While Finland are the Champions of Europe in this year's Champions Hockey League, another Finn with connections to Jyväskylä is hoping to win his own championship some 2,600 kilometres away!
HC Bolzano netminder Pekka Tuokkola joined the Foxes mid-season when they were struggling at the wrong end of the Austrian EBEL, but now finds himself their starting goalie four wins from the Championship. The finals begin today with HC Bolzano aiming to repeat their feat of 2013-2014 when they beat the Red Bulls in seven games.
"Of course it feels a bit unbelievable, but this is the best thing in sports - you never give up, believe in yourselves, and keep doing your own thing," said the 34-year-old. "Anything can happen, so of course playing the finals is a great feeling for us and also the entire city."
Tuokkola has been in this situation before. Back in 2009 he was on the JYP team that won the Finnish Liiga, which he has very fond memories of. "It was a great year, the first time that JYP won the whole league. I was a little bit younger back then, but it was amazing to achieve that," he recalled. "I played there also last season, and of course still have a lot of friends on the team there this season. I watched the CHL final against Växjö and I was really happy for the guys to see them win it."
Bolzano offered me a chance... I said 'Why not?' I think it was a good choice!Pekka Tuokkola, HC Bolzano (92.80 EBEL Save %)
The Foxes' journey to the EBEL finals has been surprising considering their mid-season position, more so that they eliminated regular season dominators Vienna in the Semi-Finals. "I think we already believed we could beat them in the first game. We lost it, but it was close and wasn't like we were in big trouble," said the native of Alavus, some 140km from Jyväskylä. "Now it's the final stage and no-one else is playing, just us and Salzburg. It's the best feeling, you know you have two weeks to go and that's it - after that we'll either be first or second, but now we just enjoy the time."
If his team's route to the finals has been unpredictable, so too has Tuokkola's season which saw him ice for three different teams by December. "It was a hard start - nobody wanted me!" joked the goalie, who has CHL experience with JYP, Klagenfurt, and Vienna. "I just wanted to play, Vienna gave me a good chance there for a month. My goal was then to go and play back in Finland and be closer to my family, but it wasn't happening. Bolzano offered me a chance to play here, and I said 'Why not?'. I think it was a good choice for me!"
Bolzano played in the first CHL season after their historic EBEL Championship in 2013/14 - their first season in the Austrian top flight. Is that motivation? "Maybe yeah. But now it's just time to enjoy the game and these two weeks. Get everything ready for the first game and see what happens after that."
"It's going to be a tight series," concluded Tuokkola ahead of the finals against Red Bull Salzburg. "They have lots of skilled players, we have to play good defensively, and I think the main thing will be special teams. How we can keep the penalties low, and be good on the PP."