Pikkarainen replaces Jere Härkälä as head coach of the Ässie league team.
Tapio Pukkila,
Päivi Meritähti
The new head coach of Pori’s Ässie league team is 51 years old Jarno Pikkarainen stands on Tuesday in front of the media in the legends room of Isomäki Ice Hall. On the walls are pictures and names from Pori’s puck history over the decades.
The experienced coach, who has been through many halls, seems to be getting sensitized.
– Pori have become real charismatic players Vellu from Ketola to Rocky Rautakalli. Ässat has always been an emotional club for me.
Ässät said on Monday evening that Pikkarainen will replace Jere Härkälän as the head coach of the league team. Åsäs was left out of the playoffs and Härkälä was allowed to leave.
Ässät has signed a two-year contract with Pikkarainen.
The club’s goal is that Ässät will always be in the top eight in the future. Pikkarainen says that the goal is hard, but realistic.
“You shouldn’t throw away everything old”
As the new head coach, Jarno Pikkarainen is not going to name “election themes”, and he doesn’t think that everything old should be thrown away.
– Of course, I want a fighting, proactive team that plays tight hockey in two directions.
What is being a junior in hockey to you?
– Unyieldingness and mental fortitude, which then shows up as bruises and maybe hard grips on the sides of the rink.
Pikkarainen opens a new door in a situation where another coach has had to leave. He admits that the situation is not the best possible.
– But you have not been able to influence that yourself. Others have made the decision. You just have to accept it. And of course this is the kind of club I wanted to join.
He will meet his new team for the first time in mid-April when the players return from vacation.
Before the ace wash, a year on sabbatical
Before his ace, Pikkarainen spent a year on sabbatical, when there were no head coach positions available in his home country. He also didn’t want to go abroad.
Jarno Pikkarainen lives in Raisio, but plans to get an apartment in Pori as well.
In the Ice Hockey Championship League, he previously worked as the head coach of TPS, HIFK and HPK.