– It’s hard to keep praising “Kölli”!
Marko Anttila grins, flashes his wide smile and taps his glove at the end of the workouts What “Cologne” Kortelaista lightly on the shoulder. In a small, fleeting moment, the relationship that has developed over the years between the team and Kortelainen, who has been the team leader of the Lions since 2018–2019, sums up nicely.
Ask Kortelainen about anyone in the player or management team, the answer is the same. There is enough energy, a sense of humor and passion, and he is an important and much-loved man in Leo.
Kortelainen takes care of everything last and is ready to do his best to make it good for the players.
– (Veli-Matti) Savinainen once asked for rice porridge, and “Kölli” (Kortelainen) probably cooked it himself. There it had appeared for the next supper. Everything is taken care of, Anttila gives an example with a smile.
Kortelainen smiles at Anttila’s throw. The incident relates to the 2019 World Cup in Slovakia, where the hotel breakfast did not please the team. When the goalkeeper Kevin Lankinen had had porridge bags, the others wanted porridge.
The bags arrived at the grocery store the day after the main guardian Riku Koivusen the wife’s brother was coming from Finland to Kosice.
– I do my best to ensure that everyone is good to be on the team and I try to make my wishes come true. I am trying to help the other team as one piece, says Kortelainen, who turned 55 at the beginning of May.
A member of the gold team at both those World Championships and this winter’s Olympics Harri Pesonen according to Kortelainen, he does his job in front of the players and everyone in the team with piety. Despite the hustle and bustle, Pesti has seemed attractive.
– Nothing is left hanging, and he’ll take care of everything you ask. Pretty old man.
– We have talked that if even we could be in that “yo-yo” job after a career. I try to suck from her all the time, Pesonen laughs and looks in the direction of Kortelainen.
Calm designer
Helsinki IFK’s attacking legend number 22 has lived and breathed hockey in various roles all his life. Mainkatti, who grew up in Espoo and has worked in IFK, has worked for a long time in IFK’s sales and as a TV commentator.
When the Lions GM Jere Lehtinen called and asked Kortelainen to work for the national team, feeling taken and surprised. The first call went to a friend who worked as a national team leader from 1993 to 2003 To Heikki Riihirantawhose shirt hangs next to Kortelainen on the roof of the Helsinki Ice Rink.
– I asked for the opinion and support of “Hexin” (Riihiranta). He seems to say that he is not starting to advise, but is hoping and believing that I will succeed at work. When he is seen during the season, he always asks how he is doing, Kortelainen says.
The years with the Lions have brought World Cup gold, Olympic gold and World Championship silver in three value tournaments. The journey has happened and happened when a coronavirus pandemic has brought its own twists and turns. In China, there were enough events when the players Anttila and Jussi Olkinuora was rushed to an isolation hotel.
Even in uncertain moments, Pokka of Kortelainen liked, and the stable calm character was not upset.
– You may be amazed, but if you start jumping flat and kicking trash, it won’t make things easier. Things go better in the world when you take it easy and focus on the things you can influence. If something goes wrong, at least you can say that an attempt has been made.
Ingenuity and restraint were also at the World Cup in Bratislava in the spring of 2019, when champagnes had not been obtained from the team leader. A Kortelis abruptly celebrated the Canadian celebrations, which were being pulled out of the booth. The deals were created immediately at a reasonable bottle price of 20 euros.
Although it is not worth going ahead in certain things, Kortelainen describes that design plays an important role in the work. Team leader, GM Lehtinen and A-national team secretary Sanna Hult work together to make sure next week is held.
– When the train starts, we see that it has the right speed, we know how to stop at the right stations and pick up the right people. We make sure that the schedule keeps and we get from place A to place B, Kortelainen characterizes and shakes his hands as if to clarify what he is saying.
Tips for the trough as well
It is important for Kortelainen that there is a good atmosphere in the group, and everyone is allowed to be themselves both on and off the ice. The team leader is responsible for, among other things, building hotel room configurations.
In the Finnish team, all games are reviewed together by the entire management team to make the views more heard. Head coach Jukka Jalosen According to Kortelainen, as an experienced player, he has also had to give to those meetings.
– Maybe more coaches are in the voice, but whenever we ask old top players Jere (Lehtinen) and “Köllelainen” (Kortelainen) how to act in certain situations, there will be good comments that will help us move forward, Jalonen praises.
– “Kölli” is a great hubby in every way, both as a person and as a professional. All members and players on the management team can only focus on their own role when he or she takes care of everything last.
Kortelainen has been included in the meetings to learn more about hockey.
– Jukka (Jalonen) is a great leader in the sense that he takes everyone’s opinions into account, asks and listens. The more pairs of eyes, the more it helps and a few of us understand something about the species. We really have fun together.
The seat was not of interest
In his career, which ended in 2003, Kortelainen played 607 league matches, three of which were missed by IFK. There were 430 points, but Kortelainen was never seen on the A national team. It could have happened otherwise.
– It was ‘Aran’ (Hannu Aravirta) time, and sometimes a piece had gone quite well. The national team was leaving for the Moscow tournament, and I decided that if these screens weren’t enough, I would refuse.
– After a couple of injuries, Aravirta called to see if I would come in, but then didn’t leave, and the next call never came. In it, the reason was found in the mirror and in the game stuff. It has become a conversation and a laugh with “Aran”.
Kortelainen, who celebrated the Finnish Championship gold in the spring of 1998, loves stories, and as such, this story is just perfect.
– I don’t know if my career would have been better in one or two national matches. You get a better story from scratch, and it’s been colored in the national team as well.
The next story The Lions will build at the home race in Tampere, and the body of the team will be largely made up of gold-plated players in Beijing. Some were already involved in the gold rush in Bratislava.
There is always a lot of noise around home races. According to contemporaries, for example, in the 2003 home race group, concentration was lost and the team spirit was far from optimal.
Kortelainen reminds that even the corona situation, which is already partially on, forces the players to their own conditions, and there is no risk of the grip flapping now. Although Finland does not yet have a single medal for the home competition, he does not believe that playing in front of the Finnish public is a burden or a threat.
Kortelainen says that it’s just great that there are a lot of players close by.
– Of course, home racing is a unique opportunity and an unforgettable thing. These are smart boys, and it’s not our style to hook up and look after. Because of the corona, there are certain restrictions on the part of the international federation that are reassuring.
Family important at home and in Lions
As a counterweight to the lion’s family, the father of three gets thoughts off hockey at home, and the youngest child is only eight months old.
– Family and wife support is paramount. We emphasize it in long passages anyway, and family values are important to us. We try to take wives and families into account as much as possible, because we know that is where the biggest pressure is and the biggest work is being done.
– Community is such a big deal that we also organize something for wives in the Games, which is now made possible by the coronation situation.
Kortelainen has achieved a lot in hockey, and his biggest dreams for the future are related to his own family.
– The dream is that everyday life and life would be good, children would be healthy and grow into good people. Isn’t that enough of a challenge?
Kortelainen has been my talisman for Leijon, when Finland has been in the finals in every value tournament for the past three years. Does the final guarantee still hold in Tampere?
– Usually I should. Yes, we trust “Kölli,” defender Atte Ohtamaa says with a grin.