Tomi Lämsä, who will become Luko’s head coach, will not continue as pilot of the Finnish under-20 national team. According to the Ice Hockey Federation, the new head coach of the Young Lions will be announced in the next few weeks.
Rauman Lukko, heavily disappointed in the playoffs of the Ice Hockey Championship, changes head coach. Marko Virtanen was allowed to give way when Tomi Lämsa was hired as a pilot for the Romanians on a two-year contract.
Lämsän, 43, was fired as head coach of the Finnish under-20 national team. In the future, he will focus solely on Lukko. Lämsa’s contract at Nuori Leijon would have extended until spring 2024.
– The Jääkiekkioliitto and Lukko reached an agreement on how the contract between Lämsä and the Jääkiekkioliitto could be terminated. From next Tuesday onwards, Lämsä will only be in our (Lukko) service, Lukko’s sports director Kalle Sahlstedt told Urheilu.
GM of the Ice Hockey Federation’s youth national teams Kimmo Oikarinen predicts to Urheilu that the future head coach of the Young Lions will be announced in the next few weeks.
“The spring was very heavy”
Virtanen’s kicks can be considered surprising. Lock in November announced (you switch to another service), that Virtanen’s contract has been extended to the next season. Now the club management had second thoughts.
Rauman Luko’s sky in the spring playoffs reached the quarter-finals, when Helsinki IFK knocked the Raumen out of the medal matches. Even in the fall, Luko’s game was excellent, but the spring season was difficult.
– Spring was difficult for us, we were quite far from what the autumn side gave us to expect. We weren’t able to develop as well as our opponents in the spring. We stayed stuck in place and the results were weak, Sahlstedt said.
Lock’s slide started already in the final stages of the regular season.
– We lost nine of the last ten games of the regular season, and in the playoffs we were already eliminated in the first round. We didn’t get out what could have been expected from our player material, Sahlstedt estimated.
– We all had the idea that we would have reached the semi-finals. The spring was very heavy, Sahlstedt admitted.
No major changes are planned
So now Tomi Lämsa’s time begins in Rauma. Sahlstedt emphasizes that there is no need for any major gameplay changes.
– It’s a clear thing that whenever a new coach comes, he brings smaller things into the big frame. But the big picture, how we play hockey, will remain, Sahlstedt said.
Sahlstedt felt that it is best for the team to start under a new head coach.
– Ending up with a coach change in the middle of the contract period is painful. However, in addition to the head coach, the responsibility for the result lies with the players and especially the sports director. I myself have also made mistakes in my own role and I should have been able to do better in many things.
With Luko’s resources, medal games are the minimum goal every year.
– This spring was slow and we didn’t make it. But I still see that we have a strong organization. It is clear that we have sufficient resources and conditions to always fight for the top positions.
Pekka Virta coached Luko to the Finnish championship in the spring of 2021. Virtanen, who started in Rauma in the fall of 2021, coached Luko for two seasons, but the road to the quarterfinals was cut off both years.
– We will not change our goals because of two weaker springs. You just have to be able to do better, Sahlstedt decided.