This is how the legendary venting of two top players in the sport was born: “I suddenly realized”

Honey, honey, honey for you, oh-oh, play the violin!

Published in 1984 Erkki Liikanen The support song of the Turku Palloseura is familiar to the whole puck-Finland.

VeePee Grove in the lyrics the repeated passages “oh violin!” and “soi viulu!”, and the whole Finnish people who follow hockey know the reason as well.

It’s a TPS legend by Timo Nummelin about the trademark, the so-called fiddle blowing, the “secret” of which he now reveals.

– I could have developed a story right from the start, that my father was a musician and played the violin, but I hadn’t planned that bit in advance, says Nummelin.

– The only secret is that when I scored a goal, I suddenly thought of making such a violin-playing gesture. I don’t know where such a reflex came from. It has just come to the ventilation, which these days are quite weak.

Where are the personalities?

Ice hockey as a sport has developed a lot since Nummelin’s peak years, but similar personalities are hardly seen in the rinks anymore.

– These days, you can’t give birth to Vellu, Mölle, Oka, Lall or Hex like that, “Numppa” refers to the lion legends Veli-Pekka to Ketola, Matti Keinosen, Lasse Oksanen, Lalli Partienen and Heikki to Riihiranta.

Nummelin himself, who has 225 A national matches, belongs to the same category.

– I’m not saying that the game is stuck to formulas, but it’s such a slavish playing of the system that sometimes it’s horrible. It’s always been a team game, but now it’s a five-man game. The five attack, the five defend.

– Of course, an individual player always rises, but I still can’t say that I would go to the game to watch it. Earlier, we went to see that because that Lalli is warming up or two guys are going to Mölli’s thread. Yes, I would miss such colorful guys, Nummelin says and mentions as another example Martti Jarkon.

A unique merit

The sports career of Nummelin, who turns 75 today, Thursday, September 7, is one of the most legendary in the history of Finnish football, and it included many wonderful achievements.

The question of which of them he values ​​the most makes a man thoughtful.

– Yaa-a. Well, that I have been able to make such a career. I have played both sports side by side for another ten seasons. I appreciate that and that I have remained intact. It was aa and oo that I was able to have such a long career.

Nummelin does not raise the matter himself, but in addition to the Finnish championship won in ice hockey and three gold medals in soccer, he has such a unique individual achievement that no one will ever be able to do the same again.

Nummelin is the only Finnish athlete who has been chosen as both the best ice hockey player of the year (1981) and the best soccer player of the year (1968).

He played his entire 23-season ice hockey major league career (1964–1987) in TPS, winning a total of eight medals. In football, his main league years were 1966–1974, also all in the ranks of Palloseura.

– Like I said, it was important that I stayed healthy. The opponents could get a few bumps, he laughs.

Nummel, known as a hard-hitting player, also got a bump.

In ice hockey, for example, despite his position as a defender, he often played as a mask man in front of the goal, where hits came from both the puck and the stick. Nummelin, who was beaten, became known as a player who had no pain threshold at all.

– Yes, it hurt at times, but it didn’t improve to show the opponent. It was just bitten by the teeth and in the next superiority game we went in front of the goal again. It was part of the system, and I gladly accepted it. It was nice to be there and pack the packs, as a packer myself I knew how difficult it is to keep a man there.

Credit to Teps

The new league season starts next Tuesday, September 12, and Nummelin continues to follow the series closely not only in front of the TV, but also in the stands of TPS’ home hall.

After two consecutive finals, last season – the Palloseura’s 100th anniversary season – was a disappointment for Turku. The team ended up in 10th place.

– They say that the team is better than last season, but how do you know that? However, you can expect a bit to be successful, Nummelin predicts and singles out the returnees from the reinforcements Markus Nurmen and Petrus Palmun.

– Even the foreigners seem to be of high quality.

Also a new head coach Tommi Miettinen inspires confidence in Nummelin.

– He knows Turku and Turku Palloseura, Nummelin refers to the Kuopio native’s playing years in the ranks of TPS.

– We’re probably playing a round game. In my opinion, the material is such that you can hold the puck. Yes, I believe that Tepsi will climb to the top again.

The game continues

Nummelin, who has fully recovered from a brain infarction seven years ago, is a lifelong athlete. He has stated that he will never say that he has finished.

Nummelin goes twice a week to the senior ice hockey club Pursiainten Tenho’s training sessions.

– When the group of friends start playing rink again, they will be on the ice three times a week. For a 75-year-old guy like this, it’s really nice exercise.

– I’ve always said that man was created to move, but Nummelinit to play, Numppa refers to his son, who is currently working as a coach and is also one of the legends of Finnish hockey To Petter and to her children.