It was mostly sarcasm, but I do have one concern: can Jalonen both get the players to play according to the plan and play with intensity, because I felt this was his problem with the men's NT at times.
Different team, different level, different circumstances.
Not saying getting him is guaranteed success. All those small things that have to go right for a team to succeed can also go spectacularly wrong, no matter who's at the helm. But I see little point in speculating with these things before and if they actually start to manifest. As of now the reality is that somehow Liitto snatched a grossly overqualified guy for a gig like this, and there is no reason to feel anything but genuine giddiness.
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If there's something to ponder, it's how Liitto's means of grabbing these guys appears completely random. One year, one strikes gold - and another, one gets complete crap despite all one's best efforts. Said randomness of course in part stems from the fact that Liitto can't just go and sign a guy who's under a standing contract, but it'd be nice if they had at least some kind of contingency plan in case they have to hit the coach market on a lean year.
I wonder, how hard could it be to maybe grow a coach for this purpose? As in, sign some up-and-coming guy, give him the U18 team for a year or two, with an inkling that U20 will be the next step if he does well.
In the case of a true emergency, like a scenario where the standing U20 guy quits mid-contract and there is no viable alternative in the free market, give the one already in the system a shot and promote him prematurely.
At least this practice eliminates one of the complaints given by Jortikka, that he didn't really know his players and had very little time to prepare. The fellow you have in the system may be a little raw, but at the very least he should be familiar with his players, having "grown up" at the same rate as they do.
