Puhe’s next Ice Hockey round on Friday 28.10. from 6 p.m. Matches HIFK–Ilves, Jukurit–KooKoo, KalPa–Lukko, SaiPa–Ässät and TPS–Tappara.
made a big captain’s survey for the teams during the SM league season. The results show that several league skippers highlighted the Kärpät legend Lasse Kukkonen name when talking about the all-time captain.
Naturally, the next call had to be directed towards Oulu’s Raksila and clarify Kukkonen’s own thoughts about the captain’s role. Through twists and turns, captain Kukkonen finally answered with satisfaction under the Spanish sun.
What does Kärppie’s development director do on the sunny coast? Is half of Finland’s team expanding its territory?
– No, anyway. The busy autumn is behind us and a well-deserved autumn holiday. It’s nice that nowadays it is possible to travel also during the spring season.
Your former teammates Atte Ohtamaa of Kärppien and Juuso Hietanen of HPK named you captain of all time during the season. What thoughts do such praises evoke?
– Well, of course it’s really nice to hear, but maybe a bit confusing. It must have been featured so much that the name has stuck in my mind.
So who is Lasse Kukkonen’s all-time captain?
– Well, I must say that I had many good captains in my career. Palsola’s Sakke was in Oulu (Sakari Palsola) and Laukkanen Papu (Jari Laukkanen) and both in the national team Birches, Saku and Mikko. Then names like Teemu (Ridge), Ville (Field) and from Philadelphia Jason Smith and Mike Richards have all been role models for me.
What is the most important role of the captain?
– Perhaps the most important thing is to show by your own example that whatever the role is, you commit to it. It is important for the captain that if something is talked about, it is also implemented.
What about the most important character trait?
– Now it’s bad. I’ll take the option and say two: honesty and selflessness.
Ismo Lehkonen stated at Puhe’s Ice Hockey Tour that the captain’s role is similar to a cleaner who cleans up feedback between players and coaching.
– Actually, quite well said. I understand what “Ika” is after. You have to be able to work with the players and get information from them. Of course, the aim is to take the information to the coaching, but it is not necessarily necessary to tell everything. The same applies the other way around, you get information about the players from coaching, but you have to act as a filter in between. Cleaner is a good term, it certainly has a lot in common.
Read also: Kärppäikoni Lasse Kukkonen’s shirt goes up to the roof of the Raksila hall – “You can dream of many things, but you couldn’t even dream of this”
“Ika” also used the term quality control for the captain – what does that mean?
– Well, probably just that, what kind of work is it when no one is watching. The captaincy, by their own example, makes sure that the matter stands up to scrutiny even when it is not observed from the deck, so to speak.
How is the captain chosen for the team?
– Yes, it should be a pretty clear thing in the team. For example, if there is a vote, and not one name clearly emerges, then it is indeed a wonderful situation. Usually, it is very clear to the players and coaches. If not, there are problems ahead.
Does the captain have to be one of the most experienced players on the team?
– You don’t have to, even a young person can be a captain. It depends on whether he understands the whole. Let’s talk about words and actions, that even in difficult moments they go hand in hand. It’s not age-related, but quite often experience helps. Young years are not an excluding factor, however.
Has the captain’s role changed over the years?
– It’s like the whole puddle. The captain gets much more publicity these days and there is clearly more contact with different stakeholders. The change compares well with the role of the head coach. The team is easily identified with these two people, even though it is the collective result of the entire team.
How many people must be in the captaincy?
– Let’s say that there must be at least five people there. In my opinion, a good number has been at least four or five. Seven is probably the limit, there can’t be too many members in the captaincy either.
As a player, you were known as a tough psycher for yourself and the entire team. Did being the captain change your own preparation for the game?
– Didn’t really change. Yes, I was like that even before I had the honor of being a captain. That psyching up was perhaps rather a way to prepare and find a good feeling for the game.
As captain, you were also responsible for communicating with the referees. Did the C in the chest change your approach to the judges?
– Well, it certainly changed. Especially when I was younger, I was more temperamental in that direction. And I’m not saying that, even at the end of my career, there weren’t some frogs slipped out of my mouth from time to time. But I also gained understanding in that direction. They print with a big heart and surely those mistakes will happen. More often, however, games are decided by a mistake by the players than by the referees.
– You can get much further when you can rationally discuss things with the judges. Usually then you get a good perspective from them as well.
Read also: Does the professional judge take all the trouble, is there jealousy in the air or is the salary satisfactory? The SM League took a historic step in its refereeing activities
Do you remember a moment when there was room for improvement in your actions with the judges?
– There are probably more of those situations that went badly. But there was one situation – I don’t remember exactly what I said, nor who was the judge – but something was shouted. The judge stopped and turned back. “Are you sure you want to say that, or will you take it back? Now there’s still a chance for that,” the judge snapped.
– At the same time, I realized that the shout might not have been quite right now. I pulled back and apologized. A penalty of ten or more would probably have clicked.
You must have had tough conversations with the coaches. Do you remember someone special? For better or for worse.
– Yes, there will be. Perhaps the most common conversation with almost every coach is whether we should calm down a little behind the bench. The stupid yelling all the time does not help the team to perform in any way. If there are no clear instructions, then you can just keep quiet.
– I understand it well now that I watch the games myself. It’s exactly the same and I mean to start reacting to the events of the game. However, the players play there on the field and all the work is done when they jump onto the field. There is again an opportunity to coach in the substitution, but yelling on the pitch rarely helps anyone.
What is the worst thing that can happen to the team – from the captain’s point of view?
– The fact that the team is starting to divide into factions, that is, people are starting to blame internally.
Has this ever happened when you’ve been in the team?
– Quite often. Players and coaches, we’re all human and sometimes personal chemistry just doesn’t work. I personally had 80–90 different teams, if the National Team tournaments are included, then of course there are also those teams where things were not balanced.
What is the nicest thing a captain can say to his team?
– If after the season you can tell the guys that you are proud, how much we cared about each other. Back then there was a pretty good spirit and pretty far has gone.
– Not always until the championship, it didn’t always end there. Even if everyone does a good job, luck is always needed. But probably the fact that if you can honestly say that things have been cared for and done together for each other, it will still leave some mark on everyone.
When have you been able to say that message after the season?
– For example, in the last season, which was interrupted by the corona virus. I truly felt that our team had pushed hard with passion, and we had cared a lot about our work and playmates.
– After the season, we gathered with the team at the ice rink, sat and took a sauna. Yes, with wet eyes, a few words were said to the team as well. Probably a little personal feelings were mixed when the career was over, but that memory is the closest.
Lasse Kukkonen, after a career like this, what is the single moment of yours as captain that you remember most fondly? The option can be used if necessary.
– Good.
– Probably when I got to be captain for the first time. However, it really changed a lot and made me grow as a person. I will always remember when Heikkilä Kake (Rocks Heikkilä) told about it.
– The first championship in Kärpi as a captain comes second. However, it was something completely special. It had all the makings of a good story: a long series of matches, overtime of a stalemate at home and Juhis (Juhamatti Aaltonen) solved it yet. In that overtime, the bottom and the top of the emotional scale were so close together. When it happened to us, it left some pretty good memories.
Puhe’s next Ice Hockey round on Friday 28.10. from 6 p.m. Matches HIFK–Ilves, Jukurit–KooKoo, KalPa–Lukko, SaiPa–Ässät and TPS–Tappara.
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