WJC: Finland Coaching Staff Fired Mid-Tournament. Jussi Ahokas Now Coaching

[llwyd]

I'm not saying this is all on the coaches but it's the coaching staffs job to get the best result out of the players they have at their disposal and clearly they didn't. Mediocre goaltending didn't help either.

I think pretty much everything points to the fact that they lost the control and the respect of the team - and that maybe especially Rautakorpi was more interested anyway in his coming job than this tournament. Plus he is not suited to coach juniors anyway as an old school dinosaur.

 

[hirawl]

Am I the only one who thinks this move is ridiculous? I don't want to protect Rautakorpi, Ahokas should have been given U20 this year already, but firing head coach mid-tournament is kind of eastern european way of solving problems...

No you're not. It's a pathetic face saving attempt that has no business in Finnish hockey culture. The decision makers behind this hire and fire circus are the ones who need to get booted first. What a shameful and embarrassing move.

 

[Lempo]

No you're not. It's a pathetic face saving attempt that has no business in Finnish hockey culture. The decision makers behind this hire and fire circus are the ones who need to get booted first. What a shameful and embarrassing move.

"Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked have been sacked." We're a Monty Python outfit now.

 

[MNRube]

Doesn't look good, but who cares....Finland is going to be the darling of the hockey world in the immediate future. Laine, Barkov, Ristolainen, Puljujarvi, Rantanen, Aho, Vatanen, Granlund, Tolvanen....these are all great young Finnish players and all are fun to watch. They could win a Gold Medal eventually with that core, it's that good. They are doing something right over there. One bad WJC doesn't mean anything, especially after their magical run last year.

Also, Finland is, as of right now, arguably the 2nd most fertile hockey producing country in the world. All their young and veteran talent comes from a nation of only 5 million. Sweden has twice the population, but no way do they have twice the talent. Not anymore at least. Hell, Moscow is twice the size of Finland and the GTA - the most fertile place for talent, bar none - is bigger than Finland.

 

[PRNuck]

So who's this Jussi Ahokas fellow? Was he just in the neighbourhood or was he already with the team in some other capacity?

 

[llwyd]

So who's this Jussi Ahokas fellow? Was he just in the neighbourhood or was he already with the team in some other capacity?

Coached the u18 team to gold last year and was planned to take over this team after the tournament. Happened to be a studio commentator of our national broadcaster YLE at the site, so in that sense an easy pick if you want to take such a radical step. He's a modern coach who certainly knows how to handle the kids.

 

[jalperi]

Last time when Finland played on relegations, there were Armia,Ma.Granlund,Barkov,Hännikäinen,Teräväinen,Salomäki,Lehkonen,Ristolainen,Määttä,Lindbohm and Korpisalo. 11 which have played on NHL. On 2014 (gold)there were Teräväinen,Lehkonen,Lindell,Ristolainen and Saros. This years talent is better than both of these.

 

[Fables]

Olli Juolevi - drafted #5 overall in 2016
Miro Heiskanen - projects as a mid first round pick in 2017
Vili Saarijarvi - 3rd round pick in 2015. A PPG defenseman in the OHL
Uhro Vaakanainen - projects as a mid-late first round pick in 2017
Juuso Valimaki - projects as a mid-late first round pick in 2017
Kasper Bjorkqvist - 2nd round pick in 2016
Henrik Borgstrom - 1st round pick in 2016
Janne Kuokkanen - 2nd round pick in 2016
Julius Nattinen - 2nd round pick in 2016
Eeli Tolvanen - projects as a top 10 pick in 2017
Kristian Vesalainen - projects as a mid 1st round pick in 2017

THIS!

With this kind of talent there is no way Finland should have lost to Denmark even though they are stronger than they have been in the past. And more importantly Finland’s game should not look so disjointed, passive, poor, etc.. That is 99% on the coach. Losing Pulju, Aho, Laine, Kapanen, Rantanen, etc is a reason why a gold was not expected by anyone and even a medal was an unrealistic expectation. But team with this kind of talent should not go to relegation round.

Let’s remember that last time Rautakorpi coached the Finnish U20 team the result was also relegation round. That is no coincidence. He is simply not suited to coach kids. In a short tournament the coach should bring right kind of spirit to the team, set up a system that brings out the strengths of the players and make right kind of line combinations and reactions in the game. Rautakorpi failed to do all of those things… again.

And there is a reason the players had a players only meeting before the game against the Sweden. Captain Juolevi said that the team’s message to the coaching staff was that they wanted more freedom and more active style to their game to be able to use their strengths. This is a polite way to say the same thing that the Swedish TV hockey commentator Jonas Andersson said in a more blunt way after the Sweden-Finland game. He said that Rautakorpi did absolutely poor job and his playbook was from the past century. I often don’t like if a coach is blamed for everything but in this case I have to agree that this is 99% on the coach.

And yes, firing the coach could be seen as a way to save face by the Finnish hockey federation, who are to blame by naming Rautakorpi in the first place… knowing his U20 history. But I think the bigger reason is that they realized that Rautakorpi has completely lost the locker room (if he ever had it) and they can’t afford the risk of Rautakorpi having the team to lose the relegation round as well.

This tournament can’t be saved anymore but the complete disaster can be avoided. And I’m very curious to see how different the team’s play will look like when Ahokas takes over even though he will have very little time to work with the team.

 

[Mestaruus]

Finland with Laine/Aho/Puljuljarvi is ahead of the Czechs no question. Without them the talent is pretty similar and ahead of Switzerland and Denmark for sure.

I'm gonna say that with those 3 players we would be ahead of Sweden too. It was a one goal game against SWE and all the group games were so Finland could even have clean record in the group with those 3 players, thus giving us the #4 placed team in other group, Slovakia whom we beat 8-1 in practise game a week ago. Making us top-4 in the tournament.

I'm not going to complain about the situation though since Canada/USA has suffered way more over this over the years than Finland. For Finland it really started with Barkov like 3 years ago that Florida understandably didn't let him play for like 3 last WJC. It was kind of a new thing for Finland back then.

 

[Lempo]

 

[Dropkick Murphy]

Finnish federation had two choices:

1. Continue with Rautakorpi and have a risk of player mutiny
2. Sack Rautakorpi and replace him with players favorite Ahokas

They did stupid choice by hiring Rautakorpi, but in my opinion they did right choice mid tournament. Finland has tried now in last five tournaments two approaches:

Kivi and Jalonen: let'em play
Rautakorpi and Jortikka: Soviet Army

There is quite stark contrast in results. Though Jortikka understood that old school style doesn't work anymore and he tried to adjust his style. But for Jortikka, that was not working. The Finnish hockey system is stepping to new territories, to more individual style of play, with more emphasis in generating quality offense and less about robotic risk aversion. I, for one, welcome this new style.

 

[Tuoppi]

Kummola out!

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

Conflicting- this is the move I as a fan wanted the federation to make, but it's also so obvious that this is a money move.
$5 says Rautakorpi had a non-performance clause, activated if in relegation battle, hence couldn't fire him until AFTER Swiss-Denmark game. That happens, boom, can fire and save money.

Disgusting.

 

[93LEAFS]

How many 1st rounders plus 2017 1st rounders are in this team Finland? Like 7. Then there's many 2nd rounders. Only Canada can challenge that kind of pure talent level when looking at the paper. When so many talented guys under-perform it's usually the coach who takes the blame. A bit weird to fire mid-tournament though.

USA is deeper if you are using draft picks as the measurement. USA has the depth to actually cut first rounders if they aren't looking great. USA has 2 goalies drafted in the top 90, and one projected to be a top 60 pick this year, their D is weak but all drafted with a 12th overall pick included, and their forwards are made up of a bunch of 1st rounders (Keller, Kunin, Bellows, Thompson, White, and Roslovic). I'd also say Sweden has just as much. Finland definitely has more NHL talent than Switzerland or Denmark. USA's talent is also older, with a lot of their top talent being 19 years old.

Russia is always the wild-card by judging using this method, as their players slip for a bunch of reason's not worth rehashing here.

 

[LoveNHL]

It is not easy to become the head coach at this stage of the tournament. I hope he can get the kids together and focused again. The players from U18 should now become the core of the team. Hopefully they have a chance to practice power play. It might be needed to avoid relegation to B.

 

[FlareKnight]

It is a pretty extreme move, but I'm not too shocked either. Going from gold to relegation would result in some extreme moves. There are valid complaints with the coaching staff anyways. If a better option is literally there then why not change it up and make sure you avoid the embarrassment of being relegated?

Without the big guns the Finns weren't expected to be able to win sure. But this is a vast under performance for what they have on the roster.

It was a terrible idea to put this coach in charge. But they couldn't go back in time and change that. So they went the next best step and made sure he was taken out of the equation now.

 

[Lollipop]

Finland and their prospects are so overrated. No way they are better than Sweden. Finland is like Canada. They complain about players not in WJC. But if Finland is that great then they wouldn't been in relegation round now.

 

[Tulipunaruusu*]

It was a terrible idea to put this coach in charge. But they couldn't go back in time and change that. So they went the next best step and made sure he was taken out of the equation now.

How so? Rautakorpi is likely the most accomplished coach in the whole tournament. Barkov junior had no problem playing under him.

It is positive that Ahokas will now likely coach meidän peli which brought Finland WJC gold twice already this decade and one U-18 WJC gold last spring.

 

[Zaddy]

Definitely feel like Finlands performance had to do a lot with coaching. Even swedish commentators and former pro players Mikael Renberg and Jonas Andersson was complaining about the way Finland played in terms of their system. They were really annoyed about it too. I've never heard that before. I think it's probably safe to say that the group lost respect of their head coach fairly quickly. I've never seen Finland this dysfunctional before. That's not on the players, that's on the coach. This team was good enough to fight for 2nd place in the group.

 

[CPFC]

I think it was a necessary move. With Rautakorpi, they could have actually lose to Latvia. Ahokas on the other hand is a proven junior coach, so he should be able to dig out the potential from this team.

Finland will be a contender next year.

 

[Gsus]

I don't think missing Laine-Aho-Puljujarvi is an excuse as to why they finished last. Yeah losing those 3 makes it tough on them to win gold, or even make the semis. But a team like Finland produces enough talent to not finish last in their group at this level.

This. Weird that so many think that missing that line is the cause for this. Finland has two first rounders from last year and 3-6 to be first rounders in this years draft. On top of that they have players like Kuokkanen, Nättinen and Koivula who are really talented. If you look at rosters, this team should be fighting for the prelim round win with Sweden. Not the case and I believe a big reason is the coaching staff. I heard they had 1 practice before the tournament and so on.

 

[snipes]

Not good for Suomi. The "Golden Age" talk is officially silenced. Lost every game at the World Cup, and 0-3 right now at the WJC. A challenge by Suomi was issued after 2016 WJC, and well, on Canadian soil they've been destroyed.

That aside, Suomi must stay in the top division. Probably the only country that loves hockey as much as Canada. So what? Now Relegation rounds.

The Finnish team can feel sorry for themselves and sniffle like babies or they can fight back. Go bully Latvia in the Relegation round. It is unacceptable if you don't destroy Latvia in Relegation play. Don't underestimate them, these guys battle and play with pride.

 

[Tulipunaruusu*]

I heard they had 1 practice before the tournament and so on.

They had one on ice practice during a tournament which contained what three games in four days? That is just looking for excuses when Columbus for example does not have ice practice on game-days.

Empowering the kids is a dangerous route to take.

 

[snipes]

They had one on ice practice during a tournament which contained what three games in four days? That is just looking for excuses when Columbus for example does not have ice practice on game-days.

Empowering the kids is a dangerous route to take.

NHL team playing together is distinguishable from a junior team at this level.

Let me guess, it is North American influence to blame for Suomi's failures?

Your crusade against lands and cultures you know nothing about is hilarious. Laine, Pulju, and Aho were heavily influenced by a desire to play hockey on the other side of the Atlantic. Therefore, if "individualism" of our lands is to blame for failure this year, does it equally apply to success last year?

 

[Gsus]

Not good for Suomi. The "Golden Age" talk is officially silenced. Lost every game at the World Cup, and 0-3 right now at the WJC. A challenge by Suomi was issued after 2016 WJC, and well, on Canadian soil they've been destroyed.

That aside, Suomi must stay in the top division. Probably the only country that loves hockey as much as Canada. So what? Now Relegation rounds.

The Finnish team can feel sorry for themselves and sniffle like babies or they can fight back. Go bully Latvia in the Relegation round. It is unacceptable if you don't destroy Latvia in Relegation play. Don't underestimate them, these guys battle and play with pride.

Yeah, it is silenced for a year about. I mean if someone really thinks this team played even close to their level, they are nuts. This was really something that no one was expecting, a relegation round games.

This was a catastrophe, and the Golden Age talk continues on my part. The players are good enough, that is the point. A single failed tournament does not change that. This really is a Golden age for Finnish hockey, no matter the results. Few years from now Tolvanen, Vesalainen and co will be lighting it in the NHL. With Ahokas and better goaltending, we will be back in the Semis very soon.