures look good and two days after that the cancer has indeed returned based on tumor markers. Like a baseball bat to the back of the head.
Törmänen tells what he thought at the Lausanne hospital when the specialist nurses prepared his first intravenous drug dose of the latter treatment period.
“Two gloves in hands”
– I watched how the nurses handled the medicines with two gloves on. It does make me realize what kind of poison it is and that it will soon flow into my system. Usually you go to the hospital in worse shape than you leave, but with chemotherapy the situation is different, Törmänen laughs.
Törmänen, who settled in Switzerland with his family more than 10 years ago, has always trusted the country’s public healthcare. The wife has a permanent job in Switzerland. The second son is already an adult and on his own, the younger one is starting high school.
– The new chemotherapy started last April, and it continued for about seven months. Based on the PET scans (a cross-sectional image method that provides accurate information on, for example, the spread of cancer), the situation is good, but the tumor markers in the blood are still elevated.
Surgery was not performed on Törmäsen due to its risk levels. During the holidays from cancer treatments and especially after they have ended, Törmänen has intensively improved his fitness by walking, skiing, skiing, on the tennis court and in the boxing gym. Contact with an old friend from Jokerit days, who works as Davos’ goalkeeper coach to Markus Ketterer has been tight.
– Working out has also been a very important part of life mentally. I want to thank the family again for their support. I wouldn’t have wanted them to see me as a father and husband in the state I was in at my worst.
As a player, Törmänen won the World Championship gold and two silvers, as well as the Olympic bronze in Nagano 1998. As a coach, he achieved the championship in the Swiss main league in Bern, Mestis with Vaasan Sport and the U20 World Championship with Espoon Blues. In the finals of the SM league, he was the head coach of the silver team HIFK in the spring of 2016.
Coaching career probably over
Now Törmänen admits that his successful career as head coach is very likely over.
– I’m not bashing the issue, but the realities must be acknowledged. I will probably receive cancer treatment once every four weeks called immunotherapy (a treatment method that does not aim to directly destroy cancer cells, but to strengthen the body’s own defense system to fight against them) for a very long time. It is very likely that I will no longer do the traditional head coaching job. Some other kind of coaching from other starting points could come into question.
– So it is not certain that so-called healthy papers will be thrust into my hand again.
The interest and love for hockey remains.
– I’ve been to watch a lot of games in the hall and followed closely anyway. There are a lot of great Finnish players in Switzerland, Törmänen refers to e.g. Valtteri Filppula, Sami Vatasen, Sakari Manninen and Teemu Hartikainen.
After his active career ended in 2004, Törmänen finished his master’s studies in economics and spent a year in a “normal” working life before throwing himself into a coaching career. A return to non-hockey work is well ahead.
– The job search is very interesting. Switzerland has a good and functioning job market, and now at the age of 53, you could start there. You probably shouldn’t wait until you’re 55.
Kiekko-Espoo’s return to the league is pleasing
Törmänen has also followed Finnish hockey closely from his current home country. His parent club Kiekko-Espoo will return to the SM league, and Jokerit, his club from his prime, will probably return in a few years as well.
– Good luck! When about 40 percent of Finland’s GDP is made up in the capital region, I guess there is no need to discuss whether more than one team from there belongs to the main league.
Regarding coaches and players, Törmänen says that he followed two big stories with interest: Jukurie’s head coach From Olli Joki and KalPa’s center forward Oliver from Kapawhose career will continue next season in Timrå of the Swedish SHL main series.
– I think very few would have believed how well Olli would succeed in Mikkeli. Now he’s taking a bold next step. Oliver has represented his family dynasty wonderfully and I would say he is close to a World Cup spot.
Antti Törmänen’s harsh experiences with cancer will also be discussed today on Radio Suomen Urheiluilla starting at 18:02.