Aran kommentit artikkelista. Mikä v---u sillä Rantasella oikein on? Jatkuvasti Aran kimpussa. Nyt tosin Veikkaaja on ehkä lyönyt suitsia suihin, kun jo kolme vuotta on jauhanut Araa vastaan ja väitänyt tulevien kisojen taas menevän pieleen. Nytpä sitten sinnikkäänä ihmisenä Rantanen kääntyy toisten medioiden puoleen ja jatkaa samaa rataa.
No laughing matter
Finnish coach irked at article questioning his competence
By PETRI HEIKKINEN
Faceoff.com correspondent
Team Finland head coach Hannu Aravirta was not at all surprised when he read an unflattering Tony Gallagher column published by the Vancouver Province. The story also drew plenty of feedback on Faceoff.com.
"(Gallagher's column) was only repeating articles published by (Finnish sports magazine) Veikkaaja over the years. The exactly same words were used as have been used in Veikkaaja, so this was nothing new to me. There seems to be only one source of information behind all these writings," Aravirta told Faceoff.com on Friday.
Indeed, most of the stories -- which Gallagher claimed to have heard from Finnish players who had requested to remain anonymous -- have already been printed in Finland on the pages of Veikkaaja. Coincidence or not, Veikkaaja's NHL correspondent Vesa Rantanen lives in Vancouver.
"I know Vesa and I've received information from him, too," Gallagher was reported to have said in Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat on Thursday, but insisted that he had also spoken to several Finnish players before writing his story.
Gallagher also considered his column as "more funny than serious."
Gallagher's stories described coach Aravirta as an incompetent who is out of his league when in comes to coaching his country's NHL stars against other countries' NHL stars.
"People should know that all kinds of things are going on in the hockey world outside United States and Canada, too," Gallagher told Ilta-Sanomat.
However, Aravirta is not laughing.
"In that case, we've got a very different sense of humour. This is about my profession," Aravirta said, adding he wouldn't rule out legal action.
"Even though these stories have been printed before, they're strongly exaggerated and some of them are outright lies. A libel charge is a noteworthy option which has to be considered. A couple of lawyers have phoned me and told me that that is a possibility due to this kind of writing.
"Let's see what happens and what are the conclusions, but law experts have contacted me. The quality of this article is so low it affects my profession," Aravirta states.
"This is completely purposeful. A Vancouver newspaper does not coincidentally print slanders already published in Veikkaaja during the last five years. Also, they don't come to Finland by accident."
Aravirta, who has an Olympic bronze medal and four medals in World Championships as head coach of the Finnish national team, also sees some pre-Olympic mind games involved.
"I don't know how much Canadian psychology is involved, since during my time as head coach, Canada has never beaten us in big tournaments,"
Aravirta states and has nothing negative to report from inside Team Finland.
"The team has been selected and at the moment there's no injuries. We're optimistic. It's clear that we're underdogs, but that suits us well. After five medals, the players believe strongly in our capabilities and the players are the most important part. They realize we're able to do well in the Olympics."
Even if there was some truth in the reports claiming that players have been at times dissatisfied with Aravirta, is it really a wonder? Aravirta has been with Team Finland as an assistant coach or head coach for a decade.
"I've been doing this for 10 years and there's been dozens of teams in different tournaments. In every team, there is an unhappy player. That's just the way it is," Aravirta says.
Petri Heikkinen is a sportswriter for the newspaper Pohjalainen in Vaasa.