The future faces of Estonian ice hockey will not only be those influenced by Canadian coaches, now that an intensive week was spent training up-and-comers in Tallinn, but perhaps by these three representatives of women’s hockey in Estonia as well.

Kaire Leet is by far the best female goalie in Estonia. Two years ago she played on the men’s HC Panter team who were crowned this year’s Estonian champs in March. She also played in Sweden and currently as part of a men’s recreational team as well with her own women’s club. (An Estonian Manon Rheaume perhaps?...) Evelyn Roosileht not only plays defence but is also the HC Dreamland Queens manager, coaches young girls and works as part of the trio running the Eesti Jäähoki Liit or Estonian Ice Hockey Association. (Yes, you can order Eesti team jerseys from them. Their address is Regati tee 1, 11911, Tallinn and e-mailejhl@sport.ee)

There is one other Tallinn women’s team and two more in Kohtla-Järve and the first ever women’s tournament, the Martell Cup was held in Tallinn in early April. Latvia’s national women took first place, followed by Finland and Estonia beat out Sweden for third place.

The accompanying picture was taken on April 22 at a banquet following a friendly match between those who had the privilege of training with Canadian coaches Vern Stenlund and Dean McIntosh. (Goaltender Kaire Leet was the sole woman on the ice!) The Canadian Ambassador to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, H.E. Mr. Robert Andrigo came from the embassy in Riga to watch the match and enjoy the Canadian wine and pancakes with maple syrup that followed.

On April 24 Eesti Päevaleht wrote that the visiting Canadians were surprised by the level of technical proficiency exhibited by the Estonian players. Hockey Canada coach Dean McIntosh remarked that what was lacking during training and must be developed is intensity. Windsor University Lancers head coach Vern Stenlund enjoyed Tallinn so much, he spontaneously extended his stay by three days.


CANADA'S GIFT TO ESTONIAN ICE HOCKEY

(The following article first appeared as "Kanada kingitus Eesti jäähokile" in Eesti Elu on April 23 and has been translated by the author.)

Two national-level Canadian hockey coaches arrived in Tallinn on April 18 to head a week of training for local junior players and their coaches in a style of hockey that is very "Made in Canada". Not that anyone is expecting the Canadian style to be adopted in Estonia. Coaches Vern Stenlund and Dean MacIntosh stressed that by making note of Swedish, Russian and other approaches to play, a country must create its own hockey philosophy.

The coach’s main goal is to develop the game in as many ways and places as possible, in this case with the support of Hockey Canada and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in Geneva. "We hope to start a process of development that will one day lead to Estonia beating Canada", University of Windsor Lancers hockey head coach Vern Stenlund said at a press conference held at Tallinn’s Premia Arena. Hockey Canada coaches have previously trained locals in Finland and the Czech Republic; this is their first so-called mission to the Baltics.

Canadian Estonian Business Association (CEBA) president Dietrich Wehrmacher is the man behind the idea to bring some "hockey aid" to Estonia. While attending local games he was shocked to see how few fans were coming to watch the sport. Searching for local companies to sponsor the week of training also proved to be more difficult than anticipated, but with the help of the local office of the Canadian Embassy, the plan was put into action. It is the hope of all involved that this will not be the last such venture. In hindsight perhaps Russian businesses should have been approached for sponsorship, since Russians living in Estonia are greater hockey fans than Estonians; it is after all their national sport.

Hockey isn’t quite rooted in Estonia (yet)

Estonians take basketball seriously. Not to mention soccer. Cross-country skiing is the no. 1 winter sport and the Olympic medals and World Cup race victories brought home by Estonians will no-doubt fuel the aspirations of young skiers for generations to come. The problem with ice hockey is that there is a shortage of rinks with artificial ice that can be used year-round. Following the collapse of the USSR the number of people involved in the sport in Estonia fell dramatically, since suddenly there was no financial support or concrete plan of action. According to Priit Vilba, president of the Estonian Ice Hockey Association, the situation for hockey in the former Estonian SSR was also better due to the simple fact that most schools flooded and maintained their own recreational rinks during winter months.

For a long time the only indoor ice arenas in Estonia were in the city of Kohtla-Järve, Narva’s Kreenholm arena and the Linnahall in Tallinn. The new Jeti jäähall in the capital's Vana-Lasnamäe neighbourhood used to be a missle factory. (It was officially opened in 2000 by five-time Stanley Cup winner Jari Kurri of Finland!) Currently the largest rink in Tallinn, it is however open to the skies. Since the year 2002 hockey players have also had the Premia jäähall, where the current week of training took place. It is located in the Haabersti region between Õismäe and Rocca al Mare and bears the name of a brand of locally made ice-cream.

Plans are underway to build arenas in Viljandi and Paide, although the biggest trend in sports / recreational facilities in the Baltics is currently the construction of water parks. There are new veekeskused in Tartu and Pärnu. The next city in line for such a "water centre" is the capital Tallinn, but its new ice arenas definitely are not starving for skaters. It’s also quite interesting that the Tartu Välk (Lightning) 494 men’s hockey club have been the most dominant of late, winning five of the last seven national championship titles, even though it’s only possible to skate in Tartu with the blessing of Jack Frost.

My only personal hockey experience in Estonia was when I went to watch a game in Linnahall against Croatia sometime in the late 1990s. The players had the Estonian coat of arms emblazoned on their chests, compulsory Nike "swoosh" on their shoulders and almost exclusively Russian names on their backs. Simultaneously a very enthusiastic Russian-speaking crowd was proudly waving huge Estonian flags – an interesting experience to say the least.

Most competitive hockey players still come from families of Russian heritage in Ida-Virumaa, the county bordering on the Narva River and Russia. A search on the Internet did result in some stats featuring Estonian names: Olle Sildre was voted the Estonian national team’s best forward and Kaupo Kaljuste was named best defenceman at the World Championships series. Lauri Lahesalu plays in Finland and Estonia’s most reknown hockey player Toivo Suursoo was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1994, but has spent the last few years playing in Sweden and this past season in Russia.

The introduction for the participating coaches was translated only into Estonian (there was also a Russian-translator on the ice) and the Canadians were pleased that 3 of the 30 coaches in attendance were young women! The following notice has been posted on the home page of the HC Dreamland Queens: "All women and girls regardless of age, nationality or previous athletic experience are invited to come train with the HC Dreamland Queens’ at the Tallinn Premia arena". (Could this be the start of my hockey career?!...)

500 000 kids in Canada play hockey under the supervision of 75 000 coaches in over 4000 arenas. In Estonia the number of total players is currently said to be around 2000, of whom the more serious train with the help of the same 30 coaches who came to learn from the Canadians. The Estonian Ice Hockey Federation chose the youngsters aged 14 – 18 to be worthy of the week long special training session, which was composed of both classroom and on-ice time.

Canada is in 1st place, Estonia is ranked 24th in the world

Naturally it would be fantastic to see the Estonian national team rise to the ranks of the international A group. Currently they play in the B group and just came away with a fourth place finish at the World Championships 1st division B group series. They beat Romania and South-Korea, tied Poland and lost to Italy and Slovenia. (Final B group standings: 1. Slovenia; 2. Italy; 3. Poland; 4. Eesti.) Slovenia is thereby pushed to the world’s top 16 teams and since Belarus won the 1st division A group, they rise to the elite group. The IIHF’s 2003 list of 43 hockey nations ranks Estonia as 24th and Canada in 1st place overall.

The greatest wish of the Estonian Ice Hockey Federation’s president is to see this, the greatest growing sport worldwide, gain popularity throughout Estonia as well: "We are a northern country; if not here, then where else?" Mother Nature may need a bit of artificial help but support in the form of training and advice can surely be found in Canada in the future. Canadian-Estonian companies could join the cause by becoming members of the Canada-Estonia Business Association (www.ceba.co.ee). The most important thing is that children are not out on the street, getting into trouble with nothing better to do. So far this seems to be more of a threat for Estonian children than their Canadian counterparts.

In the hopes of teaching the spirit of good competition a fair play award is given out each season. This spring it was presented to the Narva Paemurru Sports Club team who were penalised with the least number of total minutes in the box all season.

The front page photograph of Eesti Päevaleht on April 20 was taken from between a Canadian and Estonian flag. Beyond the colours, players could be seen listening to coach Vern Stenlund’s instructions on the ice. There was a longer article in the sport section of that same issue along with a small piece entitled "Maple Leafs relinquish their lead". Being Toronto-born and the daughter of a die-hard Leafs fan who grew up with perpetual Hockey Night in Canada background noise, I have no choice but to add a fervent fingers-crossed "Go Leafs GO!"

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