Finnish ice hockey player and coach
Erkka Westerlund (born 30 March 1957, in Pernå, Finland) was the head coach of the Finnish national men's ice hockey team. He was appointed head coach on November 1, 2004, and his contract ended in May 2007, after winning silver in Moscow's World Championship tournament. He followed Raimo Summanen as head coach of the national team.
Career.
Westerlund has coached several Finnish ice hockey teams in the SM-Liiga: JYP (1985–1988), Lukko (1989–1991), HIFK (1997–1999) and Jokerit (1999–2001). During his coaching career Westerlund has won the Finnish Championship once: 1998, with HIFK and finished twice in the second place, in 1999 and 2000. Internationally Westerlund coached Finland in four tournaments, receiving medals in three of them. He has won one Olympic Silver medal (2006) in Turin, one World Championship Silver (2007) and one World Championship Bronze (2006).
As a player, Westerlund was a forward. He played in the 1978/1979 season for Jukurit, in 34 games he scored 7 goals and gave 10 assists. In the 1980/1981 season he played for JYP. Here he played 23 games, scoring 3 goals and 1 assist.
Westerlund was a candidate in the 2023 election for Finnish Ice Hockey Association chairman but lost to Heikki Hietanen 26-6. He told reporters afterwards that he felt he lost the election because he "represented change" and that the committee was not ready for a cultural upheaval within the organisation.
His son Tomas coached Kiekko-Espoo in the 2022-23 season.
References.
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