Ilari Filppula realized what was happening when he saw his brother in the middle of the NHL stars – now Valtteri Filppula has a chance for a rare achievement

Coach legend Hannu Jortikka vividly remembers the moment he saw who had just turned 19 years old Valtteri Filppulan for the first time in action. Jortikka, who took over as head coach of the Jokers in 2003, had still considered his team for the next season, but one A-youth match in the stands changed everything.

– There were two players in the eye: Filppula and Sami Lepistö. I said (To Matti) Virmanen and (Harry) to Harkimollethere is no need to add more players, but these guys will be added to the team, the six-time Finnish champion coach Jortikka recalls.

– Is it said now that there was no agreement, but since I was the head coach, I was allowed to keep my head.

The Detroit Summer 2002 third round reserve Filppula, now 38, took its first steps in the league troughs from 2003 to 2005 under Jortika. The first, slightly broken season brought 49 matches to power 5 + 13, and he was winning bronze at the turn-of-the-20 home race at the turn of the year. Filppula and Lepistö were selected for the star of the competition.

The following season, Filppula took the leap forward and already scored 30 (10 + 20) power points in 55 games.

– He started a massive strength training, and if you have gifts, you will go forward a shocking amount a year. That’s what happened to “Vallelle”, Jortikka says.

17 years after the league breakthrough, Filppula has the opportunity today to make Finnish hockey history when Finland faces the final of the Canadian Men’s World Cup. The captain of the lions can be the first Finnish player to go to the Triple Gold Club as the winner of the Stanley Cup, Olympic gold and World Cup gold.

Jortikka is not surprised that the young man who excelled in the Jokers has created such an exceptional career.

– Game intelligence set him apart. He saw the field, was able to pass and overall play was well possessed.

Holistic gaming is a term that is often repeated when talking about Filppula. Big brother who ended his extensive career in the fall of 2020 Ilari Filppula speaks of his little brother, two and a half years younger, as a “Swiss knife knife” who bends to every situation.

– He remembers two things where he’s been better than me. The first is to play in two directions and to master different game situations in both losing and leading positions, Ilari Filppula says.

– The second is skating, which was the biggest challenge for me from time to time. He’s always been really good at skating, and if I had managed to do as much work as he did, it could have helped myself a lot.

After a few jokes, Filppula headed to North America in 2005 to fight for a spot on the Detroit NHL crew. As the little brother left for the world, the big brother slowly began to dawn on what his career might look like.

– I hadn’t watched the NHL so much myself, and the idea seemed really distant. I knew Detroit as an organization would bring promising players into the team, and when the tip was tough, they seemed to be able to afford slow training, Ilari Filppula says.

– Then when he saw what kind of players he could play with and learn from them, he started to think that he could become quite a tough player in the NHL.

And Valtteri came from Filppula. Between 2005 and 2021, he played 1,056 regular season games in Detroit, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Islanders. The number is the seventh largest among Finns.

In the summer of 2008, Filppula was able to lift the more coveted barn of the puddle world into the air when the Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals. Sports Expert Ismo Lehkonen sees that Filppula is one of the most important Finnish puck ambassadors in the world.

– He plays stylish hockey and respects his opponent. He is the perfect guy in the sense that everyone would like the player and the person to behave, Lehkonen praises.

– I have not come across a person who has said a bad word about Filppula. He’s an incredibly good guy who treats teammates, opposing players and the media just fine. He has also mentored quite a few good players.

According to Hannu Jortika, you can apply for an easier coach than Filppula.

– You just had to calm down the amount of training. If all players were the same to be coached, it would be easy. Nice, pleasant person overall.

Ilari Filppula states that although her very competitive little brother was already talented as a junior, she has never shied away from work. The end result is a long and extensive career during which the level of the smart center has always remained high.

There have been no serious injuries along the way.

– It would be nice to be able to pass on to the next generations the information about how he has practiced so that he has been able to play such a long career, Lehkonen summarizes.

This season, Filppula skips the Lions for its Olympic gold in Beijing. The creditor who switched to NHL troughs in the Swiss NLA and the Geneva-Servette shirt is one win away from a very difficult and rare achievement.

The so-called Triple Gold Club can be reached if you win the Stanley Cup, Olympic gold and the World Championships in your career. If the Lions win in the evening, Filppula would be the first Finn in the club, and the 30th member of the club in total.

Filppula’s career will continue next season in Switzerland, but it is possible that the World Cup final will be the last in a career in a lion shirt. Lehkonen laughs when asked about the hardness of the achievement.

– It can’t even be understood. If someone had said 10 years ago that he would win all three golds, he would have laughed in the face. No one could even dream of it, that’s a fact.

– Then winning one was a bit like the Grail. It would be a milestone for us to have players who dream of three golds, Lehkonen says.

At its fastest, the club has joined in just over two years, after winning Olympic and World Cup gold in 2006. Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson and Niklas Kronwall won the Stanley Cup in 2008 as club friends with Filppula Vyacheslav Fetisovillawas 19 years old between the first World Cup gold and the 1997 Stanley Cup.

The youngest achievement has been reached Jonathan Toews At the age of 22, and the oldest Pavel Datsjuk At the age of 39. Ilari Filppula describes that in order to win a soaring triple, you have to be in the right place at the right time and play at a high level for a long time.

– The probability for it is really small, and that would be a really great thing. Although there have been super tough players in Finland for a long time, no one has hit it yet, Ilari Filppula says.

Filppula himself stuffed the matter after Saturday’s semi-final, reminding him that the most important thing is to get to play for the win as a team and the achievement comes as a bonus, if there is one to come. Ilari Filppula believes that the matter has turned in his mind, but there is no harm in that.

– I don’t think it can be ruled out, but I don’t see any contradiction in it if you think it would be really great to achieve. It’s related to the team’s common goal of winning gold, says a big brother studying psychology.

World Captain of the Year 2019 Marko Anttila admitted after the game that at least for him, the possible coronation of Filppula in the club will bring additional motivation.

– It’s hard to say for others, but at least it inspires me. He is a great team player and good hubby. As a player, everyone knows what kind of computer he is on the ice, but doesn’t go ahead of things.

According to Ismo Lehkonen, everything has now been handed over to the Lions World Cup gold, at least for motivational reasons.

– First championship at home, double gold after the Olympics, situation in Filppula. Anything is possible, but motivational wizards are all right. A herd of lions injects everything in the game, and then if that’s not enough, it’s just not enough.