“My goal is to win gold at this year’s World Cup. We have to have dreams, and my goal is to get to the playoffs at the championship in Finland, then to the finals and win the title. I can’t promise it, but anything is possible, “Jalonen said.
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Although ten years have passed since the last Czech medal at the World Championships this year, Jalonen does not think that everything would work badly in domestic hockey. “I see a lot of positives, but also some things that we will have to change. I already have some thoughts about the changes, but I won’t tell you now. I don’t want to make any revolutionary changes, but rather minor adjustments, because there are really a number of positive things we can stick to, “said the coach, who led the Finnish national team in 2014-2016, with whom he won silver at the World Championships in Moscow six years ago.
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New hockey coach Kari Jalonen from Finland.Photo: Vlastimil Vacek, Right
“Hockey is changing, it’s different than it used to be. No doubt about it. And we have to change a little too. At the same time, I want to preserve the identity of Czech hockey. I want to stick to what is unique to Czech hockey. The Czechs are fast skaters, skilled players, but I would also like to bring something extra from my side. There are things that need to be changed and corrected, but that identity will definitely stick to Czech hockey, “said Jalonen.
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“I want to change so that we in the Czech Republic are also positive, it is necessary. Let us realize that there is a very thin line between success and failure at the World Cup and the Olympic Games. I recently spoke with Jukka Jalonen (Finnish national coach) and reminded me that all major tournaments in the recent past have mostly won by a goal. That’s just the way it is, “says the coach, who won three club-level titles with Kärpät Oulu, one with IFK Helsinki and two with Bern, Switzerland.
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Jalonen did not hesitate when General Manager Petr Nedvěd approached him a few weeks ago with an offer to take over the Czech national team from Filip Pešán. “I knew immediately that I would accept it. Leading the national team is an honor for me. And I have the same for the Czech one, “says Jalonen, who was arranged for the next season with the Finnish Hockey Association to work as a head coach at the local twenty.
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Coach Pešán finished on the hockey team’s substitute. The executive committee of the union removed him from office after the Olympic Games with assistants.Photo: Roman Vondrouš, CTK
“But when the Czechs called, they had no problem at home. All; including the president of the hockey association; they told me I definitely had to take it. That such a chance will come once in a lifetime. I want to thank them very much, “he says to his homeland.
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He has not seen himself personally with his assistants Libor Zábranský and Martin Erat, but in the coming days they will meet and Jalonen will present his thoughts in which direction the local hockey should go. He had already seen four extra-league duels in the basic part, which impressed him. Already on Friday, he will start touring the extra-league stadiums during the playoffs, and at the end of March he should start the national team’s preparatory camp for the World Cup.
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Jukka Jalonen with the World Cup, which he won in 2019 with the Finnish national team.
“We have a plan to try to start Czech hockey a bit. For this reason, I would like to meet with the coaches of the clubs of the Czech extra league when the season ends. I don’t want to disturb them during the playoffs now. I also want to go to the World Championships in my twenties, see young boys in action and help the union in this regard as well, “Jalonen plans.
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The Czech environment is not new to Jalonen. In the 2013/14 season, the Prague Lion led the KHL, with whom he reached the finals of the Gagarin Cup, where he lost to Magnitogorsk in the decisive seventh duel. “Now that I landed in the Czech Republic two weeks ago, I had the feeling that I was returning home. I have beautiful memories of Prague and hopefully they will be even nicer after this year’s championship in Finland, “wishes the former center, which played 55 matches for the Finnish national team.
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He still lives in a hotel in Prague, the federal management is already looking for an apartment for him. His wife will visit him. “I love Prague, it is a historic city with lots of beautiful places. And you also have good beer and food, “Jalonen smiled, saying that he would speak English to the players in the cabin.” I know a few Czech words, but I don’t want to say them to the camera, because they are not nice words, “Fin chuckles.
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