17 years in the NHL were distributed over 10 clubs, and when his career was over in 2015, the Finn chose to continue his ice hockey life as a junior coach in the USA. Then Olli Jokinen took over Jukurit in Finland – and now he is to create intense and fun play with Timrå.
The SHL start was not fun, however.
Already after 22 seconds, Brian O'Neil set 1–0 for Luleå, and early in the second period, David Granberg increased the lead.
I think we're playing pretty well, but we're not getting our chances, says Timrå's Jonathan Dahlén to TV4 Play.
The attacking game is very good. I like that we're eager to go and if we do it the right way, it'll be good.
Jokinen:
Luleå was better. They did small things a little better than us, and the third period was their best, he says to TV4 Play.
This was the first match. We'll take the good things with us and look at clips to get better.
Star Anton Lander got injured at the end of the match, he was helped by the linesman to get to the bench and was then helped into the locker room.
I have no news about him, says Jokinen.
One of SHL's potential top scorers got a taste of his new club.
Örebro's Patrik Karlkvist, who played for Oskarshamn last year, needed only 3.09 minutes to score the season's first goal. The full hit then showed the team the way to a clear 5–0 home win against Modo.