Janne Tähkä: Team Sweden is already irritated

A living floorball legend Janne Tähkä played his last international game in 2004 against Switzerland. Finland got bronze and he scored in penalties.
What is the legend up to these days? WFC2010 fans on Facebook got the opportunity to come up with the questions.

Howdy Janne, long time no see. What are you up to nowadays?
I coach junior players in IFK Helsinki. I haven’t played floorball myself for some time now, but I do play ice hockey in a few teams, for example in a team called Reggae Hockey.

Do you still have the magic touch with the “Zorro moves”? (i.e. lifting the ball onto the stick)
It’s like learning to ride a bike. Once you learn it, you’re always able to do it.

Do you think “Zorro moves” are part of floorball? If you could turn back the clock, would you straighten your blade as you’ve now seen the results?
“If I could turn back time…” sang Cher back in the day. If I had the opportunity to turn back time there aren’t really that many things I would change and this definitely wouldn’t be one of them. I am happy however, that the “Zorro moves" don’t dominate the real games.

Do you ever think that you should have or shouldn't have tried your “Zorro moves” in some particular international game?
I think I’ve tried enough of them, I have no regrets. I’m happy with the number and that I managed to score like that against Sweden, Czech Republic and Switzerland.

When is the next trip to China?
I made a trip to China back in 2004 for the Chinese Championship tournament where we had fun and played against people that had just got floorball sticks to their hands on that same day. I think we also visited a bar called Mighty Ducks which was owned by some Finns. Greetings to the person who asked this, I won’t be travelling to China in the near future.

Do you think we should use exchange students from Sweden and Finland to get floorball going big in the USA?
I’m sure it would help to get floorball going in Universities, although I’m sure they already have something going on. It’s surely the right way to go forward to have the sport known among kids in schools.

Would you be interested in representing Team Finland again, if asked?
No way, I would only embarrass myself. Senior series, maybe…

What is the best memory from your junior years?
I started floorball when I was 24 and spent my junior years playing ice hockey, so all my memories are from that sport. But on the floorball side, I have to say the best memories are definitely from junior floorball camps where I used to work as an instructor.

What is your favourite memory from your career as a National Team player?
Winning the European Championship tournament in 1995 and then the moment when we were entering the rink in the WFC1996 final match in absolutely packed Globen Arena in Sweden. We couldn’t figure out what was making the incredible noise that was constantly getting louder. We thought it was probably some sort of broken gas pipe. We were shocked to see that it was actually a massive audience making that noise!

How did you feel about Finland winning the World Championship in 2008?
It was absolutely amazing and I haven’t had such a feeling with any other sports performance, ever. I hope we’ll achieve the same feeling here in Finland in December. Sweden is already irritated because of the bitter loss last time. But it’s great that even Sweden has to get anxious sometimes!

Finally, here are some of Janne’s favourite songs for boosting up the spirit before game:

Billy Joel – It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me
Dio – Holy Diver
Van Halen – Right Now
Elvis Presley – Suspicious Minds
Magnus Uggla – Kung För En Dag
George Thorogood – Get a Haircut
Metallica – Whiskey in the Jar
Bad Religion – Punk Rock Song
Gun N’ Roses – You Could Be Mine
Rainbow – I surrender
AC/DC – Shoot to Thrill