Hockey Many ask what should be appreciated in life – IIro Pakarinen already learned it

Beijing

Power striker Iiro Pakarinen scored an important goal against Canada in the quarterfinals in Minsk eight years ago and won World Championship silver.

Then Pakarinen disappeared from the European puck map.

Now he is in the spotlight more than ever. Behind is the successful World Championships in Latvia and the first Olympics of his career.

The semi-finals against Switzerland are waiting and he will enjoy those rounds.

“Nothing comes for free. You have to play much better and more disciplined than against Sweden, ”says Pakarinen.

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“Players are just checkers that are moved and not necessarily cared for so much by families.”

The two of you After a good HIFK season, Pakarinen was invited to the Lion in the spring of 2014. The door to the NHL even opened or so Pakarinen thought.

Suonenjoki’s big player left for Edmonton. The first season was an application, but in the second he remained mostly on the Oilers NHL team. Then began the downturn that the NHL knows thousands of times.

There is a lift movement between the league and the farm to travel back and forth and the home is where you happen to stop for a day or two at a time.

Pakarinen traveled up to Oilers and down to the farm. Family of three, wife Ida and the little ones in the family, and now 9 years old, Frans and Frida lived in Finland. It was heavy.

“Yes, he taught me to appreciate things other than hockey, and hockey is not necessarily such a big deal,” Pakarinen says in Beijing.

“That’s where the puck is valued and that’s what business is all about. Players are just checkers that are moved and not necessarily cared for so much by families. ”

In progress is only the third value tournament in Pakarinen, 30. After the World Championships in Minsk, there was a seven-year hiatus until the winger, who moved to the Jokers, was invited to the Latvian Games in Riga last summer.

There was something good about the four North American seasons, though no permanent seats were opened.

“The appreciation for a lifetime came there.”

At first the appreciation changed, but self-confidence in the game and one’s own skills did not return until the Eastern League KHL. Pakarinen moved directly from North America to Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

Metallurg is one of KHL’s big clubs, but the culture shock hit the face in the first few weeks.

Pakarinen traveled to Magnitogorsk in July 2018. The plane landed in the morning and the small airport surprised in the wake of the greatness of North America, but more was coming.

“It was special. When I got to my own cabin, it felt like that apartment building was straight from the turn of the 1970s and 80s. Gas stoves and others. ”

“The first few weeks were a culture shock, but then everyday life started rolling. A special experience, but I had a great time. The family was there too. ”

Pakarinen played well, but a taste of the KHL routine came in the spring at the latest. The team flew out in the first round of the playoffs.

All the foreigners who had a one-year contract got a shoe picture on their pants. Pakarinen also left in the same ventilation.

The new address was found in Kazakhstan, the current Nur-Sultan, but the season was shaken with a shoulder injury. Pakarinen had time to play the regular season and after a successful playoff round, KHL was hit. The coronavirus interrupted all European series.

Pakarinen believes that with that group and disciplined defense, the Kazakh team could have gone a long way in the playoffs. Comfort was facilitated by that Atte Ohtamaa played in the same club. There was even one Finn in the same corner.

“I started to appreciate hockey in a different picture. Once again, I was able to enjoy playing more when I got into a bigger role at KHL. ”

Return He restored Pakarinen’s career to Europe again. If the NHL was too hard a series, his style of play would fit well with the current club Joker and Lions.

Before last year’s World Cup, Pakarinen felt like a big puzzle. After the Games, the second World Cup silver and four important goals of his career hung around his neck.

After traveling around the world, Pakarinen says that he directly enjoys playing in Finland, even though he travels long stretches around Russia.

Pakarinen if anyone knows how to appreciate living at home, when he rotated around North America in troughs all over the world, when at the same time the twins, who were at their best, grew up and played at Espoo’s home.

“I want to play and live at home in Finland. I really like to be, ”says Pakarinen.

Easy to believe.

The Pakarinen appreciates and looks with completely different eyes when he is allowed to play in the Lions at his first Olympics. He got to the opening ceremony, watch the big Air race on the slopes and enjoys every moment in the bubble conditions in Beijing.

The apartment building housed by the team has its own floor for your enjoyment. There are sofas, coffee machines, oatmeal on offer in the mornings and evenings. The web is spinning at home. Can watch series and call home.

Players spend a lot of time in the common lounges.

“It feels really good to be here. Time has passed quickly and well. ”

Pakarinen and his family have settled in Espoo. There is no house waiting in Suonenjoki, but there is a lakeside plot.

Maybe the house will go up there someday.