‘Let’s take the f— step now!’ former NHLer turned SHL coach Olli Jokinen gives impassioned speech to players

It’s been 10 years since Olli Jokinen last played an NHL game, but the passion remains with the Finnish legend.

The 46-year-old Jokinen, now the coach of Timra IK in the Swedish Hockey League, joined the club in the offseason after three seasons with Jukurit in the Finnish Liiga. Now 32 games into the 2024-25 season, Timra is 15-4-2-11 (wins-overtime wins-overtime losses-losses). After suffering a shootout 3-2 shootout loss to Vaxjo on Tuesday, Timra’s social media page shared footage of Jokinen giving an impassioned speech to his players.

“It’s not enough. Is it f—ing satisfying to be fifth place, sixth place, whatever the f—ing case is?” Jokinen said. “Let’s take the f—ing step now. Every f—ing game, every shift has to mean something. Time to f—ing step it up. We can still do something about it, or you want to let it slip away?”

The clip has been viewed on social media more than 440,000 times on X.

Filip Hallander, who played three NHL games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and spent two seasons in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, leads the team in goals and points with 16 and 32, respectively. Meanwhile, Jonathan Dahlen, who spent the 2021-22 season with the San Jose Sharks, leads the club with 20 assists.

Taken No. 3 overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Jokinen was one of the game’s most productive forwards in the mid 2000s, scoring 89 and 91 points with the Florida Panthers in 2005-06 and 2006-07, respectively.

Through 17 NHL seasons, Jokinen scored 321 goals and 429 assists for 750 points in 1,231 games with the Panthers, Kings, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, New York Islanders, Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs.