Frans Tuohimaa:«It was unbelievable to see the puck go in»

Frans Tuohimaa talks about his unbelievable goal at the EHT in Moscow, his decision to move to Russia and about Tatarstan.

- Frans, Congratulations on SM-liiga Bronze Medal! What prevented HIFK from getting Gold Medal?

- Thank you. I’m still not 100 % sure what went wrong. Maybe we got through the first round a little bit too easy. When we faced our first bad challenges in semifinals, we couldn’t bounce back that well. Maybe that is one reason.

- You decided to go to the KHL. Did you read news (about KHL) and watch KHL games?

- I had a two year contract with HIFK in Finland. Before I signed that deal my plan was to move forward after it. I have followed the Finnish players in the KHL a lot and talked with some of them about the league.

- Hockey fans in Russia remember your legendary goal for Finland against Sweden at the EHT in Moscow. Could you say something about this moment?

It was special for sure. It was my national team debut and I played really good the whole game. We were leading 4-1 at the moment and I got a great chance to try to score. It was unbelievable to see the puck go in. A moment I will never forget.

- You were so happy and the coaches had to change you for one shift. Are you always so emotional?

- It actually didn’t go like that. I celebrated the goal and went to get high fives from the bench. After that the referee came to me and told that I have to go to the bench. Some rule says that goalie can’t go to the bench without asking the refs first. I wanted to stay but we were forced to change. 

- Should our fans expect some kind of performances from you after winning games?

- I don’t know yet. I haven’t had anything like Julius Hudacek has his «Hudashow» but we will see.

- How was that to make a decision to move to Russia?

- It was easy. Like I said in the first question it was my plan for two years and when I got the opportunity I decided to take it.

- What comes on your mind when you think about Russia?

-  Huge country with big travel distances and President Putin.

- Could you tell our fans which places or sightseeing in Finland they have to visit?

-  I am from Helsinki and I love my city. I like all the cafés by the ocean. Everyone tells to go downtown but I recommend to go to Seurasaari. It is a beautiful museum island a little bit outside of downtown in Meilahti area.

- When you received an offer from our club, did you try to find any information about Nizhnekamsk on Internet? What did you find?

-  Yes I did. I found out that it has a big petrochemical factory. It is also in Tatarstan. I think the history and culture in Tatarstan is really interesting and I want to learn more of it.     

- What would you like to say to our fans in this interview?

- I cannot wait to see you at the rink in September. Enjoy the summer first!