Who would believe that Jarkko Immonen, one of the brightest stars of the Finnish gold-winning team, was already in his early teens when he first played hockey in an indoor rink?

Since then, this passionate and hard working professional has played in NHL, KHL and of course in the Finnish SM-league.

When asked to play for his country, Jarkko Immonen has never declined. Quite the opposite, even after the long hockey season Immonen has always been motivated to wear the national jersey. And the motivation is still there.

“It’s an honor to play for the national team. Last spring we hit the jackpot. This was an absolutely fantastic experience, which hopefully will happen again.”

Although succeeding in home tournaments has proved to be difficult, Immonen knows that the Finns will expect their team to do well.

“We know the home crowd will want to see the winning team again and that of course is the only goal the team will have as well.”

Finland, together with Canada, USA, Switzerland, Slovakia, Belarus, France and Kazakhstan, will play the preliminary round in Helsinki.

“This means there will be tough games from the very beginning. Any team that aims for the final will have to win in the preliminary round as well,” Immonen predicts. 

Immonen is also excited about the event itself. 

“Hockey is number one sport in Finland and the home tournament will be a huge thrill for all hockey fans.”