Player profile-Jouni Elo: It's pronounced Yo-Knee

October 30, 10:13 PMFresno Hockey ExaminerEddie Graveline

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Jouni (#8) and Alex Johansson (#10) work against Phoenix (photo: Bob Martinez)

The 2009-2010 Fresno Monsters roster is full of players from a variety of backgrounds. There are kids from northern and southern California, the Midwest and even a couple from the east coast, but none come from a more different place than right wing, Jouni Elo. For a guy who had never even heard of Fresno before he came here for hockey, he’s fitting right in and plans to make the most of the experience.

Jouni (as the title suggests, it’s pronounced Yo-knee) came to the Monsters from Laitila, Finland, which has a population of approximately 6000 people. Given the fact that hockey is a much more mainstream sport in Finland than California, it’s not surprising that he started playing at the age of 5, even in such a small town. But fewer people mean fewer kids on each team and Jouni often had to play a level above where he belonged, because there weren’t enough kids his age. In hindsight, that along with great coaching from Jukka Koivu—whose sons Mikko and Saku both play in the NHL—went a long way toward shaping the player that valley hockey fans now enjoy seeing at Selland Arena. Jouni played for one of Finland’s premier pro league’s junior teams before coming to America.

As one of the leading scorers on the Monsters, it’s pretty obvious what Jouni brings from a hockey perspective. But one of the coolest things about this team, and him in particular, is that many of the players have had such different experiences from the ones that grew up in California. For example, I’m pretty sure Jouni is the only player on the team with military experience. Like many countries, Finland requires every citizen to spend a period of time serving their country. In Jouni’s words, “You can go in the military. If you don’t like to fight, you can work helping old people. If you don’t want to do that, you go to jail.”

Jouni chose the military route and spent 6 months in the Finnish Army. He became a scout, which he liked, because, “We got some gear that was better than everyone else’s.” One of the biggest differences between Finland and the central valley is the climate. Finland is cold, and I don’t mean cold like the valley is when it gets foggy. Finland is turn-your-fingers-and-toes-black-if-you-leave-them-exposed cold and Jouni’s Army stint began in January. “It was so cold,” he remembered. “We would be camping in the forest for two weeks at a time with very little sleep. Sometimes it was -30 degrees and we trained all the time.” After six months of that, even the most physical hockey game has to be a walk in the park.

No matter how tough a guy is, you would think that moving to a brand new country would be fairly challenging, but Jouni is fitting in like he’s lived here his entire life. He attributes a lot of that to the people in the community. “I was so surprised at how nice everyone is here,” he admitted. “It was too hot at first (note: he arrived in August), but it’s gotten better and the everybody has been so welcoming.” Getting along with people is only the beginning, though, as Jouni wants to experience everything the area has to offer. He already enjoyed team trips to Shaver Lake and San Diego, wants desperately to see Yosemite, and is interested in enrolling in some classes at the Fresno Adult School. His dream, he says, is to be able to stay in the U.S. and play college hockey.

All of the pieces seem to be in place for Jouni to achieve his goals (no pun intended). He’s already comfortable in his new home, loves his billet family and says that the more physical North American style of hockey actually suits him better than the finesse-oriented European game. He also thinks that the Monsters have an excellent chance to go deep into the playoffs this year and isn’t the least bit worried that their early success will go to their heads. “Everyone gets along really well on our team,” he confirmed. “We all like each other and there’s no concern that we will stop playing as hard. I hate losing. Everyone on our team wants to win, so we won’t relax.”

It’s a pretty cool thing to have kids from such diverse backgrounds come together right here in central California to play hockey. Even more impressive is the level of success they’ve achieved in such a short time. If the rest of the team has the same kind of focus and drive that Jouni does, valley hockey fans could be in for a very exciting ride this year.