Interview with Jarmo Tolvanen
This is your 1st year as a head coach in the SM-league. How did the first few months go, in your own honest opinion?
It is my first year in SM-league but it is my 25th year as a coach so I have a lot of experience as a coach. But the difference working as a head coach in
Why did you decided to accept the position at Lukko?
I have been working abroad for ten years and I was talking about this opportunity with my family. I also had two other offers but I wanted to go back to
What kind of playing style do you pursue for Lukko to play?
The idea I have is to try to use the strength of the players. It is stupid to come to a new team and introduce all your own ideas right away in the team. It depends on the players that you have and you always have to find the right way. Than you have your principles in certain situations but in 99% they are the same. Hockey is a simple game. The style that you play depends mostly from the players and not from the coach. Hopefully I can find the right way for this team to use the players during the season. It is a never ending process. Every day you learn new things.
Which criteria do you use to set up the lines in general and for a match?
Basically there are some principles. First of all, you have to find the right balance in the team and right roles for each line and each player. And than there are some choices to make concerning the strengths of your players and put those players together which makes a line successful. You can measure that in different ways, are they able to create scoring changes, and are they able to play well defensively, +/- stats for example. There are a lot of ways to measure these criteria. There are certain factors which are important when you put players together in a unit or a line.
Why did you become a coach?
I started to play at first, I loved and enjoyed the game. I was pretty good too. I played almost all my career for HPK and one year for Timrå in the Swedish Elitserien. But the most important reason was that when I was 26-years-old I got back problems and was forced to quite more or less. I first took a year off and when I tried to come back it was really tough physically. At the same time I got the first offer to become a coach. I was at the same time studying at the Finnish Sports Institute and there I got more and more interested in coaching. Those things came all together so than I decided to become a coach.
What formed you as a coach?
Lots of those things are coming from your personality and your character. That is one thing because that is very hard thing to change. Than when you get a chance to study hockey by working with different kind of people, different kind of players and coaches which is forming you as a coach. I can not say that I have one certain thing that formed me as a coach.
How do you see the potential of this team?
Every year is a process and it is very tough to see sometimes what our chances are. Every day you can find some new things as a coach or a player. You get to know the team better every day. That is why it is better to put your focus on this day and to get out the maximum. If you get the best out of the team, you will always get the right results, which does not mean that you will always win.
The long term plan is to get the team into the right shape so that we are there when the important games are coming, but it is journey to get there, to reach our goals.
What do you consider the best and worst match so far this season and why?
Our worst games so far we have played against Ässät, as well away as at home. For some reason we have not played good against them. The best games so far we have played at TPS away (5-2 win) and Blues at home (4-0).
What was the most difficult team to play against so far and why?
That would be Kärpät but there are a lot of difficult teams in the league. Kärpät has a very strong defence and great goaltending. They also play a defensive game despite the fact they have big names.
Pasi Saarela has not been performing at his best this season so far and his performance has been a big issue in the media and amongst the fans. What is going on with Saarela?
You have to remember that this is sport. The expectations after last season were very high, also for him. Than you also have up and downs in your career and a player like Saarela is known for his scoring. Now that he does not score points people start to ask what is wrong with him. But we have to be patient and I can guarantee that Saarela is trying to chance it because it is also a tough situation for him.
Can we expect some new signings in the near future?
The player market is very limited at the moment. We are processing almost every day players who might be interesting. But if there is a potential player there are at least 30 or 40 teams who want him so it is quite difficult to sign a new player.
Questions of visitors
Why did you put that centre (Steiner) who was on try-out on the first line for five games and screwed up all the other lines just to look at him? (At that time the team and the existing lines were playing pretty well. He could have left the first two lines alone and looked at him on the 3rd or 4th line. If he is any good he should not need the help of the first line wingers. I think they lost 4 out of 5 during that try-out and he still did not make the team.)
The reason was that we were looking for a first line centre. So if I have to put someone in the first line, it means that I have to make some chances in the other lines too. Someone from the first line had to go to the second line and so one. When somebody is coming into the team it means that another player is going to another position.
Three biggest reasons why Lukko is able to be year after year very competitive team even though Rauma is smallest city of SM-league teams?
First thing is that in our management are people who are good at their work. Second thing and that is part of the first one, financially Lukko is doing well and that is thanks to the management. And third, Rauma is a hockey minded city so that is why Lukko is able to get players who are good enough for this level. It is all based on hard work and good people.
Why Lukko is playing so uneven performing level? One day they can be top class team and another day in level of Mestis?
There are lots of reasons for that. What is the difference between a good and not so good player(s)? Can they keep up their level night after night? Why can we not do that yet? Only twice we have loosing with more than two goals. We have been in the games until the end and we could have had more points. Game wise we are not an exception in the league. Only the best team perform on a constant level. But there are many influences which affects the game. We also won a few games with a poor performance.
You worked as a coach in different countries. What were your experiences there? Are the leagues very different?
As I said in the beginning of the interview, the biggest differences are the people and their mentalility. But the hockey is the same. The way to manage people is different because of the culture but that is the challenge.
Lukko has a lot of young players. Is it good to have a young team or would it be better to have more experienced players?
The good teams always have a good mix. You need the young guys for the energy and enthusiasm and you need the older guys for the experience. Personally I have the best experiences with the teams which had a good mix of younger and older players.
Does it make the job of a coach more difficult to have so many young players who need some more guidance than the older guys?
It is different. The young guys might need more time to work individually. But if you are a young and good player you might not need that so much. But in general, the younger guys need more guidance and individual attention. The older guys, mostly, are more mature and they already more or less reached their level, although they also can still learn.
What is the role of V-V Vainiola in the team? (As Lukko is having the lack of centres and at the same time Vainiola is playing only a few minutes per game as a winger)
He is a young guy. He is in the middle of a learning process. It is his first year in the team. In the beginning he got some ice time as a winger. In the pre-season he played as a centre and he got also a lot of ice time in that position. He is a young guy who needs time and more experience. Right now he is 13th forward, but I am sure that if he works hard and he does his job he will get more ice time. He needs patience and work hard. Vainiola has the potential to play in this league but he needs to be patience and work hard.
Would it be worth trying to give him a bigger role in the team?
I hope that he is able to take the chance but he needs to take them first. I know he is a local guy and last season he was a star in the junior. He has his future but he has to work hard.