Q&A with Bristol Pitbulls’ Janne Virtanen
Janne Virtanen is a Finnish forward currently playing for the Bristol Pitbulls in the English National League Division South 2 (ENL2). Throughout his career, Virtanen has played in his native Finland and Netherlands before settling in England where he has donned the colours of the Southampton Spitfires, Farnborough Arrows and Bristol Pitbulls. Janne kindly took some time away from the rink to sit-down with me and answer a few questions about life growing up in Espoo, Finland, hockey in Holland and the future with the Pitbulls.
David Lidbury: Hi Janne, thank you for taking time out to speak to me. First things first, how was your off-season? What do you normally do?
Janne Virtanen: This off-season was a bit different for me for many reasons. I had so many injuries I needed to rehab, so I took a bit of time out from training and away from the game itself to charge my batteries and recover.
I started working out in early April and kept at it till the start of our on-ice training. I focussed mainly on strength and flexibility during the summer by doing a lot of stretching in-line with my physio treatments and was carrying out a hockey specific strength plan. Once the season got closer I started doing more in terms of quickness and I guess in a way I’m still working on that. The only real problem I noticed when I got on the ice was that I got a bit too big on my legs and it felt heavy to move out there, but as we’ve been skating and I’ve done more foot quickness work, it’s gotten better than what it was.
I also did a lot of running during the off-season, which was good for fitness and mental preparation. Running isn’t really something I enjoy so it was a good way to challenge myself and get mentally stronger and push myself more. Though having said that, I did twist my ankle in rather glorious fashion on one run so I’ve not been doing it as frequently as I want.
Obviously I had a bit of holiday time in between, so I went back home to Finland to see the family and spend some quality time at my grandparents’ summer house in the middle of nowhere just chilling out.
DL: As a Finnish player playing in England, how does the standard of hockey compare to that in Finland?
JV: The standard in the UK is lower than in Finland, but then again, hockey is a minority sport here, which is a real shame. There are some great players here, but a lot of people don’t get exposure to the sport because of the lack of rinks and because the sport isn’t featured on terrestrial TV here.
Playing wise, the game here is more physical for sure and depending on the rink you’re playing in, you really don’t have that much time or space to do things so you need to really work on your quickness and reads.
I think the sport here needs major backing from business and government alike to ensure that the sport grows. One thing the UK is miles ahead of some Finnish teams is the rink atmosphere. I think a lot of the people here have transferred the rugby and football fan culture to hockey and it creates a good and loud environment to play in.
DL: When did you start skating and what are your earliest memories of hockey in Finland?
JV: My earliest memory of being on the ice is when I was about 3 years old. We lived in a town called Espoo in south of Finland and during the winters the football pitch at the back of the apartments we lived at was turned into an ice rink. So I had about a 2 minutes walk to the ice pad. When my brother was born, my mom would normally take me to the ice to skate around on these skates that had four small blades on them.
It was where my dad taught me to skate and taught me the basics of hockey. It was great. I remember we would usually play hockey in the entrance hall of our apartment with my dad in goal and me and my brother being Jari Kurri and Esa Tikkanen just shooting this hollow rubber puck at the old man while he was a goalie. Those were great times.
In school our winter PE lessons were usually hockey oriented so we got a lot of exposure, specially in middle school as our PE teacher was the assistant coach for HPK at the time. My first organised hockey league was an out-door league so I guess I share an affinity with the outdoor game and playing outside.
DL: Many great Finnish players have graced the NHL over the years, who were your heroes growing up and why?
JV: Jari Kurri and Esa Tikkanen were my boyhood idols, because they were the big stars of the game in Finland growing up. I looked up to Kurri when I was growing up and dreamt that one day I’d be as great as he was. He opened a lot of doors for European born players and he was an idol to some of the other players I look up to today, like Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu.
I liked Esa Tikkanen as a kid because to me he was the complete player. He could agitate an opponent with his Tiki-talk and he was also able to put up some decent numbers.
DL: Another exciting season is finally here in Bristol, how do you see your role with the Bristol Pitbulls this year?
JV: Last season I had to do a lot of adjusting, because I had been away from proper league hockey for quite long time and playing with a new bunch of guys presented its challenges. However, this year I’m hoping that I’ll be able to help the team in any way I can. My game has always been about team first and I want the team to win and if it takes me being in front of the net screening or doing some blue collar stuff, I don’t mind as long as the team benefits from it.
Don’t get me wrong I love to score goals and set them up, but at the end of the day, it’s the teams’ success that I’m more interested in than individual accolades, so as long as goals or assists I score help the team, I can’t ask for more than that. We’ve got some young guys on the team this year so hopefully I can lend my experience to them as well and guide them in terms of off-ice training so that they’ll develop quicker and become better hockey players.
DL: Currently three games in and a 100% record so far in 2011/12, quite a remarkable contrast from last seasons outcome already, where in 2010/11 the Bristol Pitbulls B only won 3 games. What do you feel has contributed/changed to the fantastic start compared to last year and what is needed to maintain the excellent run?
JV: A lot of it is down to the work we did last year. Obviously last year was far from ideal in the results point of view, but we learnt a lot as a team and it’s paying off now. I think overall we’re more relaxed and not turning our sticks into toothpicks going into games.
The other thing I think has helped as well is the fact that our roster is deeper than it was last year. We’ve got four lines that can contribute and a good goaltending trio that provides us with a lot of chances. I think we’re stronger defensively as well this year. I guess in short, we are all a year older and wiser, which helps us going into games.
As for maintaining the good form; we’ve simply just got to work hard every training session and game and not get too comfortable or cocky about the games. The last two games we’ve come out a bit flat and made them more difficult for ourselves than they needed to be. We’ve got to be ready to go 100% every shift and just play to our strengths and good things will happen. Most of all, I think we gelled quicker than last year and the atmosphere in the room hasn’t changed.
DL: Before moving to England, you once had a stint of playing hockey in Holland for IJCU Utrecht, how was your experience playing in the Netherlands? Was the language barrier difficult to overcome?
JV: The language barrier was un-real to begin with. Sometimes I was just coasting around trying to see what the guys were doing. It was OK in trainings as we had a Canadian trainer, but our bench coach was Dutch so first year I didn’t understand a word that was being said and tried to play to best of my abilities. The good thing about the Dutch is that they all speak immaculate English so that helped quite a bit.
But from my second year there, I was trying to use only Dutch in trainings and changing room so I could be more involved. Our goalie Paul Rijsdam has to get a bit of credit as he was always patient with my broken Dutch and helped me with the language.
Otherwise, I really enjoyed playing for Utrecht and I have a lot of good memories from my time there. Utrecht had a good organisation behind it and developed some great players. We won the Hans Bruck Bokaal which is my standout highlight from my time there, especially as I had a Chemistry exam two days after the final. Thanks to social media, I’ve been able to re-connect with a lot of my old team mates from the my time there.
Playing wise, I think the standard is pretty equal and I think having something like a premier team go against the Ere divisie team could be an interesting match. Similarly an ENL team could give any Eerste Divisie team a good run for their money. Hockey in the Netherlands is in the same boat as the UK. A lot of enthusiasm, but it’s still quite unknown.
DL: The coach, Richie Hargreaves, who also plays for the first team in Bristol has a wealth of experience playing at this level. How important is it having someone with his knowledge at the helm?
JV: It is so important to have that kind of experience at the team. Last year we had Ian Clark as our coach who had similar player resume as Richie, so he transferred a lot of his knowledge to us and now Richie is carrying on. Richie still maintains the same work ethic we had last year, but he is constantly challenging us skills wise and keeps doing more and more game play drills which I think will help us in the long run.
We’re lucky to have guys in the team that can offer experience from a variety of levels. For example Adi Smith used to play in the EPL (second tier in UK) and guys like Matt Thornhill, Phil Dibble, Shannon Long and Dan Mann provide some ENL1 experience. Then there’s Al Bernard, who is new to the team but has been around the game forever, so his experience is invaluable. The mix of guys in the roster and at the coaching helm will surely help us.
DL: Aside from playing in the B team, what do you think you have to do to take it to the next level and crack the first team?
JV: I just have to work hard. I know that being an import player there are certain expectations from teams, but I think that if I keep working at it and play well, I might have a shot. It’s going to take a lot of hard work. This years’ team is really strong so I’m expecting good things out of them.
I think if I work hard and keep at it, the opportunity will present itself. I’ll always look to push my game and challenge myself so we’ll see what happens.
DL: It’s no secret that in your blog you’ve experienced concussion problems. Is everything cleared up 100% now and how do you feel about the state of rising concussions, notably in the NHL?
JV: I actually got a letter from the doctors just before the season started to say that everything is fine. Though my wife uses the letter as a proof point, so whenever I do anything dumb at home she’ll pull out the letter and say “You’ve got a brain, use it!”
Concussions are a real concern and I had serious doubts if it would be safe for me to play again. If the doctors would’ve turned around and said I was putting myself at risk by playing I would’ve hung up the skates, but I’m lucky to be able to keep at it. In the NHL it is a worrying trend, but hockey is a contact game and they do happen from clean hits as well. It’s the dirty hits to the head that we’ve seen that get my blood boiling and some of the stuff we’ve seen has been just really reckless and we might’ve seen one bright career in Marc Savard cut short by a concussion.
I think the league definitely reacted too late and were too lenient and can’t help but wonder if it only became a ‘real’ concern to them when Crosby got hurt. I would like to see what type of Shanahan Matt Cooke would’ve gotten from his hit on Savard.
DL: As a die-hard Montreal Canadiens fans, how do you feel the Habs will do in 2011/12?
JV: Ah the Habs. As a fan I’m always waiting for another 1993. The team didn’t change too much in the off-season so it will be interesting to see how they fare. I think they’ll make the play-offs and maybe push as far as the conference finals at max, but I can’t see them winning the cup this year sadly.
I also wonder whether Scott Gomez will turn up to play this year. He’s a great player, don’t get me wrong, but as a fan of the team he really frustrates me.
DL: A lot of hockey players have certain pre-game and post-game rituals, are you any different? Do you have any superstitions?
JV: I don’t have any real set rituals. I try to keep my mind off the game as much as possible and only start focusing when I’m driving up. I make sure my sticks are taped and that I do my pre-activation routine before I get on the ice and make sure I’m ready to go. During warm-up I make sure that I get rid of my car legs and that I’m ready to go.
DL: For an equipment geek like myself who loves researching what different players have, what stick(s) and skates do you currently and previously use?
JV: I’m a total equipment geek. I’m always looking what the manufacturers bring out and easily spend hours in hockey stores back home trying out sticks and stuff. With skates I’m set on CCM and that will not change. I’ve had one set of Bauers and they were just really uncomfortable on my feet.
In fact most my gear seems to be CCM, but it has nothing to do with the old Ovechkin promo deal. I was wearing CCM before he made it cool. To me CCM always feels like the most comfortable make out there. I know it’s a personal thing to a lot of guys, but I’m always looking for what’s comfortable. I’m constantly looking for new things and have started to look into some of the ‘lesser’ known brands like Beaster Hockey and like the look of what they’ve got to offer.
The one piece of gear that I really miss is the old Jofa stuff. I’ve got a pair of Jofa elbow pads that came out just before RBK took them over and I love them. On the RBK note, I have had a few Reebok sticks and I hated them. They just didn’t feel right to my hand, so I guess they had their ‘first impressions’ moment with me and they didn’t impress.
DL: Thank you for your time, Janne. I wish you, and the Pitbulls all the best for the rest of the season!
Virtanen can be found playing for the Bristol Pitbulls B at the John Nike Leisure Centre on Frogmore Street, Bristol.
Follow his blog: http://pushforpros.wordpress.com/
Follow Janne on Twitter: @amateur_hockey
Follow me on Twitter: @GagneDouze
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