Kari Jalonen has joined the Czech national hockey team in a short time. Jalonen thinks that the events of recent months have been written in the stars.
Simo Arkko,
Jussi Saarinen
Great to see the legendary Finnish hockey man, in a slightly bizarre outfit, but in any case, the reporter begins his question.
In the clothes of the Czech national hockey team arrived for an interview Kari Jalosen the mouthpieces stretch to an extreme smile. Poka has been holding for a long time.
From this, perhaps, one can deduce how much Jalonen, who suddenly jumped into the Czech national team’s head coach after the Beijing Olympics in March, enjoys the situation.
World Championships in Tampere and Helsinki. In the final match of the block, Leijonat, who still won 3–1 just before the start of the competition.
– For a couple of months now, it has been thought that somehow this is written in the stars, Jalonen begins his answer.
Jalonen said how the Czech Republic wanted change after the Olympics and, after all, made a big decision about the first foreign head coach in its history.
– After all, my name came up from there. Yes, I feel comfortable. I somehow feel like this came at the right time at this point in my coaching career.
A lot has happened in two months. It’s even amazing how quickly Jalonen has become the Czech Republic’s tight, disciplined team with few goals. As such, of which Jukka Jalosen the group has been known for many years.
This has also been reflected in the scoreboard. Before the World Cup, the Czech Republic won five EHT matches in the tube with a goal difference of 21-6. The only loss it suffered in two tournaments for Finland in the winning goal competition.
The team opened the World Championships with a 5-1 win from the UK. In Sunday’s top match, the Czech Republic bowed to Sweden 3–5, despite Jalonen’s shelter David Krejci started scoring in the match.
Noble is pleased with the skating power and skill level of the Czech players. Despite the changes in the way of playing, it is not desired to suppress the Czech artistry.
– Although we have changed the game system to a slightly more international style, we need to be able to preserve that Czech hockey DNA. In Stockholm and Ostrava, we made it visible, Jalonen says.
According to Jalonen, the bosses of the Czech Hockey Association have not set “any more” goals for Jalonen.
– Of course they want change and I have brought it, Jalonen says.
A goalkeeper familiar from Tampere’s Ilves Lukas Dostalin according to each player appreciates and listens to the Finnish coach. Dostal also has a funny story to tell about his first encounter with Jalonen.
– I met him on Monday. I went to chat and he probably didn’t recognize my face. I started speaking Finnish and tried to introduce myself in Finnish. There were some other hockey teams out there and he thought I would be a young guy from a team like Dostal to start and continue with:
– He didn’t recognize me. He was Kallen (Kaskinen) with and they were very surprised that who the dude is this? Then they recognized me and said what was going on, because I spoke Finnish. It was actually quite fun. All in all, I think he’s a really good coach.
The 21-year-old goalkeeper for the Anaheim Ducks farm team in San Diego Gulls played the AHL in 40 games with a 91 percent rebound. There were also four NHL games at Ducks (90.7%).
However, the season ended in a loss to the AHL in the first round of the playoffs. Although Dostal has only been with the Czech Republic for a short time, he is already embroiled in Jalonen’s desire to involve five players at all times in every aspect of the field.
– A lot of pressure and skating, but we still stick to the same Czech identity and creativity that players have, Dostal describes.
Between 1996 and 2010, the Czech Republic, also known as a major player in hockey, won a total of six World Championship golds and one Olympic gold in 1998 in Nagano.
It has been as much as ten years since the previous World Cup medal, as the country won bronze in 2012 in Finland. Since then, the country has lost three bronze matches in a row.
According to Jalonen, the place for a bigger analysis may be after the Games, but at the moment he has put all his input into the camps, the way he plays, the selection processes and the World Championships.
– In the peak years, the Czech Republic won Olympic gold and three championships in a row, and since then something has happened along the way. The results obtained in ten years are not what they want, Jalonen says.
According to Jalonen, this year the Czech Republic has arrived in Tampere to fight for the world championship.
– I don’t think it’s useless. NHL players who have left for the competition do not come here just for fun. Yes they want to be on the winning team.
– We know that the margins are small and have turned against the Czech Republic in ten years. We hope to be better at them here in Tampere.