#i guess we are too isolated up here and sweden is just too comfortable for the white people to wake up

[chaos-coming]

I'm annoyed and have been stewing in these thoughts for a few weeks, it's time to get it off my chest.

Despite their enthusiasm, i think i will not he working with the local marxist group here after all. Ive met with them a few times and honestly they fall into all of the classic shortcomings of white european leftist groups.

This group of upper middle class white swedes seem really and truly convinced that they will be the leaders of the great global revolution. They openly told me the first time we met that they are studying the literature to train the future leaders of the movement (the ego is just...wow). Dogmatic and enthusiastic, yes, but aware of the global currents happening right now, no. They dont see that capitalism is reliant on imperialism, and the idea that they might not be center stage when the workers of the world (most of whom live in the global south) rise up has never crossed their minds. They say they only want members who are serious and committed to the cause, but it really looks like they just want to create an echo chamber to boost their egos.

They think that boycotts and direct action are meaningless, as if disrupting the capitalist war machine is antithetical to their "great revolution". They use protests and demonstrations as opportunities for recruitment and to prosthelytize about reading theory. I watched them stand in front of a group of mostly migrants and refugees from syria, iran, palestine, and talk at them about the situation as if everyone showing up to a demonstration organization meeting wasnt already aware. As if refugees with family in the region wanted to hear this blond guy with a mustache posturing for Woke Points(tm) and say nothing constructive, dominate the conversation and ignore suggestions for action from people who have lived through the imperialist wars in SWANA.

Besides going to marxist conferences aka paid field trips, these people dont talk about any action if it's not directly about the great revolution and recruiting more communists, and place way too much emphasis on reading "the classics" (dont get me wrong reading theory is useful but its not the end all be all they think it is). And they dont read literary response/criticism to the classical theory, or modern interpretations, it's not "pure" enough. Theyre not just reading it for theory either, theyre literally and uncritically looking to 100 year old descriptions of society for instructions and methods for creating a revolution in the current day - descriptions which do not acknowledge climate change or indigenous sovereignty or the hyperconnected global economic system we live under - with no critical thought to how it must be adapted to the current epoch (i watched them shoot down all suggestions for organizing online and on social media, or provocative visual demonstrations, insisting that the only and best way to spread awareness is to stand in the hallways and pass out fliers to passersby like its still 1980 and sweden isnt already a paperless cashless society).

I made a comment about how soviet agriculture in west asia wasnt sustainable and got blank or disappointed faces in response. Which leads me to suspect that they idolize the ussr and have no intention to look at non european perspectives. I even tried to bring up the fact that we are currently on occupied sami land, sweden still has a literal actual monarch, living off of taxes and the imperial conquest of the sami people and neighboring countries. It got quiet, they did not want to have that conversation, they dont care beyond lip service about the rights of the indigenous people in their backyards (literally, theyre camped outside the city with their reindeer right now). Getting rid of the monarchy is not a priority, the concept of a monarch in the 21st century is not offensive or antithetical to their beliefs because the "great revolution" will take care of it anyway. Theyre not interested in actions, anything short of their fantasy of a total revolution is meaningless to them. These self proclaimed leaders of the revolution arent even interested in leading a push for an end to the monarchy which takes the workers' taxes to uphold an imperialistic remnant.

Like its basically a pay to play book club, theyre super insistent on the member fee being 10% of your income (even if you have no income you still pay) and it needs to be paid to participate in any of their group meetings etc. Like i get that they have a newspaper and printing press and a full time newspaper employee to pay for, but how is that not capitalistic? How is it not a class barrier, and especially when non-european students have to pay 5 figure tuition costs and they get to go to uni for free. The fact that their group is entirely 100% white and almost all swedes says volumes. And the fact that the palestine organizers have stsrted to schedule their meetings at the same time as the marxist group regularly does, almost like they dont want to work with these white guys who are trying to control the local solidarity movement.

When all you do is sit around reading literature and patting yourselves on the back for being special, when you look a refugee in the face and talk about revolution like theyre not the ones who have literally lived through it, when you are completely uninterested in taking action to fight imperialism in your own country, when you staunchly refuse to get with the times, why are you surprised nobody wants the 'revolution' youre offering them.

[wosoenthusiast]

Webinar: Celebrating LGBT+ Inclusion at Chelsea

I know this event was not recorded so here are some notes from the “Celebrating LGBT+ Inclusion at Chelsea” webinar. Please note: these are NOT direct quotes!! I didn’t start taking super detailed notes until a few minutes into the panel, sorry about that. And I did a quick read through but I apologize for any typos or grammatical errors.

The panel included Chris Gibbons (moderator), Pernille Harder, Sara Matthews, Graeme Le Saux, and Funke Awoderu

----- 

Chris: introduced each panelist and talked a little about rainbow laces

Graeme: (general point: we’ve made a lot of progress in the last 5-10 years, especially since I retired. Sorry, I wasn’t taking as detailed notes right at first)

Funke: (general point: Authentic support is so important.)

Sara: Sport brings people together. Chelsea is a brand with international following and a huge platform. Zero tolerance policy for a long time, internal and external. Demonstrating by doing not just by saying. Want to understand their demographic, look at areas where they are less diverse and how to address that. Look at who works in football, show a different type of recruitment.

Chris: I was nervous about being an out gay man coming into working at the FA. I asked in my interview about whether it was an open environment for a gay man and got a very thorough answer about anti-discrimination policies. Has that developed?

Funke: Yes, if you can’t see it, you can’t be it. Data tells us something. Use it well to inform you plans. Proud of the LGBTQ+ people in the FA and their contributions. Don’t want to put people in boxes so we are trying to build a progressive, diverse environment. Learn from others and people’s lived experiences. Listen to the stories people tell. We’re on the right road. If you can’t see it, you can’t be it. And it needs to happen on the leadership level.

Chris: Welcome to Chelsea, Pernille. I want to understand your experience of culture in the women’s game- previous clubs, international, and now being new to Chelsea. Women’s game is known for being open. What are your thoughts/experiences?

Pernille: Women’s’ football has always been open about homosexuality. Locker room and fans are very open. In Denmark environment- I wasn’t out, not comfortable. No one else was homosexual. It’s important that you don’t feel alone. I felt a difference right away when I came to Sweden, it was so normalized. I felt I could be myself which is the most important thing.

Graeme: I agree so much. If you feel you’re isolated, it stops you being yourself and others being themselves too. Infrastructure and support and work being done outside the game holding football accountable. Learning from other environments that are further ahead in inclusivity. Pernille, I’m curious, do you think not being out in Denmark held you back?

Pernille: It might, I didn’t think about it at the time. [After coming out], I felt more calm and secure and like I could be 100% self. I felt more honest with myself. It feels better when you trust yourself and what you’re doing. It reflects when you play too.

Chris: Where does it come from? Fans, locker room, Chelsea? What creates a positive, inclusive environment?

P: All individuals are open minded. No one uses sexuality or religion in a negative way. Comes from teammates, staff, everything around you. [It’s important that] the highest leaders in the club are inclusive, affects everyone underneath and what values to act from.

Sara: Reading on stonewalls website 43% of LGBTQ+ people don’t feel welcome at public events (not sure about this stat), such a shame. Being at Kingsmeadow, wow, what a different number that would be. A great place to come enjoy sport and feel very welcome and be a positive perception change.

Chris: We have lots of women’s team fans with us. Go to Chelsea women’s games!! (Mentions Chelsea Pride group and a few other groups and initiatives.) Graeme, why is a group like this so important? Why did you want to be a patron?

Graeme: To get honest feedback from people, get perspectives. Groups of different communities and perspectives are so important. They are a signpost for people who don’t have the confidence or support around them in their own lives. Can help people get into watching football and know that it’s a safe space. Every space should be safe of course, which is the next chapter- people don’t have to work under and umbrella to feel safe and welcome. It’s all built on trust and openness. Willingness to admit you might not get everything right all the time.

Chris: Pernille, you haven’t had much chance to engage with fans at Kingsmeadow, but why do you think these groups are important?

P: It’s important to feel a part of something and not alone. Groups like that help with this. Yesterday, we finally had fans back, 700 I think. I can’t wait to get more. In women’s football, fans love football, they don’t care who you are- sexuality, skin color.

Chris: Funke mentioned before the diversity of LGBTQ+. Trans people still feel a lot of barriers in taking part in sport. In 2014, the FA published policy on trans participation. Do you think football is becoming more inclusive for trans people?

Funke: This is one area that the whole game needs to collaborate better. LGBTQ+ identities are all lumped together right now. Lots of differences in LGBTQ+ community that we’re not considering, more conversations around gender identity, inclusion, education- we need to do the work around the journey for LGB work and apply it to trans inclusion. Now more than ever. There’s so much toxicity and miseducation. If we’re true to ‘the game is for everybody’, we can’t leave trans community behind. To come out as trans is not an easy thing to do, LGB people can pass but trans people sometimes cannot. Educate ourselves, use that to inform policy

Chris: How does that reflect what clubs are doing?

Sara: On the subject of intersectionality- we have to be honest. The data we have today is very recent. People are reluctant to report honestly, there may be fear. From an employer of choice perspective and perception- it’s about fairness, change the stereotype (like who works in football). We’re talking about diversity and inclusion every day. Huge range of departments which means you can bring in a huge range of people with different skills and experiences. You can create a different culture for the organization. Starts at recruitment, put forward the culture of the organization. When she sits in interviews, people ask about DEI, sustainability, corporate social responsibility. People expect their organization to have a narrative and verbalize what they think and feel about discrimination. Chelsea has stepped forward and said zero tolerance but message needs to be confirmed internally. Much more to be done. Education and information- it was not too long ago when women weren’t prevalent in the workforce, but it’s changed. Change happens fast. Lots of new and different people entering the workforce. Listen to people with different perspectives and points of view. We can create a better employee environment by making it so no one is ‘the other’, which comes with diversity

Chris: People have seen news about fans booing when people kneel and other negative reaction and that’s what sticks. What more needs to be done to tackle culture of hate in the stands? ..... Pernille, do you hear much discriminatory language in the stands at women’s game? What’s your experience?

P: No, fan culture is very different in men’s and women’s football. Men’s football is so big so there are a lot of different football fans. It’s difficult to say what to do to change it. It’s important to do something and act. Responsibility of players and other fans- trying to create a different fan culture. Standing up when you hear something. Players need to be stubborn and must stand up for each other.

Chris: Do you think if there was abuse, the response form the women’s game would be robust and quick? More solidarity [than in men’s football]?

P: I don’t know because I haven’t experienced it. I guess so

Graeme: It’s great that you haven’t experienced that. That’s a really big plus.

Chris: Chelsea was the first club to introduce fan re-education (like if a fan was banned for certain language anti-Semitism, they’d have a chance to learn more about why that language was not acceptable). Player re-education exists. How do we get fans to understand this better?

Graeme: It’s important to understand context of where it’s coming from, help someone overcome prejudice by learning something new. Doesn’t send out the right message to just throw someone out. There are a lot of things we grow up with contribute to this ignorance, so figure out where it’s coming from. Set boundaries of what we will and won’t tolerate. Give people a chance to own up to their mistakes. I’ve made some big mistakes in my career and been punished. I was taught to be honest, deal with consequences, and move on. That might remove external pressure. Make transition a bit smoother [as football moves forward], bring more people along

Chris: Funke’s been involved with the Rainbow laces campaign since early days. What impact do you think it has on the pro and grassroots game?

Funke: Immeasurable impact. Every start of the campaign gets better and better with the amount of support. It connect with adult and youth football. People love what the campaign stands for and want to get behind it and support it. Normalizing the playing field, this is a great opportunity to demonstrate the values and culture of your club. Challenge: how to continue to innovate and be creative in conversations and take it to the next level. It continues to grow and grow. More and more, people are taking a personal stand and educating themselves. Campaign has been a success but we won’t rest on our laurels. We must continue.

Chris: I tell youth players about the rainbow laces campaign and they sort of roll their eyes because they learn about and talk about this in school (and with their peers). The culture moving forward will be much more inclusive with the next generation of players. Do you think this will happen in clubs? (I didn’t quite catch this question but I think this is what he asked)

Sara: Yes. People wanted to be associated and show support, bummer we aren’t working at Stamford bridge in person. The next generation is going to be so important. There’s a lot of hate, and standing up against all of is important. People do want to learn- the more you learn, the less afraid you are to ask questions. People are still afraid of offending sometimes too but we’re moving toward really celebrating difference.

Chris: (reads a submitted question out loud about how Pernille is a role model and inspired this person to come out and be themselves) Pernille, how does it feel to be a role model for LGBTQ+ people, not only in sport?

Pernille: It’s great to hear this question. When I was younger, I missed some role models who were homosexual. I try to live as if it’s nothing special. I’m just myself, not hiding anything. That means showing pictures with my girlfriend and just acting normally. I don’t want to do something that doesn’t feel genuine. A lot of people like that I’m just myself and not embarrassed [about being homosexual].

Chris: There are people out there that think you’re a role model too, Graeme. Do you have a sense of the importance of role models?

Graeme: Once you have a profile, you recognize responsibilities associated with that. Whether you like it or not, you become a role model. None of us set out to be a role model. If you take money from sponsors because they think you can sell the product, you should be happy to be a role model, comes with the territory. Some people are more suited to that so it’s important to not hold people to go beyond their comfort. I take great pride in my ability to support things I believe in. I support in public and private and I don’t share everything about myself in public. Stand up and support values and principles, even when it’s not related to me. I was very alone in experience of defending myself [from rumors of being gay] while supporting people around me. It’s a big challenge in many ways. I will always do what I do out of principle. With a profile, you can reach more people.

Chris: Another question for Sara and Funke- what is the club’s response to supporters who have troll comments on rainbow laces posts? Should the club work harder to block and remove those comments?

Sara: The club won’t be dissuaded from doing the right thing. Follow discrimination laws- we will support and take action. Block and report when they can on social media. We do see other people who are posting challenge those comments. Those are important parts, have to work with social media companies, it’s not just trolling in football. Social media companies have to help as well to help manage this

Funke: Any organization driven by principles and values, there will always be haters sharing their view. We take the same measures that Sara just said. Year to year, the ecosystem conversation, calling people out, challenging people back. We know those comments will come. Work with social media companies to have more coordinated effort to take things down. Threshold for football is higher compared to those organizations [social media companies], makes it challenging to take things down immediately 

Chris: Graeme and Pernille, do you deal with trolls?

P: yes, there are a few. There will always be haters, especially when you speak up about your opinion. I mostly ignore them and focus on the positive. More positive than negative, positive people will comment on the negative which is amazing

G: yes, I do. I don’t like to give those people oxygen. As soon as you start engaging, you risk it escalating. Turn to social media companies for support too.

Chris: That’s the end of the hour, thanks all for your time! I’m so looking forward to where these conversations will go in the future.

[johanbrook]

The only living boy in New York

I'm in the airplane, listening to the Simon & Garfunkel song in the post title. I like it, but I love "Bleecker Street" and "Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." even more. Taking off from Fort Lauderdale. Away from its humid heat, huge villas, unused yachts, and tacky tourist strips. It was a city built for cars, and I seldom get along with those cities. I'm sitting in a window seat with my music and the book I'm reading. It's "The Mountain Shadow" by Gregory David Roberts: sequel to "Shantaram". I admire Roberts' writing: his command in painting sentences, rhythm, dialogue, and most of all the poetry he sneaks into the story. I'd love to be able to write like that one day.

Flying can become an everyday activity after a while, when you're used to the whole dance. But if you add music – a soundtrack – to every moment in the dance, it becomes magical again. One track for take-off, another for when you ascend through the grey clouds, another for when you see our sun light up the white clouds from above. I played Bowie's "Space Oddity" when we took off, and "Rust" when we ascended through the clouds. I listened to "Ingen kommer sörja när du dör" when the white cotton clouds became golden in the sunlight.

We land at Newark airport. I've never been here before, but I envision it being a major hassle of getting to Brooklyn through Manhattan from here. I turned down a more pricier flight going to JFK airport, since I really don't want to be that person who decides solely from how comfortable an alternative is. I had forgotten my American SIM card back home as well, so no chance of 4G to check stuff along the way. To my surprise, everything went quite fine: the air train took me from the airport to the Newark Train Station, from where another train went into Manhattan's NYC Penn Station. Well there, I switched to the regular subway, and missed a stop. Of course. I was being sloppy, probably just losing myself in thought, watching the ads on the subway train's interior. Poems and taglines. God I love New York and its public transit system.

I was hit by the kindness of New Yorkers last time I was here. People seem more compassionate in everyday life that anywhere else. On the train to Manhattan, a thin man with a yet confident voice went up and down the aisle, asking for a few dollars for another train ticket to Long Island. I handed him some spare coins I had, and other people also pitched in. He had been to a hospital nearby and been treated for asthma and high blood pressure. He had the appearance of a homeless person, which very well might be true. On the subway, a girl in her early twenties asked for a couple of more dollars to afford a youth hostel, since she had nowhere to sleep. She was homeless, but no different than anyone else on the subway train.

In Sweden, the differences are more stark. There's a sharp line between People Who Have Their Shit in Order (PWHTSO) and Others. The former instantly judge the Others for being lazy, alcoholics, junkies, and generally for making bad decisions in the past. There is, from my view, very little incentive for PWHTSOs to offer help to Others in the streets of Swedish cities. We talk about the issues, but nobody do anything other than stroll by without looking the Others in the eye.

In New York, PWHTSO pitch in. I can hear in the voice of people asking for money or food here that it's for real. I think Americans know what their economic system is capable of doing to people, so there's no shame or judgement in being young and homeless, since the government can fuck you over if you happen to lose your job in a recession or something like that.

They praise Sweden for being one of the most equal countries in the world, but why is the rift between PWHTSOs and Others so apparent?

In the café in Williamsburg I visited every morning last Fall, the barista recognises me. He makes the best take away cappuccinos I've had, and I'm glad nothing's changed in the café. They're as happy as always, and I still feel at home in the quirky interior. In a world that's constantly changing, I appreciate some things that just stay as they were.

When getting up from Canal Street's subway stop, Nas is rapping my headphones. How suitable, I think, and enjoy the cliche of listening to "N.Y. State of Mind" while the traffic is coming down as a slow, roaring snake, and the skyscrapers are guarding from above. The sun is finally finding its way through lower Manhattan's streams of streets. Everything is so calm. I see so much people – beautiful people – move in different rhythms across the tight street spaces. People hang out outside their doors on the porch, like everybody's going everywhere and nowhere.

My memory of the streets are slowly coming back to me - even though I'm still dependent on Google Maps for getting to specific places, I feel I've got my bearings on the rough directions. But in reality, I really don't care too much. I usually walk and walk, trying to find a café that speaks to me, or until I get tired enough to just backtrack and pick one I had passed on.

Recently I've grown more and more comfortable in the state of being on the road, soon two years now. I've gone through moments of loneliness, isolation, no sense of belonging, and lack of energy to actually connect deeply with new people. I guess it was after the first honeymoon months were over those feelings struck me. Now I question a settled life in a single city, with apartment and furniture I own myself. What is a life that's always on repeat, not having the power to move one's state of mind to another country for a couple of weeks?

I thought everything would work itself out by getting back to Gothenburg and be with my close friends. And it did, on a social level. We need social contexts, and I am, as most others, happier and stimulated with people around. But what about change? What to do if you'd like change of environments but don't want to move away from your close friendships?

I'm privileged by having the possibility to work remotely from anywhere I want (technically, Asia is a bit frowned upon due to timezones that are tedious as hell). I realise the luxury of switching geographical locations as I see fit, like one switches cafés between mornings and afternoons. I finally see how my life's "Definition of Awesome" would play out ("Definition of Awesome" was one of Spotify's strategies for doing certain things: you'd define a definition of an "awesome" state, and then backtrack from that in order to get to it).

My definition would include

a mix of climates: I enjoy change of seasons, but would of course take the sun and warmth any day of the week most of the year.

living in a place where things are simple. Simple food, simple drinks. Things I enjoy should be somewhat cheap. No "treating myself with luxuries", since the luxuries should be everyday things.

having people I care about around me. I will never travel or live alone again.

a place that stimulates without being off-putting. A place of beauty, simplicity, and home.

the ocean.

an environment that helps with routines, instead of having the sense of always being on the road.

not having to pick between the things above. Nothing says you have to stay in one location all the time. Splitting my time between two places would be ideal.

I've got no plans for this weekend. I'm pretty used to that by now, and I both welcome and hate the feeling. I'll see if I can line up something with some strangers somehow.

I'm excited for the summer. I've got a mix of plans and no plans. Happy things, like weddings and concerts. I'm happy, living in the now and a little bit in the future. I'm overall happy, and I treasure that. Feed your head, find outlets, and you'll figure out most things on the way.

[furimmerfrei]

Title image credit: Panthers Images

Miika Wiikman is in his second season with the GMB Nottingham Panthers and is arguably one of the best net-minders in the Elite Ice Hockey League. This season he has won silverware for the club along with the rest of the team and secured the Continental Cup for the Panthers, making them one of the first British clubs to ever do so as well as qualifying for the Champions Hockey League for next season. Though as always, this interview seeks to take you Behind the Mask and into the mind somewhat of the man who wears it.

Wiikman was born in Sweden to Finnish parents. He actually has dual citizenship, but it was in Sweden that he grew up. He went to school there but once he’d finished with school he went to Finland to play hockey back in 2003 . I asked him what made him leave Sweden and move to Finland in order to pursue his career. 

“This was back in 2003, the goalie coaching in Sweden wasn’t really at the same level as it is today. I knew Finland was the leading country for goalie coaching and I pretty much get a better offer from a better league in Finland, Mestis. It’s their second league and I didn’t really have any good offers after Juniors in Sweden so I thought I might as well try it and it’s also my Mum’s hometown actually, so we spent a lot of summers there so it was a place that I knew and it was pretty easy to go there. I knew they had a really good goalie coach with a really good reputation so there was really nothing to think about. Just sign and go there. I only stayed one season there, I had a really good season and then I got a contract with a really good league, with the SM-liiga. I played three seasons there for HPK.” 

I asked if he had a favourite team from the Liiga. “Not right now, though of course the first team I played for HPK, great memories. I won the championship there and everything, It’s a smaller club, they don’t have the same money as those big teams like IFK or Helsinki. So yeah, HPK is probably the closest to my heart. I was also with Saipa for a couple of months and that was a really, really nice club, good club, great people around the team and it was fun to play there for a few months.” Miika explained.

Photo credit: Panther’s Images

Next we move on the the Panthers and talking about the Elite League. Claire Bentley wanted to know if he would he want to play again next season with the Panthers? “Yeah, absolutely.” No hesitation in his answer. “I mean if I don’t have any really good offers from like KHL or the Swedish Elite League or Finnish League then I don’t really see any reason to go anywhere else. I mean, I like it here, my family loves it here too.”

The move to Nottingham, how was that for him in comparison to where he was before? “Well I played in Slovakia and Slovenia the year before and it was a horrible experience.” He still hasn’t been paid for his time there and this doesn’t sound like he’s an isolated case in that repect, as Desbiens of the Steelers has also played there and didn’t get paid both with the Olimpija Ljubljana. “I’m close to giving up on that too.” He comments when I mention that it might take a while and possibly won’t ever come his way.

Photo credit: Panthers Images

Back to Nottingham; and we talk a bit about his family life here, thank you for Audrey Davis for the question. “My son he goes to school here and he’s there for more than half of the day.” I asked him about if there were any places he liked to go with the family in Nottingham.”He loves to go out and search for Pokemons, but he’s so tired when he comes back from school that we don’t go out much. When we do that’s pretty much what we do. It gets us outside and walking everyday and we go to parks and do stuff, like play football. Actually we just came back from the rink just now since he’s got half term so we went skating for an hour and a half. He’s a really active boy and there is a lot of stuff to do here in Nottingham so that’s good, but we don’t have any particular places we like to go or anything.”

How does he enjoy the crowd in Nottingham? It’s one of the biggest arenas in the league. Does it have an effect on his game? asked Panther’s fan Pippa Morley. “Oh yeah of course. Especially when we’re winning. When we’re losing it’s pretty quiet in the arena.” He begins and it’s interesting when he begins to compare to places he has played around Europe. “It reminds me of Finland a little bit, it’s pretty quiet in the rinks. In Sweden it’s completely different. People are happy and cheering for their team and it doesn’t matter what the score is, it’s always nice and loud. Here sometimes it gets so quiet, I mean we got a big arena and a big crowd and it’s so quiet, it’s just weird sometimes but these are probably some of the best fans I’ve played in front of but then again I’ve played in Finland and North America and in Slovenia we had like 50 people at the game, so here it’s a little bit different.”

And now for the obligatory, did you always want to be a goalie question. I always like to hear the different stories on how they moved from wanting to play hockey in general to wanting to play goalie. “Ah, not really. I did a lot of different sports when I was a kid, football, wrestling everything. I started as a player in hockey and I think I was nine or ten when I started playing goalie. Every guy on the team got a chance to try it and I guess I was the best at it, I got stuck there pretty much.”

Miika preparing to make a glove save, his favourite when he was a child. Photo credit: Panthers Images.

“I always wanted to make glove saves and catch the puck, the was the big thing. I remember when I was a kid, every practice I counted how many glove saves I made. It was my favourite way when I was a child, now it doesn’t really matter so much.”

Routine is something that I’ve found to be crucial for goalies specifically, as it helps them get into the zone or head space they need to be in to be able to play their absolute best. Miika is one who takes his routine incredibly seriously as he describes. “Obviously it’s a bit different between home and away games as you have to take a seat on a bus for a couple of hours. It takes a lot of time and energy to prepare for a game for me at least. I know a couple of goalies and they don’t care, like they can do whatever they want, do grocery shopping or whatever but I can’t do that. I can’t leave the house pretty much. I try to stay in and do the same thing every time, it’s kind of like an OCD,  it was way worse when I was younger though. I’m a bit different now I got the kids and stuff, I can do more stuff with them, be a little bit more relaxed and it doesn’t have to be that strict but I still have to eat the same breakfast, try and do the same things in the morning. Like if I have a morning skate I do the same things. If I don’t have a morning skate I still try to do some of the things. It’s almost overdoing it and a bit OCD. I try not to let it stress me out though if things don’t go to plan.”

His main example of this was in Italy during the Continental Cup campaign and the fact that the breakfast wasn’t even close to what he would normally eat. He had it anyway and then got a shut out in the first game. It seems to take the pressure off if he can break his routine and still be okay in games. “Oh yeah.” He continues. “Exactly, when I was younger it was a disaster, if even one thing went wrong it threw me off completely, now stuff like that doesn’t really affect me anymore.”

So does he have a favourite NHL team? “Not anymore really, when I was younger I was a Vancouver fan.” Why Vancouver? I ask, with a small grin. I wonder what it is about the team that drew him in. “Oh, the jerseys.” He says with a small laugh. “And the logo, I just loved it and Kirk McClean was my favourite goalie when I was a kid.”

Team Russia and Columbus Blue Jacket’s stating goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky. 

“Of course I watch the NHL goalies, there is always something you can try and I’m always open for new stuff and I’m a pretty quick learner too so it’s pretty easy for me to put that into my game. One guy I’ve been watching recently is [Sergei] Bobrovsky in Columbus. Obviously Holtby.” That makes me chuckle, Holtby is my favourite goalie and when I mention it, Miika makes a comment about seeing my twitter. Consider me busted! “I actually played against him in the East Coast, I beat him 7-0. I’ve played against a lot of those guys who are in the NHL right now. Halak, Rask. I played against Rask a lot in the Finnish league. Quick, all those guys and it’s just crazy how I have actually been when I start thinking about it. You just have to be in the right place at the right time and making good choices I guess.”

So what advice would Miika give to an aspiring netminder? “Learn how to skate, without gear and then try the gear on. That’s where everyone starts.” He says, like it’s the most obvious answer in the world. I ask him about the weight of the gear and if it’s really as heavy as I’ve heard. “Well it’s getting lighter every year, those Bauer pads are real light, CCM’s are a little bit heavier. Some guys like that a little bit more, like me. I’ve just had CCM all my career and I tried the Bauer stuff and I just didn’t like it. It’s really just individual. How you like it, working out what gear you want. I feel comfortable in mine. I’ve been thinking about trying some other brand but I don’t know if there’s any point because I really feel comfortable in what I’m wearing now.” If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

I had to ask him about the inspiration behind his mask design as it has become quite the talking piece this season, I wanted to know why he chose to make it the way he did.

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Thank you to Juha Peltonen of Paint It Black in Finland for the images of Miika’s mask. 

“I kind of forgot about the whole Pokemon thing, coz I played it when I was a kid, with my brother and then Pokemon GO came up and me and my son started playing it, then we started talking about maybe putting it on my mask and he was all ‘Yeah, we should do Pikachu on mask’ So I said let’s do it then, so it was pretty much my son’s idea. On the other side I have Megaman, remember that? From the old Nintendo? I’m just a huge fan and I love those games, I still play them on the Wii back home. The back plate is the logo and I think there is a smaller logo in the front somewhere too.”

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This is not all that we spoke about in the hour, but I wanted to break it down into more manageable chunks for those of you reading it. The other topics we spoke about are:

His time with the New York Rangers organisation

Continental Cup experience and the CHL

Junior Hockey in the UK

Moving to the Elite League.

Team that taught you the most about yourself.

Best goalie in the league besides yourself.

Who do you not like taking shots from?

Movies, Books, Podcasts and other on the road trip entertainment.

Discussing the league and how the goalies should be used according to Miika.

If you want to me to post more of this interview with Miika, leave me a comment on my Facebook page @chasingthepuck or tweet me @freiheit_1989 with which one you’d particularly like to read about next.

I want to take a moment to say thank you to all those who have helped me in providing images and also permissions to do this interview and to the Panther’s organisation as well.  Thank you so much to Adam Gouldson and Karl Denham of Panthers Images for the images of Miika Wiikman that have been used in this article. 

Behind The Mask 4 | @miikawiikman : @panthersIHC Title image credit: Panthers Images Miika Wiikman is in his second season with the GMB Nottingham Panthers and is arguably one of the best net-minders in the Elite Ice Hockey League.