Janne Laukkanen tells in December when HIFK will win the SM gold

Ice hockey player Janne Laukkanen in 1991 was close to joining IFK Helsinki. The defender, who played in Kiekkoreippaa and Hockey-Reippaa in Lahti, negotiated with several clubs about continuing.

Among them were HIFK, Jokerit, TPS and HPK. Laukkanen ended up in Hämeenlinna.

”To Harri Lintumäki [HPK:n puheenjohtaja] thanks. I got to play a lot. That was important,” says Laukkanen.

In the same summer, he also met HIFK’s then CEO, the legendary by Frank Moberg, who was also a talent scout for the NHL club Quebec Nordiques and wanted to interview the promising defenseman.

“It was very exciting. There were all kinds of questions, even strange ones,” Laukkanen recalls.

The interview obviously went well because the Nordiques booked Laukkanen. The reservation led to a career during which Laukkanen played 407 NHL regular season games and won three World Cup and two Olympic medals.

Now 35 years after meeting Moberg, Laukkanen was appointed as HIFK’s new sports director. HIFK announced the appointment on Tuesday. Laukkanen takes over the position from the position of Pelicans’ sports director.

His predecessor Janne Pesonen was allowed to leave HIFK last fall. Since then, HIFK has not had a sports director. The club bosses promised a thorough recruitment process after Pesonen’s departure.

One was obtained, because it took almost half a year to find a successor.

“HIFK contacted me towards the end of last year. I immediately said to contact me Pasi Nurminen [Pelicansin omistaja] and ask him for permission to negotiate. I wanted everything to go according to the rules. “

“The process took a long time, but it was also clear that I wanted to finish the season with the Pelicans. When the season was over, things were settled once and for all.”

Laukkanen has already left his position at Pelicans, but will not start on HIFK’s payroll until the beginning of August.

That’s why he doesn’t want to comment on the state of the club until he has started.

“First you have to meet people and get to know the organization. Only then can I form my opinion,” says Laukkanen.

of HIFK the season ended in the first round of the playoffs with a loss against KalPa.

The 12th place in the regular season was the worst in the league history of the Helsinki team.

The season was chaos partly because of the previous season. Last season’s team was built around the previous head coach From Ville Pelto for.

When he got fired, a replacement was hired Olli Jokinen views and wishes were different.

Due to Jokinen’s claims and HIFK’s huge number of injuries, the Helsinki ice rink was sometimes played by an actual ice hockey reserve service.

After Pesonen’s departure, Jokinen and the club legend have been jointly responsible for player acquisitions and assembling the team for next season Mika Kortelainenwho has worked at HIFK on the commercial side.

Some of the contracts for next season have been announced, but not all.

“I only know about next season’s team what I’ve read in the news. I didn’t want to know, and I won’t get involved,” Laukkanen assures.

Laukkanen played with Jokinen in the national team several times at the same time. They have talked about HIFK once.

“We mostly talked about how he’s been doing and what he expects from the sports director. Of course, you have to ask Olli about this, but I got the feeling that he’s been looking for a sports director as a work partner.”

HIFK is one of the major clubs in the SM league. It has great resources, a long history and a large and passionate fan base.

Laukkanen worked at Pelicans for ten years and had time to experience a lot from the finals to the qualifiers.

Lahti is a big sports city by domestic standards, but Helsinki and HIFK are in a completely different class.

“The pressures are extremely high. And they have to be,” states Laukkanen.

For HIFK’s supporters, the most important thing, along with success, is that HIFK plays “brand-like” hockey, i.e. physical and aggressive hockey.

“The purpose is to play according to our strategy. Of course, the organization defines it, but preparing the strategy is one of my tasks. The game must take into account the requirements of today’s game.”

HIFK’s greater resources and reputation were also the reason why Laukkanen left Pelicans and accepted a new challenge at the age of 56.

“Success doesn’t always depend on resources, we’ve seen that. But this is a big club and a big brand. This is a big place and a big challenge. I wanted to give myself one more shot at something new.”

Laukkanen wants to remind you that it is a long process. Changes don’t happen instantly.

“Everything must be built so that HIFK’s success does not depend on Olli Jokis or Janne Laukkasen.”

Now Laukkanen’s calendar is empty. He admits that he thought about whether it is ideal to start at the beginning of August or whether it should have been done differently.

However, the decision has been made and now he plans to make the most of it.

The intention is to have a proper summer vacation after ten years, with my wife and four adult children.

“First, I put the machines down and relax properly. Then we start tuning HIFK’s machines. The purpose is to put myself in such physical condition that I can handle this work.”

One essential question. When will HIFK win the Finnish championship next time?

“Ask in December. I’ll know better then,” says Laukkanen.

“After all, the purpose is to build everything on such a model that you can be successful every year. However, that success depends on so little. One bad exchange can ruin everything. It’s been seen so many times.”

Read more: HIFK’s season was disappointing, the CEO promises additional investments

Read more: Olli Jokinen’s debut season at HIFK was instructive: “It’s often worth keeping your mouth shut”