Project Estonia

Let's focus on the tasks ahead

2010-10-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

I have been getting calls from Estonian media and also from some players lately asking what is going on with Estonian hockey? This does not feel like it is helping the game of hockey at the country. So instead of getting into any of these discussions of who has done what and who should have done what let me just say this:

* Please, think what is best for the game of hockey at Estonia and the players & act accordingly

* Put the game first always and the game will be good for you (like it has been for me)

* Estonian National Team has talented players and with proper preparations the team can hold on to their Div-1 spot at World Championships. Players did prove that at Narva last spring!

So I just want to wish all Estonian hockey people the best possible success. I am glad that I had the opportunity to help the national team last season to achieve it's goal and I am looking forward to see them doing well this season under new coaching staff, give them all your support.

Jukka Ropponen

Time for new coaches

2010-07-23T00:18:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note from us coaches that it seems to us that things with Eesti Jäähoki Liit are on hold, at least when looking from our perspective. What I mean by this is that in May we did ask Liit to provide us the plan how to run National team program for this coming season and how to take care of the players and guarantee them the needed resources to prepare properly for the upcoming D-1 World Championships. We have not heard anything on this from Jäähoki Liit officials.

Last year this time we had all plans in place and agreement to coach the national team. This year we have not even started the discussions. In all honesty, it is not realistic to think any more that Ismo and I would have time to take over another national team project / season. Last year Ismo was not coaching pro hockey by the time we agreed on Estonian project and I had only contract with ZSC Lions. Now Ismo is working full time with KooKoo at Finnish mestis while I am continuing with ZSC Lions and on top of that also consulting KooKoo goalies & doing more deep coaching/consulting with Nikke Bäckström at Minnesota. This really does not leave either one of us a lot of free time and Estonian national team needs / deserves coaches that can focus a lot of their time for the players.

Next season will not be an easy task, but team Estonia has what it takes to play succesfull at D-1 level. In order to do that the program needs to get started ASAP. Players need a lot of coaching, personal training programs etc...

I am really glad on the players behalf that they will get the opportunity to showcase their skills at D-1 level next spring and wish them all best of luck. Enjoy your upcoming season and World championships as you really earned the spot with your great perfomance at Narva games.

Jukka Ropponen

Ps. I have told Eesti Jäähoki Liit that even if I am not coaching your national team any more I will maintain as a friend of Estonian hockey and my time allowing I can be available to run some practices and/or coaching clinics.

Players first...

2010-05-08T04:52:00.000-07:00

Last week Eesti Jäähoki Liit contacted us again and asked about possibility to continue to coach Team Estonia and prepare the team for the upcoming Div-I World Championships. We did quickly meet at Tallinn and here’s what us coaches did give for the Jäähoki Liit as answer:

1) Players first!!!

We asked jäähoki liit to put together a written plan describing how they are planning to manage the team, conditions, support etc for next season. From our perspective we need 100% guarantees that players are taken care of like they should as hard working professional athletes. This means everything from training conditions to meals and equipment etc. For us it does not make sense to negotiate about coaching before we know that players have been taken care of first and they have conditions & environment which will support hard work and winning culture. If we see a plan and guarantees that are satisfactory, we are ready to negotiate as we really appreciated the attitude, hard work and professionalism that Team Estonia players demonstrated at D-II Narva tournament.

2) Different situation

Us coaches are at a different situation than last season. Ismo was not under contract with any professional team at the time he agreed to coach Team Estonia and Jukka was only coaching Zurich Lions goalies. Now Ismo is coaching KooKoo at Finland and Jukka has signed for another year with Zurich and is also consulting KooKoo. This means that our time is limited and we would have to take time for this project away from our regular work, scarce vacation days with families etc. Anyhow, we are willing to negotiate as long as jäähoki liit shows us that players are taken care first. Naturally the project needs much more work that last season at D-II level so our time needs to be compensated as well. Good news is also that other people involved like Pekka Ajanto and Mika Harlo are also available under same conditions as us coaches.

Having said that we sincerely hope that Estonian hockey has turned a new page and the great game of hockey will start prospering at Estonia.

Jukka & Ismo

Mission accomplished

2010-04-19T00:19:00.000-07:00

August 31 last year we wrote to our blog with headline ”There is talent”. Now when our mission is over and Estonia has earned spot at next season Div-I level it is easy to say that we were correct – There is talent. Our players really deserved to win the tournament last week. These Estonian hockey players were dedicated, skilled and worked hard. It was a privilege for us to coach this team.

Now that players have earned the spot on Div-I for Estonia it is time that management starts respecting players and treating them right. It is amazing that these players have been able to play at high level when their management has not done their job. Things are not working from very simple things like having transportation on time or water at the bench to much bigger issues like getting them proper training conditions.

We sincerely hope that Estonian hockey will have management in the future that can raise funds and take care of their players, the most important people in Estonian hockey.

Once again our sincere thanks to all players and people who helped Team Estonia to reach its goal and best of luck in the future.

Ismo & Jukka

Grande finale

2010-04-14T22:17:00.000-07:00

Team Estonia and its members have 3 periods of hockey left this season and what can be better than playing for the championship at home tournament in front of the home crowd on a TV-game! If this does not fire up us as a team, then nothing does. It is not often that this kind of opportunity represents itself, so we will enjoy this as a team.

Before we face Romania tomorrow we have to “kill” the 2nd off day of the tournament. We have decided not to go on the ice as team has already played 4 games this week and practiced on the ice daily. Now it is time to recharge our batteries and start concentrating on the game.

Bottom line is that Romania is a good opponent, but team Estonia has the skills and players needed to win them as long as we play as a team and stick to our game plan. It will not be easy, but we can do it. Come support us here at Narva or cheer behind your TV at home while we do everything possible to give Estonian people a good hockey show to finish the season!

Ismo & Jukka

Becoming a team...

2010-04-14T00:02:00.000-07:00

Team Estonia has 2 games left and we are at the last stages on the process on becoming a team. We all feel that we have a very good chance to win this tournament, but it does require that we take the last steps and start to play as one unit where every player is helping his fellow teammate to play better and better.

For most part we have improved on this and like last night against New Zealand (17-0 win) we had several players who did take great strides forwards, while a few players “enjoyed” more bench time than usual. Tonight we have to take those final steps on becoming a team so that we are 100% ready to play against the good Romanian team on Friday.

Ismo & Jukka

For the crest in front…

2010-04-11T05:55:00.000-07:00

…not the name in back

This is our mission, to play as a team for Estonia and win the tournament. Team Estonia has the skills and players to do this as long as all players play for the team. Last night’s game against Israel (17-3 win) was a good demonstration what happens when we play as a team, although that was just the opening game and we still have a lot to improve.

Tonight’s game against China is going to be a lot tougher game as Chinese team is several notches better than our first opponent and they actually gave Romania a run for their money on the opening game.

One of the ways for us to show our commitment for the teamwork is award our game best player based on the individuals effort for the team, no matter what role they are playing. So we will not make the highest scoring player automatically our best player of the game like things have usually been done.

Thanks for everyone’s support for Team Estonia

Ismo & Jukka

Let the games begin...

2010-04-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

Moving from Tallinn to Narva and first day here at the tournament venue is now behind us. Team did good on the workout today while we did a few adjustments to our lines and special teams with Andrei Makrov who joined our squad early Friday morning.

Now it is time to get pumped up for the opening game tomorrow against Israel. As coaches we believe on our team and know that boys will make Estonian hockey fans proud. Come and support our team here at Narva during the next week if you have a chance, boys will appreciate it.

Ismo & Jukka

Rising like a missile...!

2010-04-07T05:52:00.000-07:00

Not quite like that, but Team Estonia is getting closer for being ready for the upcoming D-II World Championships. Although the headline is accurate as we have been skating in a rink that has been built into on old Soviet missile factory where it can actually rain indoors during the practices. Players have worked hard and despite the conditions, sore throats, flooding locker rooms etc they are all in good spirits & enthusiastic. This is why we are here, to help these guys that have passion and desire to play for this team.

It’s great to work with people that have passion for the game and don’t need to be pampered. Although the team is working well and getting better it is also evident that management and leadership for Estonian hockey has to also raise the bar for their own work. If everyone can improve on their own job and work with the best interest of the sport in their mind, the great game of hockey will grow at Estonia too.

Tonight we will face Finland that is a tough opponent for us. This game will be a good experience for our players and an honor for all of us to be part of this historical event. No matter what the score will be after the game we are sure that our team will go to the tournament at Narva with humble attitude and ready to play for the crest in front of our jerseys, not the names on the back!

Ismo & Jukka

Next opponent Team Finland...

2010-04-01T02:21:00.001-07:00

Only a few days left before Team Estonia will start it’s training. The highlight of the camp will be the game against team Finland at Tallinn / Premia next Wednesday. It is a tough opponent for us, but we will really see then who can skate at the high level and is ready for the tournament.

Us coaches are working on finetuning camp plans, playbook etc while equipment managers and other staff members are also busy with preparations trying to ensure that our players can focus on their job of putting the best possible performance on the ice for the team.

We are really eager to get started on Monday.

Ismo & Jukka

New additions to camp roster

2010-03-30T04:25:00.000-07:00

Due to the fact that some players are still tied with their club teams and we also have 1 injured player, coaches have decided to add following players to the training camp roster:

Kirill Kolpakov - D

Anton Jasterbov - F
Sergei Novikov - F

These players as all the other ones invited to the training camp will be fighting for their spots at the final roster for the tournament.

Ismo & Jukka

Training camp program

2010-03-30T02:30:00.000-07:00

Team Estonia will use next week to get ready for the games. Here's the program.

Monday 05.04.2010

12:00 -14:00 Gathering in hotel (Go Scnhelli).
14:00 Lunch
18:30 Ice practice @ Jeti (100 minutes)
22:00 Dinner

Tuesday 06.04.2010

08:00 Breakfast
10:00 Morning ice @ Jeti (60 minutes)
14:00 Lunch
19:00 Ice practice @ Jeti (120 minutes)
22:00 Dinner

Wednesday 07.04.2010

08:00 Breakfast
10:00 Morning ice @ Jeti (60 minutes)
14:00 Lunch
19:00 Pregame @ Premia
20:00 Team Finland vs. Team Estonia @ Premia
23:30 Dinner

Thursday 08.04.2010

08:00 Breakfast
10:00 Morning ice @ jeti (60 minutes)
14:00 Lunch
16:30 Ice practice @ Jeti (100 minutes)
21:00 Dinner

Friday 09.04.2010

08:00 Breakfast
09:30 Bus to Narva

NOTE! All players must bring their passports for IIHF control meeting.

More info here in the blog as it becomes available

Team Estonia roster

2010-03-27T01:55:00.000-07:00

Coaching staff has selected following players

Goalies

1. Mark Rajevski
2. Villem-Henrik Koitmaa
3. Kristjan Eerme

Defence

1. Dmitri Suur
2. Lauri Lahesalu
3. Kaupo Kaljuste
4. Pelle Sildre
5. Stanislav Pankov
6. Aleksandr Ossipov
7. Pavel Narvet

Forwards

1. Toivo Suursoo
2. Andrei Makrov
3. Aleksandr Petrov
4. Vassili Titarenko
5. Anton Nekrassov
6. Maksim Semjonov
7. Olle Sildre
8. Veikko Suvaoja
9. Jaanus Sorokin
10. Mihkel Vorang
11. Kaspar Karik
12. Aleksei Sibirtsev
13. Maksim Ivanov

Coaches will make final roster / playing line-up during the training camp.

The following players have also been listed as eligible to play in IIHF roster and can be called up as replacements in case of injuries etc

Kirill Kolpakov
Anton Jastrebov
Robert Rooba
Sergei Novikov (Assuming that he has Estonian passport by the time)
Igor Savvov
Denis Konõshev
Jan Rajevski

Right now we are doing final checkings on everyones availability and health status while making rapid changes based on the fact that games are now at Narva.

While we feel bad for Estonian hockey and Tallinn about this move we have to say that we are thankful for the city of Narva to support the games in such a short notice.

Ismo & Jukka

Huge disappointment

2010-03-26T05:50:00.000-07:00

We were informed today that games will be moved to Narva instead of Tallinn. This is huge disappointment to us coaches as we had agreed to donate our time to help Estonian hockey with goal of having great training camp (including game against Finland) at Tallinn and then play tournament in front of home crowd at Saku Suurhall.

Right now we have no information what will this mean, how things will be arranged and what will happen. We feel very sorry for the Estonian hockey and especially our players. Hopefully things will be resolved at least some way during the next couple of days. Once we have all the information we have to see what will be done next.

In any case, this is not good for the great game of hockey and for Estonian hockey people.

Ismo & jukka

26 Days left...

2010-03-15T04:22:00.000-07:00

Only 26 days left before the puck will drop at the Div-II World Championships at Tallinn. Team Estonia will be ready and we should have the best possible team if a few players will be able to recover from their injuries in time and a couple of other ones can make it back to Estonia in time after their own seasons have ended at the foreign countries where they play.

The result of the games will depend on the whole TEAM Estonia. How well can WE play as a team and how well can WE execute the playbook, i.e. follow the system designed by us coaches for OUR team. Naturally that will also require that OUR players are in better shape than before, which WE believe is the case as WE have seen good dedication and work ethics demonstrated by OUR national team candidates.

WE are looking forward for an exciting tournament and great training camp before the games.

Ismo & Jukka

It’s up to our players now…

2010-01-20T09:40:00.001-08:00

Estonian National Hockey team candidates have all received personal training programs a few months ago to follow on top of their own club practices. Last month head coach Ismo Lehkonen also demonstrated the moves to players in a dryland training session at Savonlinnna, Finland during our weekend game and practice trip to Finland.

For us coaches it is clear that if our players take care of their training, nutrition and rest like professional athletes do and like they have been instructed, we can expect good results from the upcoming Div-II World Championships in April at Tallinn.

This additional and personal training is a must for team Estonia members in order to have the needed stamina and skating power we need to follow the game plans/system that has been designed for the team.

We have also made a decision to focus on quality on everything we do and therefore we decided not to participate at the February tournament in Lithuania as we would have not been able to get all the best Estonian players from foreign leagues to join the team for that tournament. Savonlinna already did teach us a lesson in December and we know now that we need those players from overseas in order to have a good and competitive Team Estonia!

Before we start our training camp at Tallinn in April to get ready for the games we will organize 1-2 events for the players from Estonian league, but it is really up to our players now to work hard on their own and get them ready for the upcoming World Championships so that we can have a team and results we can all be proud of!

Transferring knowledge

2009-11-29T03:13:00.000-08:00

For the last 10 days one of our key players and leaders of Estonian national team, Olle Sildre, has been spending his time at Kouvola Finland. Coach Lehkonen invited Sildre to Kouvola to practice with his team KooKoo at Finnish Mestis pro league with main goal to teach Olle the methods that Ika is using with his team both on and off the ice. With this knowledge Sildre can now go back to Estonia and pass the info to his teammates and use the drills and techniques himself as the national team players work out together with Sildre on their own between the national team gathering / events.

Sildre will also translate the dryland programs used by Ika for his Estonian team mates to follow.

Due to injuries and bad flu wave at KooKoo Sildre also got an opportunity to sign a 3 game contract. Ika knew what to expect, but a lot of other people were skeptic about 36-year olds capability to still play at this level. In 3 games against to top teams of the league Sildre proved that he can still play at very high level and be a leader at the locker room. In the 2 games against D-team and 1 game against Vantaa Sildre did keep up with the pace of the game and also collected 2 assist and served 1 minor penalty. According to Lehkonen it is very much a possibility that Sildre could still don KooKoo’s jersey this season if team phases another injury wave.

Overall this was a very good experience and encouragement for the Estonian national team program and all Estonian players. It shows that with hard work talented Estonian players can take the next step and elevate their game. Key is how ever to become a serious professional athlete and live & workout as that status requires. Sildre has always stayed in good shape, but this season his training has been raised to a different level in intensity since late August when Estonian national team new coaches started the project and showed the players what it means to be serious and professional athlete. During those 3 games at KooKoo Sildre demonstrated what 3 months of serious work can do to elevate the game. If all Estonian players keep on working like Sildre and follow coaches instructions they can expect very good results at the end of their project in April when Div-II world championships are being played at Tallinn, Estonia.

Small steps…good progress

2009-11-02T04:49:00.000-08:00

It was great for us coaches to be able to participate at the Continental Cup at Poland with ”re-enforced” Tartu Kalev-Välk team. Those 3 games gave us a lot of good knowledge about our players from Estonian league (yes, our team had most of the top players from 3 Estonian league teams). Some players made a good impression on us and will be part of the final Team Estonia at the World Championships in Tallinn next spring. These key players showed great efforts when we did come back from 2-0 deficit during the last 2 minutes of the game against Lithuanian Energija and ended up winning them 2-3 in overtime. This result shows that Estonian league players can play this game.

On the other hand some players showed to us that they were not 100% committed to the team and therefore they will not be invited back to any national team events this season. This was also good information for us and will enable us to focus our efforts on those players that really want to play for Team Estonia.

Naturally majority of the key players for the national team will be coming from various foreign leagues, but local league players do compliment them well and together we will make this a successful team.

We have a lot of work ahead of us and that requires also extra efforts from all candidates. We are confident that our players will be putting those extra efforts in with programs we are providing for them and extra workouts we are arranging at Estonia as often as either one of us coaches can be present. Our goal is to be the best and hardest skating team at our World Championships.

We are also looking forward to our upcoming game at Finland against SaPKo on 19.12.2009. This will be special event that will end SaPKo’s anniversary year, so we expect to be playing in front of sell out audience.

Sisu on kõik!

Jukka & Ismo

Hockey is hockey...

2009-10-12T03:22:00.000-07:00

..and we love the game. That’s why we are involved in it. Of course I enjoyed the big win my team ZSC Lions got at Victoria Cup over Chicago Blackhawks, but I have to say that I also enjoyed watching local Estonian league game last Saturday 10.10 when I saw Viru Sputnik taking nice 4-3 win over visiting Kalev-Välk team in the game that was played at Kohtla-Järve.

National team candidates showed some good moves in that game and what I liked most was the effort en enthusiasm how the players approached the game. Our national team players have the needed passion for the game and it is our job with Ismo to help these players to perform the best they can to quality for Div-I level at World championships!

Yesterday we did have our first real hard dryland workouts together with National team candidates. I am sure some things may have been a bit surprising for the players who are now discovering the intensity of the pro level workouts needed to improve their game and become real athletes.

Couple of hours break was all we gave to players before then hitting the ice at Jeti Jäähall for another high tempo workout. Those players that made it to our ice practice did show us good effort. After the workout they must have a had a quite good idea on what kind of a shape they are at and what do they need to do to be part of the best and hardest skating team in the upcoming Div-II World championships.

For next weekend we are trying to arrange extra “captain’s practices” and then in 2 weeks Ismo and I have great opportunity to coach Kalev-Välk team at Continental cup @ Poland. We will have a large number of the national team candidates in that team and therefore we are taking this opportunity to coach the team for that tournament.

Activities are starting

2009-09-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

After the succesful National team kickoff at Tallinn on 29.8 we have been planning for new activities for the National team candidates. While we are still looking for possible dates for head coach Ismo Lehkonen to run workout's at Estonia in September we have already set dates for Jukka Ropponen to run practices at Tallinn on 11.10. Before that Jukka will also be observing games on previous day.

Then 23-25.10 will be an important weekend for candidates that play at Estonian league. We will travel to Krakow, Poland to play at Continetal Cup. This will be an excelelnt opportunity to really see who can play at International level and who is in shape and who's not.

We are also almost ready announce an event in Finland for December. At this event we will be playing against one of the Finnish pro teams.

These events will help a lot on our way towards the home tournament at April 2010, but still the most important thing is how well the candidates follow their personal programs and instructions they have all received and how well they work with their teams during the season.

There is talent

2009-08-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

Best part of the kickoff event last Saturday at Tallinn was that Ismo Lehkonen and I both came to same conclusion: Team Estonia has some good hockey talent.

So it seems that if we get all players committed to the program and get them to top shape we should have a good team. As we agreed with the team this will take a lot of work from everyone and players have to change their behaviour, training regime, lifestyle etc to be part of this team and reach the goals we have together.

So the first event was very positive and now we have to follow up with programs, additional national team training sessions, trip to Poland for continental cup etc... Lot's of work ahead and that's not only for players, but coaches and management alike.

We are looking forward to this season and a proud team Estonia.

Jukka & Ismo

And it’s time to begin the journey

2009-08-13T04:51:00.000-07:00

With Journey I mean our new assignment with Ismo "Ika" Lehkonen to guide Estonian national hockey team during this upcoming season. We are both looking very much forward to help our neighbors and be part of making hockey more popular sport in the country. We do also realize that it is an honor whenever one has been offered a chance to represent a country in an official capacity. With this in our minds we will do the best we can and our goal is to bring Estonia back to Div-1 level at World Championships.

Right now we are collecting all possible information and Ahtikullervo Jögi from Jäähoki Liit is helping us in this task. As the information, game videos of team Estonia and opponents etc becomes available Ika and I will be able to build our plans, playbooks etc.

Right now Jäähoki Liit is working to arrange a minicamp to Tallinn at 29.8. This will be great as it will provide as a chance to get to know a lot of the potential national team players and also run them through some of the systems we are looking to use with the team. Since the team is scattered around hockey playing Europe during the season we also have to make sure we give players the needed training programs and provide them help as needed when they are with their teams. We really need to have players at top shape before the World Championships begin at Tallinn and when players will report to the training camp. Hopefully before that we can have another camp during one of the breaks in the leagues or during the Christmas holidays.

Anyway, we are really looking forward to work with team Estonia and it’s players. Ika and I will be updating this blog every now and then and tell you about the progress with the team and how things are going.

Jukka Ropponen

Getting close finally (I hope)...

2009-08-04T04:45:00.000-07:00

One way or the other Goaliepro and myself will be involved in helping Estonian hockey and especially focus on the area of raising the level of goalie coaching at the country. This week I will meet with Riho Soonik of Eesti Jäähoki Liit to go through possible arrangements and try to agree how we can get started.

It's too bad that we could not meet the original deadline of August 2, but unfortunately some issues that were not in our control (Goaliepro's & Jäähoki Liit's)did hold up the process.

As a hockey and goaltending enthusiast this will be a pleasure for me to help Estonians, especially since I do visit the country often in business and it is really fast and easy to get there from Finland.

Hopefully we will have some details for you soon. Anyway, I am sure this will be fun and beneficial for goalies and Estonian hockey overall.

Jukka

Ps. Check out the interview of Estonian goalie coach Christian Adami at Goaliepro's annual summer camp (in Finnish).

Getting there...

2009-07-18T00:29:00.001-07:00

Plans are starting to come together and soon we will have something to announce officially as we are working on agreement with Estonian ice hockey federation (Eesti Jäähoki Liit). What we are working on is an arrangement where Goaliepro can help Estonian hockey and Estonian goalie development programs.

Stay tuned, we are targeting August 2 as the date to reveal our plans.

Jukka Ropponen

Project Estonia

2009-07-01T02:18:00.000-07:00

This is the blog for the upcoming hockey related project