HC 05 Banska Bystrica says that Helminen has arrived in the city today and will hold the first training sessions again for his team on Friday.
Finnish hockey legend Raimo Helminen has got a job. Helminen starts as head coach in the Slovakian league in the HC 05 Banska Bystrica team.
A 62-year-old Canadian coach piloted Helms before the team Doug Shedden, who is remembered in Finland as the former head coach of HIFK, Jokers and Leijoni. Shedden left the team earlier in November.
On the club’s website let’s celebrate Helminen’s, 59, rich playing career. He is listed as a member of the IIHF Hall of Fame, a world champion and winner of three Olympic medals. In addition, Banska Bystrica emphasizes Helminen’s consistency, as he represented Malmö in Sweden and his home club Ilves in Tampere throughout his career in Europe.
Helminen played three seasons in the NHL for the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars and New York Islanders. In Finland, both Ilves and Leijonat have frozen Helminen’s game number.
– The whole process of acquiring a new coach was thorough, and we didn’t want to rush. That’s why we are happy that we reached an agreement with a Finnish quality coach. I believe that Raimo brings to the team exactly what we need at the moment: leadership and healthy pressure on the players, but also calmness when needed, CEO Luboš Pisar glowed.
Bystrica is in eighth place in the 12-team Extraliga, after 19 matches have been played. Bystrica has won nine of them, but is now on a losing streak of five matches.
Helminen, who ended his playing career in 2008, started his coaching career as Ilves’ assistant coach from 2009 to 2013. Since then, he has worked in the KHL as assistant coach of Barys Astana, assistant coach of Dinamo Riga, assistant coach of Jokeri. In Nuori Leijon, Helminen has been an assistant coach and head coach, and in Leijon as an assistant coach.
In the 2020–21 season, Helminen was the head coach of TPS, then the head coach of the Italian team HC Pustertal.
Last season, he worked as Ilves’ assistant coach, but he also stayed for one year.
Helminen in August granted to Ilta-Sanom being frustrated when a new job has not been found. He said that he had tried to look for nests in the spring, but “didn’t do anything”.
– Yes, it’s frustrating in a way. Not that this would be a headache. But now that the puck season started, a little frustration came here.