Is the League’s top team coach bird or fish? “They know who needs to know”

Tomi Lämsä He was only 32 when he was debuting in the league as head coach. Since then, the past 13 years have taught him a lot.

– Lots of different players, colleagues and situations. Lots of minutes on the ice and in the barn, H än sums up.

– So a huge amount of experience, but there is still the same passion that has driven this job.

Immediately his first head coaching pest in Lämsä received a major club Jokers who still played in the league in 2012. Since then, he has piloted his hometown Lahti Pelicans, KHL’s Salavat Juljev Ufa, Finland’s Under-20 National Team and now the last two Rauma Lukko.

In his two seasons, as Ufa’s head coach, Lämsä led to the team’s KHL playoffs and there for the second round. The extension agreement was also available, but Lämsä returned to Finland after Russia escalated in the winter of 2022 his attack war in Ukraine.

The reputation is dragging

A coach with such a CV would think they would enjoy widespread appreciation at the league level, but this has not always been the case for Lämsä.

His competence has been suspected by the hockey, soma and audience, despite the fact that the head coach was washed in KHL and that saving from kicks there is a rare achievement for a Finnish coach.

When Lukko washed Lämsä in the spring of 2023, the Rauma Marketplace was not thrown into the air, and when he received an extension agreement last December, Luko’s solution was questioned in the hall discussions of the hall.

The main reasons are that Lämsä’s career lacks the success of the medal level, and perhaps also that the spurs he acquired in the KHL remained in the home country as if in the radar’s shade.

Instead, the 2023 World Youth World Championships, where Finland led by Lämsä, remained fifth, and Raimo Summanen “You’re a boy still” scream.

Although the negative stamp should have been left in the insult, in many people’s minds, it was left in the league for the first time in Lämsä.

In the end, last season did not bring the prize when SaiPa hit the lock in the semi -finals and Ilves took the bronze medals in front of the nose. Lämsä’s playoff displays were still exhausted.

The wish of the players

However, the season raised two things that at least created the suspicions of Lämsä.

First of all, he coached Luko’s regular season victory. For Lämsä himself, it was the second of the career as the first of the career came to the top of the Jokers.

In addition, the Luke camp began to hear that the players would like Lämsä to continue as the head coach of the team. The club leadership is also strong, and in the summer, Lukko continued his contract until 2028.

– The feedback from the team has been really positive, it wrote in his release.

There was still the question of whether Lämsä is a so -called bird or a fish. Koutsi himself briefly acknowledges the debate about its credibility.

– Those people know who needs to know. Appreciation from there is the most important thing for me.

Culture to fit

During the 2023-24 season, Lukko had not yet convinced by Lämsä, but remained ninth.

– In the first season, everything was ready when I went to that sled. All the time we knew what worries we had, but they could not be corrected and the result was thin, Lämsä time.

– Maybe the biggest stuff was in everyday life. Culture was not at the level that leads us to success. The quality is not from time to time, but everyday, he emphasizes.

According to Lämsä, Lukko got things done last season, and especially the result of the regular season confirms his message.

-We kept the players who wanted, and partly changed from the player material. That first year was also the kind of running when the CHL was played for a long time and went to the semi -finals there, Lämsä compares.

CHL

Due to traveling abroad, the team’s joint training days were too little. The same may be ahead this season when the lock after one mid -year is back in the CHL.

However, Lämsä says he appreciates matches against quality European teams. He also says he believes that CHL’s effects on team performance are no longer as dramatic.

– It was difficult to drive new things in such a mill. Partly that’s why the first season was jerking, but last season without CHL, a huge step was made.

– In my opinion, the victory in the regular season tells you about the quality of everyday work. We got everyday to the level it should be year after year.

In the playoffs, Lukko fell not only in SaiPa’s Hurmos but also injuries. Lämsä says that he does not want to explain or seek excuses, and does not tell the number of men who played with or after the injuries.

– But there were a lot of them. We went that limit.

Later Lämsä revealed At the supporter of the lock 7-8 players have played with injuries that they would not have been scared in the regular season.

The worst setback was Sebastian Revon injury. The captain would have returned to the real action in the finals, but until then Luko’s flight did not carry, and in the summer Repo moved to HIFK.

Confirmation of faith

The Lock, which has been a good sequel to the league season on Tuesday, September 9, leaves one of the biggest favorites. Needless to say, championship is the goal.

“When there are a lot of last season players who have seen that by doing this, we are on the doorstep, it gives a lot of strength,” Lämsä assures.

My own breeder has returned to the finish line, 11 in 11 seasons NHL Antti Raantaand the quality defense continues almost the same. The number one center has been purchased in the spring at the World Cup Michael Ruohomawhich is also expected to improve the overpowering game.

Add to the power

Lastly, Luke’s YV percentage was incredible, yes, the weakest in the whole series. So it won the regular season thanks to its strong 5-5 game-though there was still room for improvement.

Based on the Lämsä hockey control, the game method produced a huge amount of long attacks, shots and paint expectations, but the result did not always obey the probabilities.

– Of course, efficiency, Lämsi announces the development of the development.

He also recognizes the risks of the game.

– In the fall, we had a bit of a worry that even though the statistics were controlled, we had big mistakes in the reel game during the attacks. They became dangerous counterattacks that the opponent was able to insert in quite a tough percentage.

Training, repetitions and grinding of the game system corrected the situation as the season progressed, and with a relatively low turnover, the team will continue to continue from where last season left.

– We are the light year ahead of last fall, Lämsä shakes.

– The same elements of the game will be adhered to, and we will also start crystallizing what was experienced last spring. It requires a certain positive aggression and adds a lot to the defense game.

The teachings of KHL

Let’s go back to Lämsä years in Russia 2017-2022, when he gained valuable experience in a different disc culture.

– The game is the same and trying to score more goals than the opponent, but the biggest lesson over the past five years came from myself, says Lämsä.

– When you are in a foreign culture and try to get my own message through, I learned a lot about how to work under pressure and on the other hand in moments of success. How do you get the channel open and communication, despite the language barrier.

Lämsä says he has learned a lot from top players and coaches with whom he was able to work in the KHL.

UFA’s key players were, among other things, Finns Markus Granlund, Teemu Hartikainen, Sakari Manninen and Juha Metsola.

Before he became head coach, Lämsä acted as an assistant coach first Erkka Westerlund Leading and then in a Russian -driven coaching group.

– It saw how things can be done in many different ways, says Lämsä.

– There is not one right way, even though we tend to look quite in the same direction here in Finland.