Finnish coalh Jukka Jalonen is hoping his team can score a few timely goals and remian in the top division for next year.
photo: Matt Zambonin
There are but a small number of coaches in IIHF history who have the breadth of success in international hockey that can match Finland’s Jukka Jalonen. He has coached the Finns to gold at the World Junior Championship (2016), the World Championship (2011, 2019, 2022), and the Olympics (2022).
He has been behind the bench of Suomi for much of the last 17 years, winning seven total medals, yet for the last year he has been coaching Italy, a team that struggles to earn promotion and struggles to stay up when it does. It is a brilliant move by the Italians to hire someone of Jalonen’s calibre, and a most curious decision by the coach to continue his career there.
“When they asked me, I said yes because I thought this would be a different kind of challenge, different level of play and players,” Jalonen explained. “We were in Group B last year. I knew Italy a little bit. I was coaching there about 25 years ago, so I know Italians and their culture. I thought coming here now would be a great thing to experience. And, of course, we had a home Olympics in February, which was also a great experience.”
The biggest differences, of course, are expectation and ability, but Jalonen isn’t intimidated. “Our gold medal is 7th position,” he admits about what he hopes to achieve in Switzerland during this year’s World Championship. “It's different. We don't have many star players.”
Jalonen was methodical in his approach to the game when he arrived. First thing, learn what he has. “I wanted to get to know the staff and the people I will be working with,” he explained. “And then, of course, the players. In the last year, we've had more than 50 players play for the Italian national team, so after the first season, I think I knew almost everybody. And now with new guys coming in, I'm getting to know them.”
He also has to change the mindset, which is not easy. “I have a very good coaching staff that supports me, and we work together to help develop the players,” he continued. “I tried to tell the players last year that this tournament is more important than the Olympics, but for the players, I knew it would be the Olympics. That's why we're missing some players here, but that's good for the young guys. It's a new chance for them as well.”
During games, that mindset is difficult to teach. Jalonen comes from podium hockey, and he’s trying to instill that mentality into players who don’t know if they can reach that high.
“Our players want to adjust and commit themselves to the system we're trying to teach, but during a game for individual players, anything can happen. We have to talk about those situations and find a smarter way to make plays. That's one way we can play better and make a difference--to learn how to play smart. We are still in the learning process.”
Even though the Olympics were only three months ago, Jalonen’s roster here is much different from Milan.
“Yes, very much,” he agrees. “Some players have injuries; some are retiring. But that's how it goes. It's the same when I was with Finland, but then we had so many good players. Italy has fewer players to choose from. That's just the way it is. But for the players who are here, we have good chemistry and a good atmosphere with the team. I like it. The only thing we would like is to have some points in the standings.”
Indeed, Italy is in serious jeopardy of being relegated. They are winless in five games, but worse, they have scored only two goals in total. Jalonen can teach good defence. He can teach breakouts and tactics, but he can’t teach putting the puck in the net.
“We have to have a good power play,” he emphasized. “We have to go to the net harder without pucks because we don't have that much individual skill. So we have to score as a team. I am sure we will score in this tournament at the right time against the right teams and win the right games.”
For Italian fans, they hope he is right. The team is running out of time. They have two games left, against Denmark and Slovenia. On the one hand, these might be winnable games; on the other hand, if they don’t score, they won’t win.
He has been behind the bench of Suomi for much of the last 17 years, winning seven total medals, yet for the last year he has been coaching Italy, a team that struggles to earn promotion and struggles to stay up when it does. It is a brilliant move by the Italians to hire someone of Jalonen’s calibre, and a most curious decision by the coach to continue his career there.
“When they asked me, I said yes because I thought this would be a different kind of challenge, different level of play and players,” Jalonen explained. “We were in Group B last year. I knew Italy a little bit. I was coaching there about 25 years ago, so I know Italians and their culture. I thought coming here now would be a great thing to experience. And, of course, we had a home Olympics in February, which was also a great experience.”
The biggest differences, of course, are expectation and ability, but Jalonen isn’t intimidated. “Our gold medal is 7th position,” he admits about what he hopes to achieve in Switzerland during this year’s World Championship. “It's different. We don't have many star players.”
Jalonen was methodical in his approach to the game when he arrived. First thing, learn what he has. “I wanted to get to know the staff and the people I will be working with,” he explained. “And then, of course, the players. In the last year, we've had more than 50 players play for the Italian national team, so after the first season, I think I knew almost everybody. And now with new guys coming in, I'm getting to know them.”
He also has to change the mindset, which is not easy. “I have a very good coaching staff that supports me, and we work together to help develop the players,” he continued. “I tried to tell the players last year that this tournament is more important than the Olympics, but for the players, I knew it would be the Olympics. That's why we're missing some players here, but that's good for the young guys. It's a new chance for them as well.”
During games, that mindset is difficult to teach. Jalonen comes from podium hockey, and he’s trying to instill that mentality into players who don’t know if they can reach that high.
“Our players want to adjust and commit themselves to the system we're trying to teach, but during a game for individual players, anything can happen. We have to talk about those situations and find a smarter way to make plays. That's one way we can play better and make a difference--to learn how to play smart. We are still in the learning process.”
Even though the Olympics were only three months ago, Jalonen’s roster here is much different from Milan.
“Yes, very much,” he agrees. “Some players have injuries; some are retiring. But that's how it goes. It's the same when I was with Finland, but then we had so many good players. Italy has fewer players to choose from. That's just the way it is. But for the players who are here, we have good chemistry and a good atmosphere with the team. I like it. The only thing we would like is to have some points in the standings.”
Indeed, Italy is in serious jeopardy of being relegated. They are winless in five games, but worse, they have scored only two goals in total. Jalonen can teach good defence. He can teach breakouts and tactics, but he can’t teach putting the puck in the net.
“We have to have a good power play,” he emphasized. “We have to go to the net harder without pucks because we don't have that much individual skill. So we have to score as a team. I am sure we will score in this tournament at the right time against the right teams and win the right games.”
For Italian fans, they hope he is right. The team is running out of time. They have two games left, against Denmark and Slovenia. On the one hand, these might be winnable games; on the other hand, if they don’t score, they won’t win.
