Meet Antti Pennanen, the under-the-radar coach pulling all the right strings for Finland
Well, actually, it was only half the team.
Finland coach Antti Pennanen decided to make it an optional skate, and then took the option himself, not jumping on the ice with the 11 skaters and two goalies who decided to get their legs going. The optional skate was light, less than 30 minutes, and Pennanen calmly explained Monday was a recovery day.
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'We wanted to save energy for the games,' he said.
After Finland's morning skate on Thursday, which Pennanen also skipped, he decided not to come to his post-practice news conference, choosing instead to address the media at 5 p.m., and then showing up to do so at 5:30.
We should have known this guy would not be intimidated by this stage, despite the fact he has spent his entire career coaching in Finland, he played only five games in Finland's top professional league. He arrived at this tournament in Montreal coming off a humiliating playoff defeat in the first round of the Liiga playoffs last season as head coach of league power Ilves, one where he took heavy criticism for skipping the handshake line after the clinching Game 5 loss.
Then he coached Finland to a 6-1 loss in their opening game of the tournament.
To say the pressure on Pennanen entering Saturday's must-win game against arch-rival Sweden was enormous would be an understatement.
For a man who has never coached NHL players, Pennanen did not back down, did not wilt under that pressure, and stuck to his coaching convictions. He didn't panic over the 6-1 loss, he knew Finland did a lot of good things over the first 40 minutes against the USA, but he put his fingerprints all over this game against Sweden.
He scratched Joel Armia, who has always shined for Finland in nearly 100 national team games, and replaced him with Kaapo Kakko. When he saw Kakko get off to a good start, Pennanen moved him onto the top line with Aleksander Barkov and Mikko Rantanen and benched NHL veterans, and Stanley Cup champions, Artturi Lehkonen and Teuvo Teräväinen in the third period and overtime. He stuck with Finland's unheralded defense, scratching Juuso Välimäki for a second straight game while keeping last-minute injury replacement Nikolas Matinpalo — who is not even a full-time NHLer with the Ottawa Senators and wondered whether he would be sent down to the AHL to get some games in during the tournament. He sat Juuse Saros and started Kevin Lankinen in goal. He moved Patrik Laine onto a line with Eetu Luostarinen and Anton Lundell. He moved Roope Hintz from the wing to center.
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It's a long list of changes. And it worked. All of it.
Everything Pennanen touched turned to gold, and now Finland remains alive in the 4 Nations tournament and has a chance to play in the final.
For someone dealing with NHL players for the first time, Pennanen has delivered.
'Of course, I'm excited, that's for sure,' Pennanen said after Finland's 4-3 overtime win Saturday. 'I know most of those players, I have coached them before, and they have been amazing, highly committed for the Finnish national team. That's helped me a lot. Nothing special, actually. I just coach them.'
Nothing special? This isn't special?
'Of course it's special and I'm excited,' he said. 'But I coach like I coach.'
Managing personalities at events like this is one of the biggest challenges a coach can face, and that's true of a veteran NHL coach, let alone this guy. But Pennanen is unique. In addition to being the full-time coach of the Finnish national team, Pennanen has also worked as a therapist for the last year. So perhaps managing personalities and pulling strings is in his wheelhouse.
Prior to the tournament, knowing how badly Laine had been struggling with the Montreal Canadiens, coming into the tournament on an eight-game pointless streak, Pennanen had a one-on-one conversation with the mercurial scoring star. They had that conversation on Monday, the day of that optional practice, but it didn't seem to have an impact on Laine's play in the opener against the U.S., with Pennanen calling his performance in that game 'pretty okay.'
Laine had two assists against Sweden and looked dangerous on his new line.
'He was really good today,' Pennanen said. 'Every time he has been part of the Finnish national team, he has played good games, and also here at 4 Nations. I liked what I saw today, and for me it seems like he is highly excited and he has more confidence. A lot of good things happen for him now.'
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While Pennanen does have history with some of the Finnish players — overtime hero Granlund had Pennanen as an assistant when he played for Liiga team IFK in 2011-12 – most of the core of this team did not know him before this tournament.
Barkov, for example, met him for the first time last summer over a chat about this tournament.
'He's a smart coach, we know how successful he is throughout his career in Finland, on junior national teams he's been successful,' Barkov said. 'He's a really good guy, a good communicator and really gets us going. Good for him.'
Perhaps the most consequential decision Pennanen made was to start Lankinen in goal. Based on how Saros and Lankinen have played in the NHL this season, perhaps Pennanen's decision to go with Saros on Thursday could be viewed as a mistake, but it should be looked upon as a calculated risk. If Saros were to find his form from the last three seasons, it might have been enough to lead Finland to a tournament win. It was absolutely possible Saros would catch fire. But Pennanen did not give him an overly long leash, and Lankinen made as important a play in overtime against Sweden as Granlund did, stopping a Mika Zibanejad chance with his toe in the opening seconds.
BIG STOP LANKINEN TO START OT❗️ pic.twitter.com/j7Wb2FVLBY
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 15, 2025
'These are the kind of opportunities that you dream of, right?' Lankinen said. 'You prepare so hard that whenever an opportunity shows up, you just go out and play. That was kind of my mindset tonight. I felt better as the game went on, and obviously they've got some great talent on the other side there, so I was happy that I was able to help the team win.'
Now, Finland has a chance to control its own destiny. A regulation-time win against Canada on Monday should get Finland into the championship game.
'Now it's in our own hands,' Rantanen said, 'if we can prepare well and try to beat Canada.'
When it comes to preparing well and adjusting between games, Finland gave a master class on Saturday. And their unheralded, previously anonymous coach was at the head of the class.
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