For Jukka Jalose, head coach of the Finnish men’s national ice hockey team, the championship in HPK was the most significant in terms of his career.
The final tour of the Ice Hockey Tour will take a bite out of the most meaningful championship of well-known players and coaches. In the first part Jukka Peltola opened the backgrounds of his first championship.
Lions head coach Jukka Jalonen has achieved everything in his career. The merit list of Jalonen’s coaching career includes, among other things, three world championships, Olympic gold and the youth world championship.
However, the most significant for the Lion King’s career is the SM league championship at HPK in 2006. With this championship, Jalonen became the head coach of the Lions for the first time a year later.
– That championship was decisive for me. If you think about the most important championship of my career, it is in a certain way the HPK championship. If I hadn’t been there to win it, I would never have been able to coach, for example, the A national team, says Jalonen.
Jalonen describes that the championship at HPK was a turning point.
– Without it, the path would have been completely different. It’s hard to say what kind, but it made it possible to be selected for the A national team.
The result of patience
In the finals, HPK defeated Ässät 3–1. The championship was the first for the club, which had already been in the bronze medal match in the previous four years.
Jalonen recalls how HPK had been in the semi-final series against HIFK with a 1–2 loss in match wins, but reached the finals by winning the next two matches. With the semi-final win, among other things Ville Leinon and Jukka Vuotilainen the starred team got to believe in their own abilities.
– We had previously had even more skilled teams on an individual level, but somehow the team blended together perfectly. Goalkeeper game by Miika Wiikman the leadership from the HIFK series was freezing, Jalonen recalls.
According to Jalonen, the championship was the result of patience and long-term work. Coaching and players also had peace of mind from the club management.
Chairman Harri Lintumäki for example, also talked about how HPK is not obsessed with winning the championship, HPK would like to be near the top and play entertaining hockey.
– I believe that it took the pressure off the coaching staff as well as the players. There was no compulsion to win by force, which easily adds too much pressure and pain. We were able to work in peace.
One turning point in the final series was the HPK captain Mikko Jokelan suspension for which Jyrki Louhi rose to the role of captain. Jalonen states that the absence of a big and important player like Jokela could be a big problem, but it did not affect HPK.
– Louhen Jykä did a great job in and out of the rink. We won, even though an important player for us was on the sidelines. The team raised its level.
When the championship was decided away in Isomäki, Pori, Jalonen’s feeling was euphoric and unbelievable.
– Pori is a great hockey town, and Isomäki is not a nice place to coach or play. The Plexiglas banged in the back and there was a constant chatter. The fans were in awe. Both young and old had mohawk heads.
– Winning was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We had tried for so long and were close, but far enough away. It was a wish come true.
follows the SM league finals moment by moment on its website. The Hockey Tour broadcasts every league final live. All finals will be heard live at Areena, the third final also on Radio Suomen’s soundwaves. The preliminary studios of the ice hockey round can be enjoyed in video form for the first time in the finals.