Juhani Wahlsten

Juhani Jorma Kalervo Wahlsten (13 January 19389 June 2019) was a Finnish professional ice hockey player and ice hockey coach who worked as an exercise and gymnastics teacher in Finland. He was also known by the nickname "Juuso". He also established and helped guide the early development of ringette in Finland, the first European country to do so. Wahlsten played in Finland's SM-sarja for a number of teams including KalPa, Ilves, HJK Helsinki, and TPS. After his playing career finished he went on to become a coach. Wahlsten was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986 and was later inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2006.

Wahlsten is considered to be the "Father of Ringette" in Finland. The Juuso Wahlsten Trophy, named in his honour, is awarded during the World Ringette Championships to the World Ringette Junior champions.

Early life Juhani Jorma Kalervo Wahlsten was born on 13 January 1938, in Helsinki, Finland.

Professional ice hockey player Wahlsten began his career at KuPS (Kuopion Palloseura) in Kuopio in 1957, from where he moved to KalPa. Wahlsten helped raise the team to the main league level for the first time. While playing, he formed the "Hurricane Line" together with Ossi Hyppönen and Mauno Revo. Later, Revo was replaced by second-line center forward, Lauri Helen, and Revo moved to Helen's second-place position. Wahlsten's line-mate, Hyppönen, also won the Finnish Championship gold in 1960.

In 1959, Wahlsten moved to Tampere's Ilves, where he won the Finnish championship. After two years with Ilves, Wahlsten moved on for one season to HJK Helsinki, then to the Turku Club. In Turku, Wahlsten became one of Finland's first star players.

After seven TPS seasons, Wahlsten followed in the footsteps of Reijo Hakanen to EC KAC in Austria, where he won the national championship. After the season, Wahlsten returned to Ilves where he played for the final year before retiring.

In 1960 at the age of 22, Wahlsten won the SM-sarja gold while playing for Ilves Tampere.

In 1962 Wahlsten won silver at the Ice Hockey European Championships while playing for Finland's national team.

Wahlsten also played for the Finland national team in the Winter Olympics in 1960, 1964, and 1968. When Wahlsten was the captain of the Finnish national hockey team in 1967 he scored two goals when Finland defeated the ice hockey powerhouse, Czechoslovakia, for the first time.

In 1979, Wahlsten introduced the Canadian sport of ringette to Finland by inviting two Canadian ringette coaches, Wendy King and Evelyn Watson, from Dollard des Ormeaux (a suburb of Montreal Quebec, Canada) to teach girls of various ages how to play ringette in Finland. Wahlsten first introduced ringette to female players during hockey practice in Turku, then began creating some ringette teams in the area. The Team Canada Juniors became the first national team to win the trophy.

Personal life Wahlsten worked as an exercise and gymnastics teacher at Aurajoki Co-educational School, where his wife Leena taught gymnastics to girls.

Wahlsten died on 9 June 2019, in Turku, Finland.

Achievements and awards Called "The Father of Ringette" in Finland after helping introduce the Canadian sport to Finland in 1979 HC TPS ( TPS or Turun Palloseura) has frozen Wahlsten's game number 8 5 Ice Hockey World Championships tournaments: 1959, 1962, 1965, 1967, and 1969 KalPa 1956-59 Ilves 1959-61 and 1970-71 HJK 1961-62 TPS 1962-69 AC Klagenfurt Austria 1969-70 1 SM-sarja silver and 1 bronze as a coach Head coach of the Finland men's national junior ice hockey team in 1983 Coach for TPS 1971–72, 1980-83 Coach for FC Barcelona 1972-74 Head coach for EV Füssen juniors 1984-85