Going underground in Finland by Steve Serdachny 12/18/2004 - I would honestly have to say Finland is a great hockey country! I am extremely fortunate to travel the world and see places and aspects of the game that many others never see. Here’s a glimpse of what our national sport looks like half way around the world. About Finland Finland is a beautiful country that is crazy about hockey! Its population is approximately five million with a climate and living environment similar to Canada’s. It has two national languages, Finnish and, Swedish, which is spoken by approximately five per cent of the population. The capital,Helsinki, is a beautiful waterfront city that has close sister cities of Espoo and Vantaa. Technology is King in Finland. Companies such as Nokia make up a large part of the Finnish economy. Finland is also very famous for quality shipbuilding. Chances are if you have ever been on a cruise ship that it was built here. Karjala Cup As I write this column, there is a break in the professional SM elite series games and the Finnish national team is host of the Karjala Cup, which is the biggest tournament in Eastern Europe for November. National teams from Sweden, Russia and the Czech Republic are entered and all the games are at the Hartwell arena, a great facility in Helsinki and the home of the Finnish Elite team, Jokerit. I was lucky enough to catch a game between Finland and Russia. The atmosphere was electric with the fans going crazy for the home team Suomi! Finland won the game and went on to capture the tournament. An interesting fact about Hartwell arena is it has an underground ice rink that was carved out of stone after the main facility was built. It is quite an architectural accomplishment and a great use of space. Players from the professional team can use the main dressing rooms when other events are on and take an elevator down to practice! I was fortunate to skate there several times and can say it is a great facility. The entrance is at the bottom of a steep, 150-metre slope. Needless to say, after a hard skate it’s a great workout on the way back. Finnish Hockey Hockey in Finland is quite different from the Canadian system. First of all, players have complete freedom. If you want to play for a certain team, you can if they are willing to take you. Freedom of choice is something that is freely exercised. There is also different age categories and tiering of players. Where we typically have Novice, Atom, Peewee and Bantam, they divide players by their birth year -Team 92, 93, 94, 95, etc. Players play against their specific ages until Junior. Teams practise much more than they play. Teams will quite often have up to 30 players on their rosters. Some clubs will form a B team that will play in less competitive league while others will just carry a larger team with more players. Finland is about encouraging fair play and equal ice time for players, but just as in Canada, reality differs from the theory. Length of Season The hockey season is definitely longer in Finland. Play goes significantly longer and starts earlier than Canadian players. I am of a strong opinion that players need some time to grow, recover and enjoy other sports in the off-season. They definitely embrace the concept pf dryland training both in season and off-season. We have run a school in Finland for the past six summers and it has been an incredible hockey experience, both culturally and personally. Hockey in Finland is about as close as you are going to get to Canada. I would highly recommend a visit to Finland if you get the chance. Here is a drill that will help you develop quickness, agilty and foot-speed. Finnish Stick Jumps I have affectionately named one of my drills after Finland. Players place their stick on the ice. They will step over their stick with a crossover motion, landing in a basic stance. They will then continue the pattern continuously over their stick. Ensure players stay low and bend their knees and stay on the balls of their skates. Players should start slow and work through six 10-second sets. (Steve Serdachny conducts Power Skating and Hockey Schools worldwide. His power skating and skill systems are highly effective in developing maximum performance on ice. You can catch Steve on the national television show” Hockey Academy” on the NHL Network. For more information on camps, schools and driills, visit www.elitepowerskating.com or call 1-877-30-SKATE)