On Friday, JYP will face Luko in their home arena in the hockey SM league. Puheen Jääkiekkierros follows the matches from 18:00. Listen to the broadcast at this link.
JYVÄSKYLÄ. A loud, new command echoes in JYP’s rehearsals.
– Stop! Why did this happen again? Why? Well, because the Paks were completely relaxed. Let’s take it again.
In the Hippos ice rink, the instructions of the new but familiar commander are clearly heard and the players carry out the instructions with an energetic approach.
The cap-wearing figure directs his team like a determined teacher. Going on the ice is intense. You can sense from everything that JYP is now characterized by a strong spirit of action.
Jukka Rautakorpi has returned to the origins of his coaching career, in Jyväskylä. It all started here in the early 1990s in JYP’s junior teams and as an assistant coach of the league team (1994–1995).
Now, almost 30 years later, the mission of Central Finland’s own man is to bring JYP back to the medal games of the SM League after miserable seasons in the next three years. In the last two seasons, JYP missed the playoffs and the previous medal was lost in the spring of 2017 (bronze).
– There are two things related to my desire to join JYP. First of all, this is a big challenge for me when talking about coaching processes. Here I also have the opportunity to fix things, Rautakorpi reveals in an interview with Urheilu.
– Another thing is the familiarity of the city, albeit from decades ago. If Tampere is my hometown in a way, then Jyväskylä is another, the new JYP manager feels.
JYP wants a visible change in direction by hiring a high-profile Finnish coach like Rautakorvi. In the Jyväskylä club, the desire for change is obvious, as JYP has quickly fallen from the top of the league to the bottom of the league in four years. During the last four seasons, the league team has had four different head coaches.
– We don’t build anything on top of the old one, but week by week we build a new base to make it better, Rautakorpi, who has returned to overall work from the position of Tappara’s sports director, insists.
Although the JYP coach emphasizes only the activities of the present moment, there are already bigger, more permanent values in Rautakorvi’s thoughts.
– I want JYP to leave behind a process that can be built on in the future. The hope is that this three-year process will not end there, but that JYP will be a strong, interesting and successful organization in Finnish ice hockey even after that, he wants.
According to Rautakorvi’s view, the soil in a traditional university town is suitable for top hockey and JYP. Now if ever Jyväskylä has a decent order for the new arrival of JYP.
– In Jyväskylä, you can sense a strong sense of community, and there lies a great asset in that. People find JYP and there is no so-called retaliate against the company.
– Hopefully, these things would bring self-confidence to the team, which would be reflected in the game itself. Jyväskylä has a lot of theoretical and research basis for ice hockey through the university, but you have to get more excited about the game itself. It is also the task of our team, Jukka Rautakorpi emphasizes.
The focus is on the enthusiasm of the players
Rautakorve, who turns 60 next year, has almost 900 SM league matches behind him as a head coach in three different clubs. He emphasizes that in JYP or in today’s team sports in general, the activity must not be just a coach’s show.
– Maybe there is still too much coach focus. The autonomy of the players in the team is needed, because it is a necessary thing in terms of winning. Things must also be created through the players. The coach only shows the direction for the activity.
– The dedication and enthusiasm has been visible in the players here right from the beginning. It has not been necessary to motivate the players or justify things to them, but the players have thrown themselves into what we are doing, the head coach enthuses.
There will probably be a show or at least big emotions, because the coaching group includes, for example Ville Nieminen.
Central Finland’s ice hockey fans expect a tangible result from JYP led by Rautakorven at some point: a return to the top of the league. In almost every sentence, the head coach emphasizes the process itself before the result or, for example, playoff spots.
– If we talk about the result, I see that we can take JYP back to the medal games, Rautakorpi assures.
As the head coach, Rautakorpi has piloted his team all the way to the playoffs at factory Takuu. There is one championship, from Tappara from 2003.
Takatuka’s return to a big role
Rautakorve has been given competitive tools right away for his first JYP season. Having increased its player budget by 700,000 euros, JYP has invested in new, seasoned players. One of the spearheads is returning to his breeding club after a five-year tour of North America Sami Niku.
– Sami Niku returns here five years older and five years more experienced and more confident as a player. On the trip, I encountered a lot of setbacks and successes, which made me grow as a person as well, Niku tells Urheilu.
The man from Jyväskylä, dubbed the natural child of Kaukalai, is known for his back hair, but as the league season approaches, the man’s hairline has shortened.
– I tend to cut my hair short in the summer and then let it grow again. Now the pigtails can grow again for another year, Niku laughs.
– There have been no demands from the head coach regarding the shortness of the tuka, he adds with a smile.
The 2016 junior world champion is excited about the environment, where he will return to in the spring of 2017.
– The team has a big challenge, which makes this an even more interesting job, Niku enthuses.
Niku, 25, who is one of the most interesting returnees in the SM league, has not returned to JYP to make art or show off his hair fashion, but to make an impact on the rink.
– I have always been the type that hates losing. I always start from the fact that we play for the win and only aim for the highest prize, he reminds.
The team got a quality defender by the SM league’s standards, whose desire to show is strong after a few years of AHL experience.
– I am impressed by the enthusiasm with which Sami gets excited about the game. About how the game takes him along. You can see it in training as well, Rautakorpi reveals.
– We have to remember that Sami is a profile player for us, and a lot is also expected of him. He has to show the direction of the leading player in the rink, he emphasizes Niku’s big role.
Only one essential goal guides Niku this league season.
– Let’s return JYP to where it belongs, i.e. as a playoff team. That way, a “new season” would be ahead, i.e. completely different games.
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