Raimo Helminen, 43, retires from international ice hockey after 331 appearances in a Finnish jersey

Player made his Finnish début 24 years ago

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The sentiment and nostalgia factors were out in force in Tampere yesterday when one of the city's favourite sons, ice hockey player Raimo Helminen, 43, finished his farewell international game as a celebrated hero.
      To honour their centre’s retirement, the Finnish Lions humiliated their opponents, the Czech Republic, thrashing them 6-1. After the game Helminen deservedly took a seat in his farewell present, a rocking chair that was brought out on the ice for him.
      Helminen crowned his evening by assisting in Finland’s final goal. From Helminen’s pass, Tuomas Pihlman guided the puck for the sixth time into the Czech Republic net just four seconds before the buzzer. Helminen’s preliminary work sent the 7,800-strong audience in the Hakametsä arena wild with delight.
     
After the game, Helminen was showered with gifts. His former Tampere Ilves teammates Timo Peltomaa, Risto Jalo, and Jyrki Lumme presented their friend with a rocking chair and a snow pusher.
      The Czechs, in turn, gave Helminen the Czech national team jersey with Helminen’s number 14 and his name printed on the back. The Finnish Ice Hockey Association, on the other hand, presented the man of the hour with tickets to this spring’s Ice Hockey World Championships in Canada.
      “I’ll go there as a cheerleader”, Helminen laughed.
     
Helminen was nervous before his farewell game. “In the hotel I tried to take a nap in the afternoon, but I was too excited.”
      Now that Helminen has retired from international ice hockey, his attention will turn to the rest of the season’s games at club level with Ilves.
      As Ilves means lynx, and the national team is nicknamed the Finnish Lions, Helminen was matter-of-factly asked if he had a lynx’s or a lion’s heart.
      “I have a predator’s heart”, the hero responded diplomatically.
      And what will Helminen chiefly remember from this evening? “Everything.”
     
With the Finnish Lions Helminen has experienced both the highs and the lows in a career that dates back quite astonishingly to 1984, when some of his colleagues against the Czech Republic last night were not even born.
      "What I fret about most is the 1994 World Championships final in Italy. We lost to Canada after a penalty shootout. It was our game."
      In the bitter loss, though, the seeds of victory may have been sown, for a year later Finland celebrated its first and so far only Ice Hockey World Championships gold in Stockholm.
      "For ten years, our national team played continuously at the absolute top. That was an amazing time."
     
When Helminen played his first men’s international in 1984, the then Czechoslovakia butchered Finland 7-1. In 24 years the tables have turned.
      Yesterday the Czech Republic was reduced to playing second fiddle as the Finns skated away to a 5-0 lead.
     
During his career Helminen (born 11.3.1964) appeared in 331 internationals (52 goals +155 assists) for the Finnish Lions. He took three Olympic medals - a silver medal in 1988, and a bronze in 1994 and 1998.
      From the World Championships tournaments Helminen has brought home gold in 1995, silver in 1994, 1998, 1999, and 2001, and bronze in 2000.
      As the only Finn, Helminen has played ice hockey in six consecutive Olympic Games between 1984 and 2002.


Links:
  Raimo Helminen (Wikipedia)

Helsingin Sanomat