The management of HK SŽ Olimpija has agreed to cooperate with a renowned Finnish hockey expert Raim Summanen, who takes over the leadership of the member team for two years.
In his rich coaching career, Raimo Summanen has served as head coach of teams such as the Jokerit, Blues, Ilves, HIFK in the strongest Finnish league, the Rapperswil-Jona Lakers in the strongest Swiss league and Avangard Omsk in the KHL, the second strongest league in the world. With the clubs he worked with, he won the Finnish title twice, won second place twice in the League, once the IIHF Continental Cup champion, the conference finals in the KHL and finally second place.
He was also the coach of the Finnish national team, with which he won the runner-up title at the World Cup in Toronto. Among other things, he was named the best Finnish coach and was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame.
Raimo Summanen was also an excellent player, having played in both the strongest Finnish league in his career, in which he won several Finnish championship titles, as well as the NHL. He played for the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers teams, which he selected on the roster and with which he also won the Stanley Cup. He was a multiple member all star teams and one of the top scorers in both clubs and the Finnish national team, with whom he won the world title in 1995.
In recent years, he has been involved in the development of the best hockey players and, with former Olympic speed skater Jannet Hänninen, runs a training camp for Finnish NHL players.
Miha Butara, president of HK SŽ Olimpija: "I am very happy that we brought a top hockey expert to Slovenian hockeyjaka with whom we have been in contact since last year. Our goals are clear and I am sure that Raimo Sumannen and I are one step closer to them. I am also convinced that with this cooperation we will contribute to the development not only of Ljubljana, but also of Slovenian hockey. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Gregor Polončič for the work he has done so far and I believe that he will also be successful in his new tasks at the club."
Gregor Polončič remains at the club as the coach of the U-15 selection.
Raimo Summanen will lead the member team in today's semi-final match of the national championship, where our opponent is HK Slavija Jr. The match will be at 19.00 in the Tivoli Hall.
