An interview in the magazine called Veikkaaja on November 13th, 1995.
In the beginning of the 90's Harri Rindell was one of the few Finnish coachies who thought that the 'democratic' way of playing ice hockey was a better one. The same method came to known to all the world when the Finnish National Team won the World Championship, coached by a Swedish man, Curt Lindström.
In every game Harri Rindell is still forced to prove his methods to be the right ones. Being the head coach of the team Kiekko-Espoo can't be an easy job, specially when playing against the teams with more money to spend on players. It's difficult to be 'the nice guy' among the other coachies who are hard and tough. And in the end, the results are the ones that make the difference.
Have you ever been hypnotized? Those people who hypnotize, they aren't really the kind you may have seen in the horror-movies. In fact, they are very calm people who speak to you so peacefully, that you will soon find yourself very relaxed.
I'm sure Harri Rindell doesn't try to hypnotize anyone. Nevertheless, the atmosphere at his office at the icehockeystadium will soon feel like in a session of hypnotizing when listening to him. The friendly stare of the brown eyes and the bashful smile make you forget where you really are. You even feel courageous enough to ask him how it feels to have the reputation of a really positive man. You must remember that a normal Finnish guy would react to the question like as if it was meant to be an insult. And a conservative coach would think that now people won't believe that he's still that tough guy he used to be. To the head coach of the teams Kiekko-Espoo and Finnish National Junior Team that isn't a difficult question. "Nobody here in Finland is basically a positive person. There's always something wrong. The people don't appreciate saying 'thank you', and being happy. I just like to say compliments on things and other people, and usually people then think that I flatter. Like for example in Sweden if somebody asks you how you are, and you answer 'so and so', you make others terrified of what's the matter. In Finland you're supposed to answer: 'my back hurts and my varicose veins aches'", says Rindell.
It's a bit surprising to hear Rindell telling you how his players were whispering about him behind his back when he was at the beginning of his career of being a coach in the middle of the 80's in Sweden. The rumour had it that he was a tough Finnish coach.
He was a forward in HIFK when he left for Sweden in -78. It was a small recession in Finland at that time, and finding a job was difficult for a graduate of a Commercial College. "As a player I also had a feeling of not getting any further. I got an opportunity to play ice hockey in Sweden, in Karlskrona (in a lower division) and also a job as an unqualified teacher. It felt like a sensible decision."
At first Rindell played in Karlskrona, and after that in HV-71, altogether
for a half a decade. He got accepted to the Stockholm's Institute of Education, and he moved to Stockholm. There he played
for Huddinge for a year and after that he went to Vallentuna. "When I was in Vallentuna
for my second year, and I also was the oldest one in the team, they asked me to coach
alongside playing. Then I just coached there for two years."
After receiving a slight success, he got his second post in Sundsvall. He's proud to tell
that he has won either as a player or as a coach all the four groups in the first division.
"I liked being in Sweden, but our son became old enough to go to school, and I wanted him
to do so in Finland."
Back in Finland he started to coach the team Karhu-Kissat, it was a team he had once played for. Also he got a job as a teacher in a comprehensive school.
Rindell became one of the few Finnish coachies who practiced the method of "democratic coaching and listening to the players". It was due to his own experiences in Sweden. "When I used to play in Finland, the coach was the boss, and that's that. Well, he is, of course, but the discussions have to go to both directions. In Sweden the 'team spirit' worked, we had the meetings among the players and the lines."
Rindell learned that the success in ice hockey is ever more based on intellectual players
and teams. And the task of the coach is to find that intellect. "A player needs to tell to the
coach how he feels and what he wants, those two things don't always go hand in hand with the
reality. A young player may say that he wants to play in the National Team, but he doesn't
realize what kind of a commitment it demands, and how much he needs to practice, in order
to achieve that. The coach needs to clarify all this to the player and create the real commitment."
Nevertheless Rindell doesn't praise the Swedish style up to the skies. "It seems that making progress is at a standstill there. A line must be drawn between the democracy and equality even in ice hockey. In Sweden some new influences are needed."
In the middle of the 90's there are many people in Finland alongside the rinks who think of the coaching the same way as Rindell does. He doesn't bother to explain how much it took from him to launch the new style. He only reminds that the Finnish people are taught 'to live in fear of the God and to bow down to those who command'.
The Manager of Coaching at the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, Erkka Westerlund, believes that Rindell has had some tough times. "I'm sure he had had to break some walls. People talk about the soft leadership, but as a matter of fact it's a hard way. You must stake yourself on a daily exposure also outside the rinks. Rindell was one of the first who adopted this style and that made him soft in some people's mind. But I believe, that in the practices and games he can be tough enough."
The Managing Director of HIFK, Frank Moberg says: "I think that the reason why people think that Rindell is too soft, is because he looks a bit too boyish. You see, he doesn't shout, but he surely knows how to use the tone of authority."
When Harri Rindell left for Sweden he was a player in the team HIFK, and in 1991 he started to coach the team. It was his first post as a coach in the Finnish National Hockey League. The previous coach in the team had been Kari Malinen who was known as a 'huge shouter'.
A forward in the team, Mika Kortelainen says: "Rindell really was a representative of the Swedish style of coaching. He gave us some responsibility and asked how we felt. All the previous coaches I have had, haven't been like that at all. Maybe they have had the desire to rise themselves above the players."
The way Frank Moberg thinks of his old employee seems a bit ambiguous; on the other hand he praises Rindell's "stylish way of handling things" and compares him to "the most successful coach we have had, Jorma Rikala". But on the other hand he starts talking how much he, in general, misses those who really can command, and he also regrets the direction where "everything is unavoidably heading".
Does Frank Moberg mean that maybe Harri Rindell has been a bit too much ahead of his own time? "Yes, perhaps", says Moberg.
When Rindell began his work in HIFK, it provoked some conflicting emotions. At the 'home' of hard hockey some people suspected that this kind man would be in the wrong place and that he should be an assistant coach instead. However, after the first year under Rindell's coaching the team reached its best success ever during this decade, and also they got the bronze medals. Next year the team made it 6th, and the year after that, the position was 8th, which was the worst result of the team in twenty years.
"My years in the team got so nice start, that I would've wished some more success", Rindell says. "When I started, the team was really strong and good. It just may be that all the new players weren't such good reinforces after all in the interest of the whole team."
After the first year of coaching the team Kiekko-Espoo Harri Rindell led the team to its first play-offs. In the semifinals though the team Lukko from Rauma was a stronger one, but nevertheless the experience of playing in the play-offs was an important one in making the public image of Kiekko-Espoo a brighter one.
You could easily imagine how a man like Rindell would perfectly find a room in the management of a team full of intelligent students. "That sounds terrible, actually. What kind of players there are in the other teams, then? Non-intelligent?"
Rindell rather says some compliments on the youth of his team. And the papers write about the size of the players, instead.
"Our players get penalties easily because of their sizes, and that's really something on the negative side. Our big and skillful Prjahin 'gets' his face bloody in every game, yet nothing happens. The aim to build a team with the players who are of this size hasn't been intentional. There have just been some big sized boys ever since the junior teams, and since ice hockey gets more physical day by day, also the average size of a player will get bigger in every team."
Rindell would like to build on skating, reading the game, fast reactions and on whatever happens inside every group of five players.
Up until now that plan hasn't been working well enough to free Rindell from listing the weaknesses of the team Kiekko-Espoo.
"We haven't gained very many points from the games played elsewhere than at home. There's a lot to improve. The levels of the games keep swinging a way too much. I know it sounds banal, but we still have problems in scoring goals, and we practice a lot to eliminate those problems."
Rindell says some compliments on the line of young players led by Arto Kuki. And when asked, he admits that the foreign player of this autumn, Lubomir Kolnik, hasn't yet fulfilled the expectations. "Yes, sure he has the golden helmet, but still.. The way how he has used to play differs a lot from the way we play here in Finland, he hasn't been used to play this much without the puck."
Rindell has his contract valid 'til the end of the season. The team should be led to the play-offs also this year.
"In the world of ice hockey, nothing can be sure for any longer than a year, or two in an ideal situation. And that goes for everyone. The future depends every year on how well you have done what you were set out to do."
And this year..? "Well, we're not there yet. But I have a strong belief that we will be there."
You can only admire the enthusiasm of Rindell's way of working. In addition to coaching the teams Kiekko-Espoo and the Finnish National Junior Team, he also teaches the children at school for two days a week to keep the skill of teaching alive. "I like to work, I enjoy when I have something to do."
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