Finland will face Sweden in the World Cup semi-final on Sunday evening. Moni follows defender Arttu Välä in the game.
Arttu Välilä, 19, is playing a successful rookie season at Rauma Luko. However, before this weekend, the defender had not made headlines either in the SM league or in the World Youth Championship.
On Saturday morning, things suddenly changed. Väilä hit the puck into the USA’s goal in overtime of the quarterfinals, and took Finland to play for the World Cup medals.
It was a huge hit from Rauma’s man in the most important place in the home hall of the NHL team Minnesota Wild.
– There was a good pass to that b-point, there was a place to shoot and there was a small gap. The puck there and the game wrapped up, Väilä cheered.
– Between that shield and the mattress, it sank. This feels incredible. Words can’t describe how it feels, said the team in the media room of St. Paul’s Grand Casino arena.
No need for titles
Arttu Väilä fights with Brodie Ziemer in the quarterfinals of the World Championships. AOP / TIIA MAHKONEN
Kalle Sahlstedt, Luko’s director of sports, knows the young man.
– Yes, he is Rauma’s own breed. He has always been that type of player, as he is today. Skilled guy, quite humble and down-to-earth guy. He has good passing skills and blade use, his skating is economical.
A video published on various social media channels tells how Väilä uttered a native Finnish curse word when he had to do media interviews immediately after the winning game.
The Canadian sports media giant TSN was the first to talk about the hero. Then the hero was covered by the Finnish and Swedish media, among others.
– He probably likes the fact that he is not in the brightest spotlight. Other players can take care of that side. I don’t think he needs big headlines, Sahlstedt continues.
– He doesn’t make a fuss about himself. That’s probably why he suits Rauma well, there aren’t quite as many headlines around the players here as in some other SM league cities.
Youth champion
Kalle Sahlstedt, the boss of Rauma Luko, has followed the development of Arttu Välilä for eight years. Jaakko Stenroos / AOP
Lukko won the A-youth championship in the 2024–25 season. Väilä was in the team.
– He could have already played in the SM league with us last season. But we had a good team and no wonder there were hardly any injuries. That’s why he got to play big minutes in the U20 team and won the Finnish championship there at the end of the season, Sahlstedt thinks.
Väilä was born in 2006 and the package is 176 centimeters tall.
– Maybe he has been a little under the radar because of his small size. But have you seen him lose duels? He knows how to fight, but he does it in his own way. Arttu is also capable of hard tackles if he knows he can win a duel with it. This is a top class player, says Sahlstedt.
The World Cup semi-final between Finland and Sweden will be played on Sunday evening at 23:30.
TV5 will show the match.