Finland suffered the biggest humiliation in World Cup history - IS: now a big change has come

The Finnish under-18 women’s ice hockey national team will have a new head coach for the next season. The current head coach Mira Kuisma will not continue in her role, says the Finnish Ice Hockey Association’s director of coaching and high performance Olli Salo to Ilta-Sanomat.

– Her contract ends this spring. She will not be with the national team next season, Salo said to IS.

38-year-old Kuisma has been coaching the Girls’ Lions since 2018. Under her leadership, Finland won bronze at the under-18 women’s World Championships in 2019 and 2022.

However, the team’s results in the recently concluded season were poor. In the World Championships held in January, Finland lost all its matches and was relegated from the top division for the first time in history. Next season, the Girls’ Lions will play in the 1st division of the World Championships.

In the tournament, Finland lost, among others, to the United States 0–14 and to Canada 0–12. The relegation was decided in a qualifying match, where Hungary defeated Finland 7–5.

According to Salo, the change of head coach was not solely due to the results of the World Championships.

– “Mirtsi” has been in that position for a very long time. We came to the conclusion that now we are looking for a new person for the head coach position.

He stated that the relegation was not a decisive factor.

– Of course, this is results-oriented sports, but it did not weigh more than it should have.

The Finnish Ice Hockey Association announces that it will reveal the new head coach of the Girls’ Lions soon.

Oulu Kärpät announced on Monday that Kuisma will become the head coach of the club’s women’s team.