| | Associated Press
CHICAGO -- There's much more to the new coach of the Chicago
Blackhawks than pucks and power plays.
|  | | Alpo Suhonen becomes the Blackhawks' fifth coach in five years. |
Alpo Suhonen has produced a Finnish version of "Cat on a Hot
Tin Roof," been a consultant to the movie "The Icebreakers" and
last year ran for a spot in the European Parliament.
Now he's the first European-born NHL coach in 50 years, given
the job of taking the Blackhawks back to the playoffs after a
three-year absence.
Suhonen, 51, is indeed a man for all seasons, coaching for
nearly 30 years, first in Europe, then as an NHL assistant in
Winnipeg and Toronto.
When he needs to get away from the game, he has done so, turning
to the theater and even politics for a rare perspective.
"Systems and tactics are key things but also to be able to
relate with people and understand as much as possible how humans
behave individually and together," Suhonen, a native of Finland,
said Monday when the Blackhawks officially introduced him at a news
conference.
"It's no different if you go into theater or into business or
into hockey or wherever. Humans operate there."
Suhonen worked with Blackhawks director of hockey operations
Mike Smith in both Winnipeg and Toronto and they have more in
common than their love for hockey. Both have outside interests.
Smith holds a doctorate in political science and Russian studies
from Syracuse.
Suhonen said his first meeting with former Philadelphia coach
Fred Shero in 1974 made a big impact on his life and career.
"Almost his first comment to me -- I was a young starting coach
-- was: `What are you doing with your life?' I asked him what he
meant and he said the key thing is a young person realizing what
he's doing with his life, not with his hockey first."
But now hockey will come first, although Suhonen showed his
sense of humor Monday when asked what his first order of business
would be.
"I officially start the first of July so the next thing is to
have a holiday," he said, using the European term for vacation.
Suhonen wants to play a fast brand of hockey, incorporating the
speed and puck control of the European game with the necessary
physical defensive play in the NHL.
"I think it will be a lot different with Alpo behind the bench.
We'll start to bring in some European stuff," said Blackhawks star
Tony Amonte, who's played for eight coaches in nine NHL seasons.
"He and Mike like the crafty forwards who can stick handle and
move. Mike has a game plan and this is the first step. I think
there will be lot more moves this summer to get the players he
feels he needs."
Smith had three candidates he wanted to interview for the job
and Suhonen was on the top of the list. He never talked to the
other two.
"In today's age of parity, the head coach and his staff maybe
have never played as critical a role in developing a team," Smith
said. "It's a big thing, now."
Suhonen said coaching calls for toughness but also a
"softness" in dealing with players.
"Of course there is a business of winning or losing. The first
couple of months, the training camp and the exhibitions are going
to be very big, that's where you kind of set the tone," he said.
Suhonen apparently is the NHL's second European-born head coach.
Johnny Gottselig, born in Russia but raised in the United States,
coached the Blackhawks from 1944 to 1948.
Ivan Hlinka of the Czech Republic is to become coach of the
Pittsburgh Penguins, replacing Herb Brooks, but the team has yet to
make it official.
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