A little insight
As of today, 47 Finns have made NHL rosters this season. Quite impressive considering it’s a country of only 5.5 million. In fact, last season marked the first time there were more Finns in the league than Russians (a country of 144.5 million).
Finland is currently third in the IIHF World Rankings for both the men’s and women’s national team programs. Finland men’s national ice hockey team is one of the major powers in world hockey; they won their third World Championship in 2019. And from 2010 to 2020, the number of registered ice hockey players in Finland increased overall up to nearly 72 thousand. Based on ticket sales I doubt it could be anything but ice hockey from far that is the most-watched. You can see hockey players in advertisements, on the front pages of tabloids, and so on, nothing comes close.
Finland’s eyes on the NFL
As success in the international tournaments was increasing, at the same time the Finns were drawn into what was happening across the pond in North America. There two Finnish hockey legends were on the same line as the greatest player of all time, Wayne Gretzky. There had been Finns in the NHL before, but with Jari Kurri and Esa Tikkanen playing for the best hockey team on the face of the earth, it could be said that the Finns were paying closer attention to the NHL than they ever had. Some years later, as Kurri and Tikkanen were in the latter half of their careers, the Finns would get a new face to fall in love with. Teemu Selänne, and his 76 goals as a rookie, brought along a new generation of hockey fans.
The success of the national team and the breakthrough of Finns in the NHL had made hockey one of the most popular games in the country.
The importance of the World championship
It’s a place where, every year, fans of different teams can set aside their differences and cheer for the same team, Finland. When the tournament rolls, it is where fans can share a couch and watch the game from the same point of view. Enjoy a couple of beers or Vodka and place bets in between themselves or online. As Finns love to gamble, a little “Kasino ilman rekisteröitymistä” as they say is always on the table of discussion.
At least for those few weeks, everyone can do the same. Fans from across the Land under the Northern star become one, and cheer on the national team, emotionally.
Emotionally, that’s the keyword. What is perhaps hockey’s greatest hallmark is that it serves as a valve through which Finns allow their emotions to pass on. It’s the place where the nation of the quiet and the reserved puts its feelings, the feelings of joy; the feelings of frustration; the feelings of triumph; the feelings of sadness. When Teppo Numminen was famously crying in his TV-interview after the lost Olympic final in Turin, I’m sure, at that point, we were all crying. When Finland was celebrating its World championship victory in 1995, we were all celebrating.
This is regardless of age. It’s not just the old generation, that is enamored with hockey. The World championship victory of 2011 and the U-20 victories that followed in the later years, will serve as the victories for the new generation. New young stars like Mikael Granlund and Patrik Laine, will make the younger generation tune in. Regardless of age, everyone is watching hockey in Finland.