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

[Jussi]

U wot m8? check football rankings search "Latvia" and come back to me with the results. and yes hes correct Hockey is absolutley number 1 sport here.

You played at the Euros not long ago. Can't say the same for Finland's and Canada's success in that area.

 

[BalticWarrior]

You played at the Euros not long ago. Can't say the same for Finland's and Canada's success in that area.

In 2004 thats 13 years ago(well,almost) , now we are losing to teams like Andorra and what not that have less population than some Rigas suburbs, but novertheless nobody cares about soccer here i can assure you. Also Soccer is seen as a very "Russian" sport(most players on our team are of Russian ancestry) so its disliked for that reason too.

 

[Lempo]

You played at the Euros not long ago. Can't say the same for Finland's and Canada's success in that area.

Yeah but we too challenged very bravely the Faroe Islands not long ago and moreover the Spaniards can never ever ever come get that one point back from us. #miracleofgijon

 

[RorschachWJK]

Why isnt Floorball a real sport? Its more real than your ability to make sense I would say.

Floorball is even less a global sport than hockey is. I believe that is what he tried to convey.

To me and many others, there are only three truly global team sports: soccer, basketball and volleyball. Those three are played at a high level in a lot of countries. Hockey...not so much.

@lataba: Finland has done really well in volleyball and basketball during the recent decade or so. Just check out the European Championship results.

 

[QnebO]

Good choise. Usually coaches r blamed without true reason, but i think a) they really failed and b) locker needed a change

And hockey is great sport, soccer rednecks dont accept it has grown alot since 1995

 

[Stubu]

Anyone have better info on the critical comments made by the players after the losing games and the surprising players-only meeting?

And what kind of a coach is Ahokas?

(And maybe let's stop talking about Finland as a hockey nation here. It's too tangential to this topic about this particular HC firing and hiring and doesn't really contribute anything. Better fit for the roster thread?)

 

[Brock Radunske]

With how good Finland was the last few years I was expecting to see a golden age for Finnish hockey but outside of a few stars, their depth has been horrible and they can't hang with good teams like Sweden.

 

[DoubleGold]

With how good Finland was the last few years I was expecting to see a golden age for Finnish hockey but outside of a few stars, their depth has been horrible and they can't hang with good teams like Sweden.

Take a look at the roster again. The team was skilled enough, the coaching not.

 

[Gsus]

Even last years u18 champions would have been better than 5th. There is plenty of fault on coaching staff. Funny to read comments where people say this isn't surprise with this squad. I'm not sure they even have followed these players prior the tournament.

This.

I don't get why people don't get this, but act like they know something. The team is good enough, it's easy to see if you've been following ice hockey for the past couple years. Something went badly wrong, and this was the correct decision. I feel like just the players liking Ahokas so much they will bring a whole lot more to the table. Ahokas seems like a good coach and a good guy and has something to back it up.

 

[QnebO]

With how good Finland was the last few years I was expecting to see a golden age for Finnish hockey but outside of a few stars, their depth has been horrible and they can't hang with good teams like Sweden.

I would agree if it was like this but now i cant. Player production looks good, theres talent in this group, this group won u18 gold last year, too. This is classic situation where coach gets nothing out of players

 

[Gsus]

Seems like many NA people don't really know the Finnish group too well.

 

[Finnswiss]

I don't know if the coaching was so bad or the Finns just have not enough quality this year.

But sometimes the change of the coaching helps although I wonder that they fired 4 of the coaching staff at once.

 

[jj cale]

Terrible thing to do at this point in the tournament. You wait until your games are over, it's as simple as that.

No excuse, bad move. It is not "a little bush league", it is 100% bush league.

 

[FiLe]

Seems like many NA people don't really know the Finnish group too well.

Yeah. It's pretty typical, actually. They look up the roster, don't recognize some names, and automatically figure they must be bad players.

 

[JJTT]

Terrible thing to do at this point in the tournament. You wait until your games are over, it's as simple as that.

No excuse, bad move. It is not "a little bush league", it is 100% bush league.

Lol what? Choosing Rautakorpi for one tournament over Ahokas in the first place is the 100% bush league move.

 

[Hagged]

Terrible thing to do at this point in the tournament. You wait until your games are over, it's as simple as that.

No excuse, bad move. It is not "a little bush league", it is 100% bush league.

Bush league or not, they should have done this move after the pre-tournament game against Canada. Or at least after the first game of the tournament. Finland is out cause they waited this long. If they waited any longer, FInland would get relegated against Latvia. You have to do this move, bush league or not, or you don't play in the tournament next year. It's that simple.

 

[Finnswiss]

Terrible thing to do at this point in the tournament. You wait until your games are over, it's as simple as that.

No excuse, bad move. It is not "a little bush league", it is 100% bush league.

Normally yes, but they are may be afraid to be relegated in Division I and that would be a catastrophe for the finnish hockey. So they try to put a sign and hope that it will release new energies in the team.

I have no idea if the coaching staff was so bad or if the players are just not good enough.

 

[Lempo]

Terrible thing to do at this point in the tournament. You wait until your games are over, it's as simple as that.

No excuse, bad move. It is not "a little bush league", it is 100% bush league.

Want to see an aerial picture of Finland?

If the management gave their full support, as the phrase goes, to Rauts at this point, and Finland ended up relegating... uh-oh. There would need to be many sets of keys left to the table at the Association, all of them maybe.

Plus, wishfully, they have the... an amount of inside intel to support their decision-making. Quite possibly limping through the rest of games weren't an option, especially as the last ones really are the real test and must win here, like for reals.

 

[jj cale]

Lol what? Choosing Rautakorpi for one tournament over Ahokas in the first place is the 100% bush league move.

You won't change my mind on this so I wouldn't waste too much more of your time.

They picked the coach, the mistake is on them. Trying to take the egg off their face at this point is bush league and downright rotten, plain and simple.

And the players were sub par this year too, it's not all coaching. Maybe they should send them all home now too going by how they treated the coaches with no regard as human beings?

Total classless move, period.

 

[FiLe]

Terrible thing to do at this point in the tournament. You wait until your games are over, it's as simple as that.

No excuse, bad move. It is not "a little bush league", it is 100% bush league.

At least you could educate yourself on the circumstances before commentating.

If the situation was that they simply wanted to get rid of the old coach with not much plan on how to go from there... like, say, just hauling in some random guy from out of the blue, then yeah, it's bush league.

However, in this case, the replacement is someone who already was the incoming U20 head coach, he would have taken the reins of this team after these 3-4 remaining games anyway. And he was also the outgoing U18 coach, meaning he was familiar with pretty much all of the players in this squad. And he was already present in the city, watching the games, they didn't even have to airlift him in at a moment's notice.

When you bother to look those things up, it starts to make a lot more sense.

 

[jj cale]

Normally yes, but they are may be afraid to be relegated in Division I and that would be a catastrophe for the finnish hockey. So they try to put a sign and hope that it will release new energies in the team.

I have no idea if the coaching staff was so bad or if the players are just not good enough.

It would be a catastrophe I am sure but you still don't do it, certainly not for some junior tournament.

 

[Hagged]

You won't change my mind on this so I wouldn't waste too much more of your time.

They picked the coach, the mistake is on them. Trying to take the egg off their face at this point is bush league and downright rotten, plain and simple.

And the players were sub par this year too, it's not all coaching. Maybe they should send them all home now too going by how they treated the coaches with no regard as human beings?

Total classless move, period.

You either make a classless move, or play in Div 1 next year. Other teams would stay classy, Team Finland opted to stay in the tournent for next year.

 

[jj cale]

At least you could educate yourself on the circumstances before commentating.

If the situation was that they simply wanted to get rid of the old coach with not much plan on how to go from there... like, say, just hauling in some random guy from out of the blue, then yeah, it's bush league.

However, in this case, the replacement is someone who already was the incoming U20 head coach, he would have taken the reins of this team after these 3-4 remaining games anyway. And he was also the outgoing U18 coach, meaning he was familiar with pretty much all of the players in this squad. And he was already present in the city, watching the games, they didn't even have to airlift him in at a moment's notice.

When you bother to look those things up, it starts to make a lot more sense.

You've educated me now. You think that is an excuse for this?

It's bush league.

 

[jj cale]

You either make a classless move, or play in Div 1 next year. Other teams would stay classy, Team Finland opted to stay in the tournent for next year.

Confident they would have avoided relegation.

It is still not something you do for a wjc.

 

[ijuka]

Surprised to see so many people say that this was expected with this roster.

The coaching was terrible. This roster likely wouldn't have won gold but should easily have avoided last place.