The 2022/23 Group Stage Draw took place on Wednesday setting the stage for the upcoming Champions Hockey League season!
Finnish ice hockey legend Olli Jokinen was at the event to help CHL President Peter Zahner, CHL CEO Martin Baumann and Sami Kapanen draw the teams into their groups.
This upcoming season will be special for Jokinen as he guides Jukurit Mikkeli as Head Coach during their CHL debut.
Players get the opportunity to play against the big clubsOlli Jokinen
Jokinen played 1237 NHL games over the course of 17 seasons and has been active in coaching for a couple of years now. What has he taken from his playing career into coaching?
"Playing the game is completely different than coaching," he said, "as a player, you only have to work on yourself, but as a coach, you have to prepare the whole team, but yeah, I've brought some stuff over."
How has he found coaching? Doesn't he still get the urge to want to go out on the ice as a player?
"Not anymore," said Jokinen with a smile, "I've played enough! I'm comfortable standing behind the bench."
Watch the full interview in the video below.