{{Short description|Finnish-Canadian ice hockey coach (1928–1986)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Use Canadian English|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Joe Wirkkunen | image = Joe Wirkkunen saa kunniamerkin.jpg | alt = Black and white photo of four men wearing suits while standing on the ice of a hockey rink during am awards ceremony | caption = Wirkkunen (left) receives a medal in 1970 | birth_name = Viljo Wirkkunen | birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|06|27}} | birth_place = Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada | death_date = {{Death date and age|1986|07|13|1928|06|27}} | death_place = Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada | occupation = Forester, ice hockey coach | known_for = Finland men's national ice hockey team coach | awards = {{unbulletedlist|Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame|Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame}} }}
'''Viljo''' "'''Joe'''" '''Wirkkunen''' (June 27, 1928 – July 13, 1986) was a Finnish-Canadian ice hockey coach. Growing up in family of immigrants from Finland to Port Arthur, Ontario, he overcame polio as a child to become an instructor for the Finnish Ice Hockey Association and head coach of the Finland men's national ice hockey team. He led the national team at four Ice Hockey World Championships and two Winter Olympic Games, established a training camp at Vierumäki, and wrote three instructional books for coaches and players. Returning to Canada, he served as the first coach of the Thunder Bay Twins, and contributed to local minor ice hockey. He was among the inaugural class of inductees into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985, and was posthumously inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
==Early life in Canada== Viljo Wirkkunen was born on June 27, 1928, in Port Arthur, Ontario,<ref name="Olympedia">{{cite web|url=http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/5000409|title=Joe Wirkkunen|website=Olympedia|access-date=August 21, 2024}}</ref> into a Finnish-Canadian family.<ref name="NWOSHOF">{{cite web|url=https://www.nwosportshalloffame.com/builder-profile/a54b9a0f-c216-4f9d-9601-34272b7fa468|title=Joe Wirkkunen|year=2008|website=Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame|location=Thunder Bay, Ontario|access-date=August 21, 2024}}</ref><ref name="jaakiekkomuseo">{{cite web|url=https://jaakiekkomuseo.fi/hall-of-fame/wirkkunen-joe/|title=Wirkkunen Joe|year=1985|website=Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame|location=Tampere, Finland|language=fi|access-date=August 21, 2024}}</ref> When infected by polio at age 12, he faced the possibility of losing the ability to walk. He exercised regularly to rebuild his strength, later participating in baseball, curling and golf, and winning walkathons.<ref name="NWOSHOF" /> He was a pitcher in baseball, but never played organized ice hockey since one of his legs was longer than the other.<ref name="Uutiset">{{Cite news|last=Nuttal|first=Albert|date=October 2007|title=In pursuit of hockey skills: Remembering Joe Wirkkunen|work=Canadian Uutiset|location=Thunder Bay, Ontario|url=https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/items/show/4607|via=Lakehead University Library|access-date=August 22, 2024}}</ref>
During the 1940s, Wirkkunen was an ice hockey referee and coach for minor ice hockey games in Port Arthur.<ref name="NWOSHOF" /> In professional life, he worked as a forester for the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario.<ref name="Uutiset" />
==Hockey career in Finland== Wirkkunen's move to Finland resulted from a recommendation by the hockey community in Port Arthur to former Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president Frank Sargent, who forwarded Wirkkunen's name to the Finnish Ice Hockey Association who sought a hockey instructor with knowledge of the Finnish language and the Canadian style of play.<ref name="NWOSHOF" /> In 1951, he began a six-month contract giving lectures and teaching clinics for the Finnish Ice Hockey Association, and helped the Finland men's national team prepare for the 1952 Winter Olympics.<ref name="NWOSHOF" /><ref name="jaakiekkomuseo" /> During the Olympics, he was an assistant coach to {{ill|Risto Lindroos|fi}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jaakiekkomuseo.fi/hall-of-fame/lindroos-risto/|title=Lindroos Risto|year=1985|website=Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame|language=fi|access-date=August 23, 2024}}</ref>
[[File:Joe Wirkkunen, Teppo Rastio, Matti Lampainen.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Wirkkunen (left), Teppo Rastio (middle), and Matti Lampainen (right) at the 1960 Winter Olympics|alt=Black and white photo of three men wearing full-length suitcoats, standing in front of a dormitory building]]
Returning to Finland in 1959, Wirkkunen was the first person born outside of the country to be head coach of the Finland men's national team.<ref name="NWOSHOF" /><ref name="jaakiekkomuseo" /> He led the team to a seventh-place finish at the 1960 Winter Olympics, but was not given a contract extension.<ref name="jaakiekkomuseo" /> Fellow Canadian Derek Holmes took over for the 1961 World Championships,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kemptvillesportshalloffame.ca/inductees/derek-holmes/|title=Derek Holmes|date=2012|website=Kemptville District Sports Hall of Fame|location=Kemptville, Ontario|access-date=August 23, 2024}}</ref> before Wirkkunen returned for the 1962 World Championships.<ref name="jaakiekkomuseo" />
Wirkkunen led Finland to three wins and four losses in seven games at the 1962 World Championships. Finland placed fourth overall, and second place among European nations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hockeyarchives.info/mondial1962.htm|title=Championnats du monde 1962|website=Hockey Archives|language=fr|access-date=August 23, 2024}}</ref> It was Finland's best result at any World Championships at the time, and earned them the silver medal for the European Championships.<ref name="NWOSHOF" /> At the 1963 World Championships, Finland earned its first victory versus the United States national team,<ref name="jaakiekkomuseo" /> and placed fifth overall with one win and one draw in seven games.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hockeyarchives.info/mondial1963.htm|title=Championnats du monde 1963|website=Hockey Archives|language=fr|access-date=August 23, 2024}}</ref> At the 1964 Winter Olympics, Wirkkunen led Finland to victories versus the Switzerland national team and the United States, and sixth-place finish.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hockeyarchives.info/JO1964.htm|title=Jeux Olympiques d'Innsbruck 1964|website=Hockey Archives|language=fr|access-date=August 23, 2024}}</ref>
Finland hosted the World Championships for the first time, with the 1965 event in Tampere.<ref name="sihrhockey">{{cite web|url=https://sihrhockey.org/2020/columns/article.cfm?aid=703|title=The Modernization of Finnish hockey|last=Kauhala|first=Hannu|date=November 8, 2021|website=Society for International Hockey Research|access-date=August 21, 2024}}</ref> Wirkkunen led Finland to a seventh-place, with a win versus the Norway national team and a draw versus the Sweden national team.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hockeyarchives.info/mondial1966.htm|title=Championnats du monde 1966|website=Hockey Archives|language=fr|access-date=August 23, 2024}}</ref> His final international tournament as head coach was the 1966 World Championships,<ref name="jaakiekkomuseo" /> where he led Finland to another seventh-place finish with two wins in seven games.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hockeyarchives.info/mondial1966.htm|title=Championnats du monde 1966|website=Hockey Archives|language=fr|access-date=August 23, 2024}}</ref> Augustin Bubník succeeded Wirkkunen as head coach of the Finland national team in 1966.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://jaakiekkomuseo.vapriikki.fi/english/honoured/bubnik_e.htm|title=Honoured Members - Gustav Bubnik|publisher=Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame|accessdate=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180717124959/http://jaakiekkomuseo.vapriikki.fi/english/honoured/bubnik_e.htm|archivedate=July 17, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
thumb|Aarne Honkavaara|alt=Black and white photo of a hockey place on ice, holding a stick and wearing a hat
Wirkkunen coached the Finland men's national team with assistant Aarne Honkavaara. Together, they established camps in Vierumäki which became an integral part of Finnish training.<ref name="sihrhockey" /> Wirkkunen also wrote three instructional books for coaches and players, and was invited to travel with the Finland men's national team to competitions during the 1970s.<ref name="NWOSHOF" /> He was remembered for teaching technical and tactical skills, building the foundation for future success of the Finland men's national team, and instilling "a relentless Canadian attitude" into Finnish players.<ref name="jaakiekkomuseo" />
==Later life and honours== Returning to Canada, Wirkkunen served as the first coach of the Thunder Bay Twins.<ref name="NWOSHOF" /> During the 1970–71 United States Hockey League season, he led the team to a record of 19 wins, 20 losses, and 1 draw.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=104677|title=Joe Wirkkunen Hockey Stats and Profile|website=HockeyDB|access-date=August 21, 2024}}</ref> He remained involved in local youth leagues, and coached in the Port Arthur Minor Hockey league during the 1980s.<ref name="NWOSHOF" />
The Finnish Government awarded Wirkkunen the Silver Medal for Merit in Sport in 1978. He was among the inaugural class of inductees into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.<ref name="NWOSHOF" />
Wirkkunen died on July 13, 1986,<ref name="Olympedia" /> in a home fire accident in Thunder Bay, Ontario.<ref name="jaakiekkomuseo" /> He was posthumously inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.<ref name="NWOSHOF" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wirkkunen, Joe}} Category:1928 births Category:1986 deaths Category:Accidental deaths in Ontario Category:Canadian foresters Category:Canadian ice hockey coaches Category:Canadian people of Finnish descent Category:Deaths from fire Category:Finland men's national ice hockey team coaches Category:Ice hockey people from Thunder Bay Category:Ontario Hydro