MILAN — Team Finland has lost some faith in its head coach, Antti Pennanen, according to a report published Friday.
So much so, one player representative approached the national team’s general manager, Jere Lehtinen, in the off-season and asked that the country hire Canadian Paul Maurice to help guide them at the 2026 Winter Games.
An unnamed Finnish player asked Lehtinen if it would be possible to replace Pennanen and bring in Maurice, reported Sami Hoffren, who broke the news Friday morning for Ilta-Sanomat.
Olympic hockey coaches are not restricted by nationality.
And Sault St. Marie, Ont., native Maurice, who has guided the Florida Panthers to consecutive Stanley Cups, is not a member of Team Canada’s staff.
Maurice coaches Finnish national players Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell, Niko Mikkola, as well as the injured Aleksander Barkov at the NHL club level.
Maurice’s Panthers staff includes Tuomo Ruutu, one of the Lions’ assistant coaches at the Olympics.
Multiple members in the Finnish Ice Hockey Association were aware of the idea, but the job was never formally proposed to Maurice and there was no negotiation with him, according to Hoffren’s reporting.
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Lehtinen confirmed to Hoffren in Milan that he was aware of the Maurice proposal.
“I don’t really have anything to say about it,” Lehtinen said, in Finnish. “Well, of course we have our own team here and it would be a different matter if there was something concrete. I don’t have anything more to say about that, since there hasn’t been anything concrete.”
Finland defeated Sweden 4-1 Friday. The Finnish Olympians, we’re told, have decided to play hard despite their reported dissatisfaction with their head coach.
Pennanen said postgame Friday in his meeting with reporters at Milano Santagiulia Arena that he was unaware one of players had approached Lehtinen and suggested Maurice replace him.
Finland’s alternate captain, Mikko Rantanen, also denied knowing anything about the story.
“Never heard that. I didn’t read any media before the game,” Rantanen said, following the victory.
“I think (Pennanen) is good. He gives us freedom to play offence, and he has some details he wants from us defensively. And I think today we played really good structure; he has a good structure. And if we play the way he wants, and defend well, he’s fun to play for. He’s a really good coach.”
Maurice and the Finnish Hockey Association were both requested for comment but have yet to reply to sportsnet.ca.
The players’ issues with Pennanen, 47, stem from frustration over his work at the 4 Nations Face-Off, where Finland got thumped 6-1 by Team USA and eked out a 4-3 overtime win over Sweden.
According to multiple sources with strong knowledge of the program, Team Finland was “a mess” following 4 Nations and the players wished for a fresh voice for these Olympic Games. They also said there appears to be a personality clash at play with Pennanen and his players as well as a lack of faith in his game plan, and that both the coach and Lehtinen could now be on shaky ground with the Maurice news breaking.
Pennanen was hired as the national coach in September 2023.
Despite the 4 Nations disappointment and quarterfinal elimination at the 2025 world championships, Lehtinen recommitted to him as Olympic bench boss following 4 Nations, in early June 2025.
