The three-time world champion and Olympic gold-winning coach will receive an honorary doctorate on Saturday. Jalonen tries to make it to Tampere on time from Jyväskylä.
Pekka Aalto,
Jussi Saarinen
Lions head coach Jukka Jalonen will receive a significant honor on Saturday when he is selected as an honorary doctor of sports sciences at the promotion ceremony of the University of Jyväskylä. Jalonen studied sports pedagogy in Jyväskylä, which gave him the skills to coach ice hockey at the top level. He has won Olympic gold and three world championships.
What makes the situation unusual is that the dedication will take place on Saturday from 12 o’clock in Jyväskylä, where Jalonen is traveling to, even though Finland is playing a World Cup match against Austria in Tampere at 4:20 p.m.
– After all, that’s an amazing thing and it hits very few people. I haven’t really had time to think about that, except that I had time for the game and I should have time, Jalonen commented on Friday evening in Tampere, when Finland had beaten Hungary 7–1.
Jalonen is scheduled to return from Jyväskylä by helicopter. The trip to the World Cup city takes about an hour. There is no helicopter landing place near the Tampere arena, so Jalonen might be late for the start of the game.
How important is it to get away from the hustle and bustle of the World Cup for a while?
– I’d rather be here. I even asked if I had to go there (Jyväskylä), but I understood that then it wouldn’t work. A difficult time in itself. Being here (in Tampere) doesn’t bother me. On the contrary, this is a great thing.
The expert doesn’t see the problem
Sports expert Ismo Lehkonen estimates that Jalonen’s other busyness in the middle of the game day will not interfere with Leijoni’s worries.
– The players understand such an incident and tribute. I don’t think anyone will regret being away. On the contrary, that can even free the boys a little.
Lehkonen emphasizes that the hockey world has changed drastically in recent decades. The head coach is not solely responsible for the whole show, but the assistant coaches as well as the players take responsibility.
– Twenty years ago, this would not have been successful. Now the players are so awake and meetings and others are usually held in the morning, and they are not always held by the head coach. Coaching is even more teamwork.
In this context, Lehkonen picks out nine Stanley Cup coaches. Commanders with hard resumes can act differently than privates.
– Scotty Bowman started such a line. He came directly to the substitution fence many times when the game was in progress. That’s what the big boys have said. So let’s talk about the last years of his career. And he didn’t exactly do ice training, says Lehkonen.
Bowman, 89, won five pitchers in Montreal, one in Pittsburgh and three more in Detroit. The Canadian legend’s last Stanley Cup came in 2002, when he also ended his coaching career.
The Ice Hockey World Cup match between Finland and Austria on Saturday at 16:20.