Jussi Olkinuora ended up in Lahti when no suitable job could be found in Sweden and Switzerland.
Jussi Olkinuora, 32, signed a contract with the Pelicans for the 2023–24 season. Tomi Natri / All Over Press
Switzerland and Sweden. They were the Lions’ 2022 World Cup gold hero Jussi Olkinuoran options last May.
– The SM league is out of the question at this point, Olkinuora stated in IL’s story on May 13.
At the end of July, Pelicans announced that it has signed a one-year contract with Olkinuora.
– It’s fun to change your mind. The market is like this when one league (KHL) is taken away. I have a job after all. The game is tough, Olkinuora commented after the opening match of the 2023–24 SM league season.
The goalkeeper says that things turned around in the summer when there was no favorable contract offer from abroad.
– Pelicans always have a place in the heart and at the moment the chemistries met.
Born in Helsinki in November 1990, the puck player became one of the nation’s elite defenders in Lahti in the 2018–19 season.
– I am very happy to be part of the Pelicans again. It’s cool to be in a place where you enjoy being right from the start of the season.
You have played in seventeen different clubs in your career and seen the world from Denver to Detroit. Lahti as a city is hardly the most glamorous…
– I’m lucky that you say that in Tampere. Lahti is quite a good city. There is a lake and an exercise area.
True. There are good ski slopes in Lahti. A lot of other things are not so good.
– I’m not a skier at all. But it’s nice to see when others have fun while skiing.
Olkinuora lives at least for this season in Päijät-Hämee as an American Emily– with his spouse.
A unique situation
Tappara’s Oiva Keskinen scored the home team’s winning goal on Wednesday behind Jussi Olkinuora in Tampere. Mika Kylmäniemi / AOP
Last season was difficult for Olkinuora. He made an NHL deal with Detroit in the summer of 2022, but there was only work available at the farm club. In the middle of the season, the man moved to Sweden’s Brynäs, which scandalously dropped after 63 years in the main league.
May in Leijon did not bring relief when Emil Larmi was the number one saver and Finland fell in the quarterfinals.
– Now I’m focusing on a new project to become a better goalkeeper.
Lahti is ten years younger as a partner Jasper Patrikainen.
– A technically gifted guy. Nice to follow him.
Pelicans head coach Tommi Niemelä described on Wednesday in Tampere that he is the luckiest man in the world when he has two great goalkeepers.
– I want to play as well as possible and as much as possible, Olkinuora announces.
The Lahtel team has been raised as medal favorites in the experts’ evaluations. The most enthusiastic have talked about the Pelicans of all time and the golden candidate.
– It’s cool to hear that the team is the favorite. The Pelicans have earned it with their performances last season. There is hope. On paper, there is a good bunch and there will be a lot of goals in the rinks.
On the other hand, never before before the start of the season has the Pelicans been expected as much as now.
– The role of the underdog is always easier in sports. But it looks good in the booth and the mood is high.
A familiar thing
Nick Babtiste scored 2–0 for Tappara on Wednesday at the Nokia Arena. Mika Kylmäniemi / AOP
Wednesday’s league opener against Tappara followed the pattern of last spring’s playoffs: the Pelicans were on the edge at times, but Tappara was more efficient, duller and overall slightly better.
– A top opponent who was sharp in scoring. The margins are tight.
Three of Tappara’s four goals went behind Olkinuora. In the last one, the home team hit blanks.
– In retrospect, I should have stood in situations differently. For example, in Tappara’s third goal, I should have seen the puck from behind the mask.
The match started 19 minutes later than the usual start time (6:30 p.m.), when Tappara’s championship gold from last spring was celebrated at the Nokia Arena and the championship banner was raised to the ceiling.
Pyrotechnics were used in the ceremony. As a result, there were impurities on the ice, and the Pelicans’ men in particular had to slip the blades of their skates for maintenance in the opening set.
– There were interesting arrangements. Maybe it was worse for the guys from Tappara when they had to stand on the ice for so long before the game started. But on the other hand, achievements must be celebrated. Good for them.