Finland's Olli Jokinen #12 reaches for the puck while Russia's Nikolai Kulyomin #41 defends during preliminary round action at the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / André Ringuette
Olli Jokinen is a commanding figure regardless of whether he’s on the ice, talking to reporters, or behind the bench.
A one-time wunderkind, Jokinen (drafted third overall by Los Angeles in 1997) morphed into a 1,231-game veteran NHL centre, a four-time Olympian, and a coach with a clear vision. Never one to doubt his own abilities, Jokinen was quick to embark on his coaching journey after his retirement from the NHL in 2015.
At first, he coached U16 players, the last four years in his own hockey academy in Florida. In 2021, Jokinen returned to his native Finland and took over Liiga’s Mikkeli Jukurit. While there were doubters, Jokinen proved them all wrong as Jukurit went from winning 13 games the previous year to 31 wins, finishing second in the regular season.
While Jukurit never advanced past the quarter-finals, Jokinen left his footprint in Liiga, thanks to the active style of play his teams showcased. Having spent most of his adult life in North America, the 45-year-old Kuopio native’s style is an amalgamation of different cultures. Now he’s brought the same attitude to Sweden.
“There haven’t been many surprises, except maybe that the players’ learning curve hasn’t been as steep as it was in Mikkeli three years ago,” he said at a Stockholm hotel ahead of the SHL season kickoff. “I suppose I’ve learned something along the way, but also, if you compare the rosters of the Mikkeli team and ours in Timra, we have several players with experience from different leagues, going all the way to the NHL, and I think that shows.”
“Hockey is an international game these days,” Jokinen added.
Yes, it is. This season, 97 out of the 344 players on SHL rosters are import players. Interestingly enough, Jokinen’s Timra only has four imports – only Skelleftea has fewer with two – and of the four Timra imports, two also hold Swedish citizenship.
A one-time wunderkind, Jokinen (drafted third overall by Los Angeles in 1997) morphed into a 1,231-game veteran NHL centre, a four-time Olympian, and a coach with a clear vision. Never one to doubt his own abilities, Jokinen was quick to embark on his coaching journey after his retirement from the NHL in 2015.
At first, he coached U16 players, the last four years in his own hockey academy in Florida. In 2021, Jokinen returned to his native Finland and took over Liiga’s Mikkeli Jukurit. While there were doubters, Jokinen proved them all wrong as Jukurit went from winning 13 games the previous year to 31 wins, finishing second in the regular season.
While Jukurit never advanced past the quarter-finals, Jokinen left his footprint in Liiga, thanks to the active style of play his teams showcased. Having spent most of his adult life in North America, the 45-year-old Kuopio native’s style is an amalgamation of different cultures. Now he’s brought the same attitude to Sweden.
“There haven’t been many surprises, except maybe that the players’ learning curve hasn’t been as steep as it was in Mikkeli three years ago,” he said at a Stockholm hotel ahead of the SHL season kickoff. “I suppose I’ve learned something along the way, but also, if you compare the rosters of the Mikkeli team and ours in Timra, we have several players with experience from different leagues, going all the way to the NHL, and I think that shows.”
“Hockey is an international game these days,” Jokinen added.
Yes, it is. This season, 97 out of the 344 players on SHL rosters are import players. Interestingly enough, Jokinen’s Timra only has four imports – only Skelleftea has fewer with two – and of the four Timra imports, two also hold Swedish citizenship.
Olli Jokinen on the right with his Assistant Coach Morten Madsen.
photo: © Timrå IK / David Aberg
According to Jokinen, there are still cultural differences between styles of hockey.
“You could still see a Finnish style when I went to Mikkeli and started to do things differently, almost the opposite of what the other teams were doing, and bucked the trend,” he said. “Then last year, Tappara played a similar style of hockey.”
What has he observed in Sweden?
“In Sweden, many teams play in a similar, organized and slightly passive way, but certain basic principles apply everywhere. A player has to be able to skate, give a pass, and receive a pass, and when you add the ability to battle for pucks, you’ve got the building blocks for success. The team that does all those things better than the other team will often be on the right side of the coin. Let’s not forget that hockey belongs to the players. We focus too much on systems.”
With Jokinen, it’s go, go, go.
“As soon as we get the puck, we make a move, whether it's a forward, backward or a lateral pass, so that the other team doesn’t have time to react,” he explained. “And if we lose the puck, we’ll try to get it back right away, and not retreat to the neutral zone.”
Jokinen is a connoisseur of the global game. He owns a World Junior gold medal, an Olympic silver and two bronzes, and three silver medals and as many bronze medals from the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships. Accordingly, Jokinen is pleased to see the NHLers returning to the Winter Games in Milan in 2026.
“First of all, it’ll be great to get the Worlds here [in Stockholm in 2025],” said Jokinen, gesturing around him. “But it’s fantastic to get the best-on-best tournaments again. It’s good for the game. I played in four Olympic tournaments, with NHLers, and to me as a player, playing for your country against the best players in the world was a fantastic experience.”
One of the most unforgettable moments in Jokinen’s career is from the Olympics. Even if it didn’t go his way, he smiles as he talks about his chance to tie the 2006 Olympic final against Sweden, with 25 seconds to go.
“Somehow [Swedish netminder] Henrik Lundqvist managed to make the save. I’ll never forget it. And neither will he,” Jokinen said.
How about 2026?
“It’ll be great to see the [Sebastian] Ahos and [Aleksander] Barkovs play for Finland since they’ve never had the chance to play in a best-on-best tournament. For my generation, that was a dream come true.”
“You could still see a Finnish style when I went to Mikkeli and started to do things differently, almost the opposite of what the other teams were doing, and bucked the trend,” he said. “Then last year, Tappara played a similar style of hockey.”
What has he observed in Sweden?
“In Sweden, many teams play in a similar, organized and slightly passive way, but certain basic principles apply everywhere. A player has to be able to skate, give a pass, and receive a pass, and when you add the ability to battle for pucks, you’ve got the building blocks for success. The team that does all those things better than the other team will often be on the right side of the coin. Let’s not forget that hockey belongs to the players. We focus too much on systems.”
With Jokinen, it’s go, go, go.
“As soon as we get the puck, we make a move, whether it's a forward, backward or a lateral pass, so that the other team doesn’t have time to react,” he explained. “And if we lose the puck, we’ll try to get it back right away, and not retreat to the neutral zone.”
Jokinen is a connoisseur of the global game. He owns a World Junior gold medal, an Olympic silver and two bronzes, and three silver medals and as many bronze medals from the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships. Accordingly, Jokinen is pleased to see the NHLers returning to the Winter Games in Milan in 2026.
“First of all, it’ll be great to get the Worlds here [in Stockholm in 2025],” said Jokinen, gesturing around him. “But it’s fantastic to get the best-on-best tournaments again. It’s good for the game. I played in four Olympic tournaments, with NHLers, and to me as a player, playing for your country against the best players in the world was a fantastic experience.”
One of the most unforgettable moments in Jokinen’s career is from the Olympics. Even if it didn’t go his way, he smiles as he talks about his chance to tie the 2006 Olympic final against Sweden, with 25 seconds to go.
“Somehow [Swedish netminder] Henrik Lundqvist managed to make the save. I’ll never forget it. And neither will he,” Jokinen said.
How about 2026?
“It’ll be great to see the [Sebastian] Ahos and [Aleksander] Barkovs play for Finland since they’ve never had the chance to play in a best-on-best tournament. For my generation, that was a dream come true.”