Sports entertainment lives on personalities, and there are never too many of those in Härmä, writes Jussi Paasi.
Jussi Paasi sports reporter
– I love you!
About Juhamatti Aaltonen answered when I asked him a couple of years ago what is the nicest thing a captain can say to his team.
At that time, Aaltonen, who was chosen as the captain of Mikkelin Jukurien, was so surprised by his own answer that he burst out laughing.
The answer and reaction tell everything about “Juhis”.
A child of nature, a legendary puck artist, a lifestyle Indian who doesn’t worry for nothing. Juhis linen.
That tinkering has made him an Olympic medalist, a world champion and a three-time Finnish champion.
A completely exceptional professional career that started more than twenty years ago continues now in Mestis. Aaltonen puts on a clown shirt.
Helsinki Jokerit made a perfect recruitment again.
First, a member of the Triple Gold Club (Olympic gold, Stanley Cup and World Championship). Valtteri Filppula. Then the coaching legend Risto Dufva. After that, world champion Antti Pihlström. And now Juhamatti Aaltonen. The group may still be completed before spring.
The last circus tour of bold, seasoned horses.
Joker-looking player
I wrote the comment as the title: Jokerit recruited a complete jester. It would be appropriate to open up what I mean by that.
Aaltonen is in many ways a complete jester, a Joker-looking player. Juhis arouses strong feelings for and against. That’s what Jokerit has been known for decades.
In the provinces, the visits of the Stadion players were – and, as far as I understand, still are – the most anticipated games. The hated jester shirts get the public moving all over Finland.
The job of a jester, originally a court jester, is to entertain. That’s what Aaltonen has done since the beginning of the millennium.
There have been enough critics and doubters. Taituri has never been known as a particularly passionate trainee. Overflowing game talent, enviable skating skills and magic with the puck have carried Aaltos.
Critics have mocked him for, among other things, loose defensive play.
It is true that Aaltonen is not the first to defend or throw himself in front of the puck. But it is equally true that when the game calls out for a decider, Aaltonen emerges.
The transfer to the Jokers was already expected to happen earlier in the fall. At that time, Aaltonen commented on the rumors in his familiar style.
– It’s a bit of a feeling to go somewhere in Kajaani to play at the age of 39… Maybe at the moment it’s not a thought to snack, Aaltonen said Ilta-Sanom in September.
What do you guess, what kind of reception might there be in Kajaani when Jokerit plays Hoki as a guest? Will the audience come to see Joker’s puck circus?
The equation is the best possible for all parties. The Jokers and the entire Mestis got an incomparable entertainer. Sports entertainment lives on personality. There have never been too many of them in Härmä.
In addition to entertainment, Juhis is also good at getting results. So don’t be surprised if Joker’s Aaltonen scores the decisive goal in the league qualifiers next spring.
Expert Topi Nättinen and reporter Jussi Paasi dish out the hottest topics in Finnish hockey once a week. Watch and listen to the latest episode of Paasi ja Nättinen: 5 minutas in the video above.