Ilves’ SM league team will be coached next season by Tommi Niemelä.
After this season, Tommi Niemelä will move his suitcase to Tampere. TOMI NATRI / AOP
The management of Tampere Ilves has chosen the team’s next head coach Tommi Niemelän. 40-year-old Niemelä is currently the head coach of Lahti Pelicans.
Niemelä, originally from Helsinki, is coaching his fourth season at the Pelicans. Before that, the former goalkeeper worked for two seasons as an assistant coach of Lausanne in the Swiss league.
Ilves’ current coach Antti Pennanen will be the head coach of the A national team after this season, that’s why the people of Tampere need a new man behind the bench.
Pennanen’s contract covers the 2024–26 seasons and includes an option for the 2026–27 season.
Many names
Antti Pennanen is the next head coach of the national team. The men’s wash in ice hockey starts after this season. VESA PÖPPÖNEN / AOP
In recent seasons, Ilves has become one of the big organizations in the League. The team plays in Europe’s top-level conditions at the Nokia Arena. That’s why there were definitely newcomers to the team’s head coach’s ball.
Among other things, it was circulated in public Mikko MannerinRaimo Helminen, Jarno Pikkarainen, Olli Jokinen and Jukka Jalonen’s names. The last two mentioned are obviously primarily looking for their next job outside Finland’s borders.
The head coach selection in the Ilves organization is made by the sports director Timo KoskelaCEO Risto Jalo and chairman of the board Jyrki Seppä.