Return to Winnipeg

Hi again, for a long time.

And belated congratulations: happy Independence Day Finland! 94 years as an independent country, thanks to our veterans. We’re proud and thankful for this all!
Even though lots of time has passed since my last blog, nothing has really changed – except coaches. Evening after evening we keep losing. Unbelievable but true.

We’ve tried every trick. One of the following sucks game after game: power play, penalty killing, goalie, super stars and players. In some games, all of those suck at once.

So, this then means that the coaches were shown the door. This time they paid a really tough price for that things didn’t start to work. At the moment the whole situation irks, and especially for the coaches. They did give their best – but it was for nothing. I mean, this is all on us players, we’ve caused this mess.

The GM tried to be patient but finally something needed to be done, it’s totally understandable. I’m really grateful to Randy Carlyle. The years with him have been the best of my career. And not just because we won the Stanley Cup together, but also because he gave me a new chance as a player after a difficult knee injury.

Randy believed that I could still play at this level and played well at the age of 35 – after major knee surgery. I don’t know how many coaches would’ve done the same. It probably affected that Randy knew me so well after the years. We had been teammates in 90’s Winnipeg.

Speaking of which, the trip to Winnipeg is next week. This I marked to my calendar already in July, even though I didn’t know yet whether I still keep playing or not. I’m not really sure what to expect of this trip. After all, it was 15 years ago when I last played there. I have great memories from there and I’m grateful that I started my NHL-career in Winnipeg.

The people in Winnipeg made us players feel very special. It’s no coincidence that the licence plates in Winnipeg say "friendly Manitoba". The people are genuinely friendly and care about each other. This is often the strength of a small town.

I was really happen when I heard that Winnipeg gets a NHL team again. The city and the people truly deserve it. Think about it, they sold out the season tickets for 4 years in 13 minutes! The only thing about Winnipeg that I don’t miss – and which I never forget – is the coldness. At times the average temperature of the month was -25C, ouch! I remember a time, when in the morning I opened the door for our 2 Rottweiler Teddy and Dom(i)*, they didn’t want to go out. They just looked at me and were probably thinking that I’m crazy. Sometimes the shopping malls and schools were closed for the coldness, but hockey games were never cancelled. After every game and practice, hundreds of fans waited to see even a bit of their heroes, no matter the weather.

I need to tell one funny about the super fans. After a practice we went to have a lunch to a local restaurant. After the lunch the waiter came to tell me that those 2 young girls in the corner asked if they could get the bones from the chicken. I looked at the waiter for a while stunned and said "Okey"" On their way out, the girls came to say thanks for the bones and were very excited. I wonder if the bones are still storaged somewhere, hahahaha.

Luckily there are still 55 games left in the regular season. As catastrophic as our season has been this far, we still have everything in our own hands. New coach, new tricks.

"Believe" is the most important word right now. Talks have been talked, videos have been watched and we a heck lot of work to do. Quoting Nike’s slogan: "just do it!"

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*It says "Domille" in the original Finnish version, which can be a dative form of both Dom and Domi (fucked up language, I know)