Miro Heiskanen became the lion’s decision-maker in the World Cup semi-final. It has come as a surprise to Heiskanen’s father how painlessly the boy has always jumped to the next level. There is one more difficult step along the way.
29.5. 07:10 • Updated May 29th. 17:02
When Jukka Heiskanen took his daughter to the outside ice, a two-year-old little brother followed.
– I went with them and just watched. He never gave up. She crashed, and tried again and again, Heiskanen’s mother Mia Mattinen stated in the same story.
Father Jukka tells Sport that his son has been a really keen athlete since birth. The racket was in the hand and the ball in the leg was actually on since he learned to walk.
Jukka spent a lot of time outdoors with his son. When Jukka returned home from work, Miro Heiskanen waited inside with a racket in his hand and skates on his shoulder.
– We went on a lot of outdoor ice when he didn’t have that much team activity as a little boy. We went through the basics. Skating, feeding and taking over the feed. Everything that a father can teach his son, Jukka Heiskanen says.
Almost 20 years later, Miro Heiskanen’s name is on the lips of the whole nation. Heiskanen, who enchanted with his smooth skating at the World Championships, played his best game in the semi-finals against the United States. The 22-year-old defender handsomely scored his opening goal for the tournament, completing his top night with two assists.
However, there is room for improvement if Heiskanen is to be believed.
– This was probably my best performance in this tournament. Of course, there is still room for improvement. On Sunday I will make the most of it, Heiskanen promised after the match.
Everything in Espoo’s career has progressed as in films, Father Jukka describes. Heiskanen rose to HIFK at the age of 17 and played in the Olympics and World Championships the following season. The road then took the Dallas Stars to the NHL.
– Everything has gone a bit like in the movies. He’s always gotten in well, wherever he’s gone. I have looked at my career with joy, Jukka says.
The illnesses plagued me as a teenager
However, there is one specialty for the career. Heiskanen, who was bred by the Blues, switched to HIFK at the age of 14, as he could not fit in the C-juniors of his bred club.
Jukka Heiskanen doesn’t want to take a stand on why Blues decided to leave Heiskanen on the beach.
– He was a pretty little boy physically. The blues had their own plans, so it was good to change clubs at that point, Jukka says.
That period was the most difficult of Heiskanen’s career so far. There were even more illnesses.
– He had mycoplasma for a couple of seasons. One was during the Pohjola camp season and the other came a little later. It braked after a few months of pulling away and not being able to play. It was a pretty nasty place, but fortunately it didn’t ruin the man’s career now, Jukka Heiskanen says.
Served as HIFK’s assistant coach in the 2016-2017 season Pekka Kangasalusta Heiskanen says that at the age of 17 he ended up on the league team partly by chance. However, after the first match of the Tampere Cup, Heiskanen’s place did not need to be questioned.
– We needed one defender then. Sure, we had talked about Miro, but it was a little shy to dare take such a young dude. Miro came to Tampere and was one of the best players on the team since the exchange. After that, there was no need to question whether he will be put back in the A-junior or whether he will remain on the league team, Kangasalusta reminded Urheilu earlier during the World Cup tournament.
According to Kangasalusta, Heiskanen was already playing in the first match of the Finnish Championship League with the strengths with which he excels in the NHL today – although experience and strength have become more.
Heiskanen has played for Dallas Stars for four seasons. He has been one of Dallas ’leading defenders since the beginning of his NHL career. During this season, he received the Deputy Captain’s A badge on his chest.
The boy’s leaps to a new level amaze the father
Father Jukka, who worked as an assistant coach and guardian during the Blues years, has been able to follow his son’s development very closely throughout his career. The boy has surprised with his leaps time and time again.
– The jumps have always been amazing. First of all, it was a little surprising when he got into the league and it went so painlessly. Same thing when he went to the NHL. That wow, he immediately got into the thing well. They have been such positive surprises.
Heiskanen last represented Leijon in the 2017–2018 season, when Finland dropped to Canada in the Olympic semi-finals and Switzerland in the World Championships semi-finals.
Since then, the youngster has played in the NHL, including 322 playoffs at 42 + 122 = 164. Now Heiskanen has a chance to achieve one of his career goals in the World Cup final against Canada.
– I keep my thumbs and toes up to make this happen. That would be a great thing. He got to try it once before and then there was no success. If there was a fax a second time, Jukka Heiskanen says.
– That is one of the most important goals Miriro has in addition to the Stanley Cup and Olympic gold. If it still happened at home races, it would be awesome and he would definitely appreciate it.