Hannu Aravirta Hannu Aravirta ( born 26 March 1953 in Savonlinna , Finland ) was a Finnish ice hockey player and an ice hockey coach for the Finnish national men ' s team and in the SM - liiga . Career as player . Aravirta debuted in the 1973 - 1974 season , playing 35 games for TuTo in the SM - liiga . In the following season Aravirta played for his hometown team SaPKo in the Suomi - sarja for one season ( 1974 – 1975 ) . Aravirta then headed to Kärpät for a three season stint . Kärpät gained promotion from the first division to the SM - Liiga after the 1976 - 1977 season and Aravirta played for the team in the 1977 - 1978 season . Aravirta left Oulu and Finland as he went to Södertälje SK to play in Swedish Allsvenskan . Aravirta stayed in Södertälje for a total of 3 seasons ( 1978 – 1980 ) , and then played in Kiruna AIF for 1980 – 1981 , his last season in Sweden . Aravirta returned to Finland and played for Kärpät for two seasons ( 1981 – 1983 ) before retiring from playing . Career as coach . Aravirta ' s first SM - Liiga head coaching job was in the 1988 - 1989 season at JYP . Aravirta was the head coach of JYP for 5 seasons ( 1989 – 1993 ) , winning 2 silver medals , 1 bronze and the Coach of the Year trophy ( Kalevi Numminen trophy ) . More success came when in 1993 Aravirta was hired as the new head coach for Jokerit . In his first season at the helm of Jokerit Aravirta won the Finnish Championship . In the following season ( 1994 – 1995 ) he won silver and at his third season ( 1995 – 1996 ) another Finnish Championship . After the success of 1996 Aravirta left his position in Jokerit to concentrate in his national team assistant coaching job . Aravirta returned to the SM - Liiga for the 2003 - 2004 season when he was hired to coach former Helsinki rivals HIFK . Aravirta ' s first season was good as HIFK won bronze but his second season however was to be different . Aravirta was fired during the 2005 SM - liiga playoffs after very poor play from HIFK . Aravirta made his third return to SM - Liiga in 2006 when he replaced Jami Kauppi as the head coach of Pelicans ( whom he has lifted from a team constantly fighting among the bottom teams to a force to be reckoned with . In the 2007 - 2008 season , Pelicans led the league for the greater part of the year ) . During his 10 - season SM - Liiga coaching career Aravirta has won 2 championships , 3 silver medals and 2 bronze medals . International career . In 1992 Aravirta was hired as assistant coach on the Finnish national men ' s ice hockey team . Aravirta ' s first international success came in the 1994 Winter Olympics where Finland was 3rd , winning its second Olympic medal in ice hockey . Finland also placed 2nd in the 1994 Ice Hockey World Championships , losing to Canada in a shootout . In 1995 Finland won its first ever World Championship when the Finnish team defeated hosts of the 1995 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament , Sweden 4 to 1 . The following World Championships in 1996 and 1997 were disappointments as the Finnish team couldn ' t qualify for medal games ( 1997 Ice Hockey World Championships were in Finland ) . 1998 became a blockbuster season for Finnish ice hockey . First the Finns defeated Canada in the 1998 Winter Olympics to win their third Olympic medal , again a bronze one . 1998 Ice Hockey World Championships featured Finland going against Sweden in the two game finals . Finland lost the first final game 1 - 0 and the second game was a 0 - 0 tie . Sweden won the World Championships and Aravirta took his first medal as the head coach of Finland ( Curt Lindström retired after 1997 championships ) . Aravirta had a good start as the head coach of team Finland and more was to come . In 1999 Finland was yet again in the finals but this time the Czech Republic won . The 2000 tournament was a step behind ; the Finnish team was beaten by Slovakia in the semifinals so Finland was to face Canada in the bronze game . Finland won the tight game 2 to 1 and got its first bronze medal in the World Championships . The 2001 World Championship tournament was to be Aravirta ' s last tournament in medals . Finland fought its way to the Finals and faced off with the Czech Republic . Finland led the game 2 - 0 but ended up losing 2 - 3 in overtime . The 2002 Olympics tournament saw the Finnish team lose to Canada in the quarterfinals 2 - 1 and the 2002 World Championship didn ' t have a better ending for Finns . Finland lost to Sweden in the Bronze game and the Swedes would avenge their defeat in 1995 ( the 2002 tournament was played in Sweden ) . The 2003 World Championship marked the last tournament for Hannu Aravirta as the head coach of team Finland . Finland progressed through to the quarterfinals where it yet again faced Sweden . Finland had a comfortable 5 - 1 Lead after the first period but 2nd and 3rd periods of that game were catastrophic . Sweden won the game 6 - 5 and dropped Finland from the semifinals . After retiring from National Team coachesing Aravirta was named the head coach of the Finnish Junior Ice Hockey Team . Achievements . As National Team Assistant Coach : 1 Gold ( 1995 ) , 1 Silver ( 1994 ) & 1 Olympic Bronze ( 1994 ) . As National Team Head Coach : 3 Silvers ( 1998 , 1999 & 2001 ) , 1 Bronze ( 2000 ) & 1 Olympic Bronze ( 1998 )