Tuukka Mäntylä was ennobled as a hockey lion on Thursday. One bitter defeat in Minsk is particularly memorable from my national team career.
On Thursday, at the opening of the EHT tournament in Tampere, the group of Finnish ice hockey legends received six new names, when the Ice Hockey Association ennobled distinguished persons.
One of them was familiar from Tappara and Leijon Tuukka Mäntylä. The 42-year-old ex-defender raises the games in the national team as the biggest things in his career, along with the Tappara years.
– Of course, this is a great tribute. Maybe you could say that the biggest single achievements you can get, Mäntylä tells Urheilu.
On Thursday 9 November 2023, the ennobled hockey lions:
269 Mikko Eloranta
270 Tuukka Mäntylä
271 Janne Pesonen
272 Jukka Rautakorpi
273 Timo Favorin
274 Heikki Hietanen
Ovechkin’s undoing in the finals
Mäntylä achieved two Finnish championships in his career, but the World Championship gold remained a dream despite two places in the finals. The best memory is the 2014 World Cup final in Minsk against Russia.
The final is remembered, among other things, for the refereeing, which not only puck fans, but also some of the Leijoni players.
– If you think about a single game, it was the best of the national team’s career. It was Aleksandr Ovechkin and such in response, Mäntylä says.
– The goal was to win, but we didn’t win and it was a big disappointment.
Mäntylä recalls that he was able to give at least some kind of tackle to Ovechkin.
– Maybe it’s a bit of a crayon, but as far as I remember, I got him to undo at least one point, Mäntylä laughs.
In addition to the match in Minsk, Mäntyla also remembers playing for his idols from the early years of his career Raimo Helminen and Kimmo Rintanen with.
– I just visited my parents and there were old Rintanen clubs. He was a great player in his time. I got to play with great players who were stars for me.
Barkov and Laine at Mäntylä school
Among the players in the Tampere tournament of the Lions, Mäntylä has followed his former teammates with interest, Anton Levtchin and Christian Heljangon excerpts.
Among the biggest stars, Mäntylä also follows his former teammates with interest, Alexander Barkov and Patrik Laineta. Mäntylä already remembers the younger Barkov from the early years of his career, when the defender played with his father Barkov.
– Barkov was already a really mature guy at the age of 16. Now, when you think about what kind of person and player he is. I probably appreciate the most what he is like as a person and what his values are. I wanted to bring out those things myself in the dressing room.
– Of course, I also got to teach Laine and raise him in some way. They’ve been big things in hindsight, being able to play with them and see where the boys are now.