photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / JANA PIPAR
By having a superficial knowledge of sports and looking at the map, it would be easy to think that Estonia is one of those strong hockey nations. Just 82 kilometers north of Tallinn, the nation’s capital, there’s Helsinki, the capital of Finland, a hockey superpower, if you will. To the east, there's Russia, and in the south, Estonia shares a border with Latvia, also a nation with long hockey tradition.
However, in Estonia – with a population of only 1.4 million – hockey is behind both soccer and basketball. The Estonian federation that recently celebrated their 90th anniversary is making something of a push to increase the sport’s popularity in the country. In January, Estonia hosted the U20 Div 1B tournament at the Tondiraba arena in Tallinn, and today, the same arena is the venue for the men’s Div1B tournament.
“This is an important tournament for us,” says GM Jüri Rooba, who can be called Mr. Hockey of Estonia. After all, he’s been the GM of all Estonian teams for the last ten years, having coached the U18 and U20 national teams before that, after a solid playing career. Also, his son Robert is the team captain in the Tallinn tournament.
“Should we get a podium finish here, that’d be good. So that we can show that we belong at least at this level,” Rooba added.
There’s no reason for concern after two games. Estonia beat both Spain and Croatia handily, and even though both are ranked below Estonia in the IIHF rankings, the way the team played gave reason for optimism. Maybe they could even battle for a promotion to Div1A?
“We can say that we’re close to getting to that level, but it wouldn’t be easy to play in that division. Our best players are good, but we still need to add more depth. We now have players that have won the Polish championship, and players from the Finnish Liiga and the Finnish third-tier league who, I should say, have played well here, but we need more players in better leagues in the long run,” Rooba says.
Coach Petri Skriko, a former NHLer and a Team Finland star, has built his first line around Robert Rooba, who’s got two 18-year-olds as his wingers. Maksim Burkov plays in the Czech U20 league, and David Timofejev in the Finnish U20 league. (Timofejev plays for KalPa Kuopio whose Liiga team is in the middle of the Finnish league final which means that Skriko is missing 25-year-old Kristjan Kombe from his top line).
“Those kids are the exception, they’re very talented players and we saw how well they played din the U20 tournament here,” Rooba says. “We weren’t sure how they’d fare against men, but the first two games have proved that they belong here.”
Estonia’s games have attracted around 2000 enthusiastic fans to their games, and both Rooba and Skriko hope the team’s success will make the Tondiraba arena a destination for even more supporters later this week.
In the long run, though, one tournament won’t build a nation’s program, and Rooba is well aware of it. What Estonia, and Estonian players need, is more ice time. More rinks, and better leagues.
All in all, there are ten indoor rinks in the country, five of them in Tallinn, and three of them inside the Tondiraba complex.
“We need more rinks, and that would require assistance from the state,” Rooba says. “I’m from Tartu, and the rink there was made inside an old warehouse of a shopping mall. The rink is so small that there’s hardly space for the player’s benches.”
Estonian hockey has two hot spots: Tallinn and Narva. Only one player, Erik Nevolainen, has his birthplace listed as something else besides Tallinn or Narva. He was born in Kotka, Finland.
The Finnish connection is strong. Besides Skriko, one of the assistant coaches is also Finnish, Mikko Maenpaa, who also coaches the HC Panter, an Estonian team playing in the Latvian league.
“I wanted to have a good Finnish coach because I also wanted the national team head coach to come from the outside and not have any connections to Tallinn or Narva or any teams,” Rooba says.
“We wanted to give Estonian players a place where they can play in a big role in a good league. The Latvian league may not be as fast paced as, for example, the Finnish second-tier league because the average age is a little higher, but it’s a good league for our players. The Estonian league is simply not strong enough,” he adds.
Skriko has now been in Estonia for a year and a half, and he’s enjoyed it.
“When I came here, I told the federation that I don’t want us to simply participate. I want us to do our best to win,” he says.
And so does Rooba.
“We want our players to come to the national team locker room and feel that they can be pro players,” he says and proudly shows the dressing room which looks like a pro team’s room with ice baths and massage rooms.
“Our camp started on April 7, and some of the players use their vacation days for this,” Rooba says. “We do our best so that they can focus on hockey when they’re here.”
However, in Estonia – with a population of only 1.4 million – hockey is behind both soccer and basketball. The Estonian federation that recently celebrated their 90th anniversary is making something of a push to increase the sport’s popularity in the country. In January, Estonia hosted the U20 Div 1B tournament at the Tondiraba arena in Tallinn, and today, the same arena is the venue for the men’s Div1B tournament.
“This is an important tournament for us,” says GM Jüri Rooba, who can be called Mr. Hockey of Estonia. After all, he’s been the GM of all Estonian teams for the last ten years, having coached the U18 and U20 national teams before that, after a solid playing career. Also, his son Robert is the team captain in the Tallinn tournament.
“Should we get a podium finish here, that’d be good. So that we can show that we belong at least at this level,” Rooba added.
There’s no reason for concern after two games. Estonia beat both Spain and Croatia handily, and even though both are ranked below Estonia in the IIHF rankings, the way the team played gave reason for optimism. Maybe they could even battle for a promotion to Div1A?
“We can say that we’re close to getting to that level, but it wouldn’t be easy to play in that division. Our best players are good, but we still need to add more depth. We now have players that have won the Polish championship, and players from the Finnish Liiga and the Finnish third-tier league who, I should say, have played well here, but we need more players in better leagues in the long run,” Rooba says.
Coach Petri Skriko, a former NHLer and a Team Finland star, has built his first line around Robert Rooba, who’s got two 18-year-olds as his wingers. Maksim Burkov plays in the Czech U20 league, and David Timofejev in the Finnish U20 league. (Timofejev plays for KalPa Kuopio whose Liiga team is in the middle of the Finnish league final which means that Skriko is missing 25-year-old Kristjan Kombe from his top line).
“Those kids are the exception, they’re very talented players and we saw how well they played din the U20 tournament here,” Rooba says. “We weren’t sure how they’d fare against men, but the first two games have proved that they belong here.”
Estonia’s games have attracted around 2000 enthusiastic fans to their games, and both Rooba and Skriko hope the team’s success will make the Tondiraba arena a destination for even more supporters later this week.
In the long run, though, one tournament won’t build a nation’s program, and Rooba is well aware of it. What Estonia, and Estonian players need, is more ice time. More rinks, and better leagues.
All in all, there are ten indoor rinks in the country, five of them in Tallinn, and three of them inside the Tondiraba complex.
“We need more rinks, and that would require assistance from the state,” Rooba says. “I’m from Tartu, and the rink there was made inside an old warehouse of a shopping mall. The rink is so small that there’s hardly space for the player’s benches.”
Estonian hockey has two hot spots: Tallinn and Narva. Only one player, Erik Nevolainen, has his birthplace listed as something else besides Tallinn or Narva. He was born in Kotka, Finland.
The Finnish connection is strong. Besides Skriko, one of the assistant coaches is also Finnish, Mikko Maenpaa, who also coaches the HC Panter, an Estonian team playing in the Latvian league.
“I wanted to have a good Finnish coach because I also wanted the national team head coach to come from the outside and not have any connections to Tallinn or Narva or any teams,” Rooba says.
“We wanted to give Estonian players a place where they can play in a big role in a good league. The Latvian league may not be as fast paced as, for example, the Finnish second-tier league because the average age is a little higher, but it’s a good league for our players. The Estonian league is simply not strong enough,” he adds.
Skriko has now been in Estonia for a year and a half, and he’s enjoyed it.
“When I came here, I told the federation that I don’t want us to simply participate. I want us to do our best to win,” he says.
And so does Rooba.
“We want our players to come to the national team locker room and feel that they can be pro players,” he says and proudly shows the dressing room which looks like a pro team’s room with ice baths and massage rooms.
“Our camp started on April 7, and some of the players use their vacation days for this,” Rooba says. “We do our best so that they can focus on hockey when they’re here.”