VSN - Blast From The Past - Fabio Jokinen

[SlapshotWrangler 781]

So after that traumatizing interesting experience during my Blast From The Past on Encarnacion, Reencarnacion, and Threencarnacion, I decided to do one on Fabio Jokinen. For those idiots people who don’t know who he is, he is a Hall of Fame defenseman who is one of the greatest defensemen in Meute history. Fun fact, I should know, because I wrote his Hall of Fame article. I called him and he said he was open to it! It turns out, after he retired from the (good old) hockey game, he moved right back to Finland. Both he and his wife had family there, so it was a pretty easy decision. Fabio lives in a six-bedroom mansion near Helsinki, and his wife lives next door in a separate house. He says he did this not because something was going on or because he didn’t love her, but he said it was because he didn’t like to look at her in the mornings.

 

Apparently, Fabio isn’t working right now, so he says he spends his days doing whatever. So, I decided to follow him around. He wakes up at around 9. I was already awake waiting for him. He came down, made some coffee and then sat at the computer. We had a good laugh as he watched his own highlights on YouTube but posted mean comments about himself. He also went on some forums and posted threads that said “Who is the most overrated player?” to which he posts in the thread his own name. The responses were immediate and it was pretty fun. Then after, we watched some podcasts like Bobby Lee, Santino, and The Fighter and The Kid. He says he typically watches one or two episodes per day, but we decided to watch one episode of each podcast. Thanks to him, I am now a fan of all of those.

 

We watched until noon, and went over to his wife’s house to check on her. They went out for lunch. Surprisingly, he didn’t seem pissed about living in separate houses, and they were romantic. It was awkward for me considering I was just there and calmly eating my sandwich as they made out for half an hour. They then toured me around Helsinki for about an hour, which was pretty fun. Then we went back home and we both worked out in his home gym. His gym is super cool. I thought about stealing some equipment. (No, just kidding, stealing is bad.) I need to get myself a home gym when I have enough money. We then watched some podcasts, played Fallout 76, and Euro Truck Simulator. We figured out that I’m the better Fallout 76 player but he is better at Euro Truck Simulator. He tells me that if his wife is up to it, sometimes they go out for dinner. After a long day, I slept over at his house. His guest bedroom was nice, and the bed was super comfy. (Maybe I should’ve taken a pillow…)

 

The next day, we woke up, and I interviewed him.

 

I asked him what part of his career is he most proud of. He replied, “Has to be the Season 56 cup with Quebec, first and only one for me, but it was first for Quebec in a long time. In general, just getting to play so long in Quebec was an awesome experience, fans were so nice to me and I managed to reach my potential and go beyond it due to the great coaching staff we had.”

 

Me, being the Negative Nancy I am, also asked him what he regrets the most in his career. “Maybe not a regret, but would have been a dream to end my career in Quebec, but hockey world is a cold place sometimes and trades are always a possibility, I enjoyed my time in Seattle and Toronto, but Quebec was always in my heart as number one.”

 

And, as usual, I hit him with the, “any advice for future (whatever position the person is, so in this case defensemen)” question.  And he replied with some advice that all defensemen this league should know. “Don´t look what others are doing, stay true to what kind of player you are. VHL is not what it was maybe years ago, it´s all about skill and speed these days, so make sure you never stop working on your skating and on your stick and puck skills - going to be your key to success. Don´t have to be over the top physical if you are in the right place and think ahead.”

 

At noon, he drove me to the airport and we said our goodbyes. He gave me a Jokinen jersey which I’m probably gonna keep forever. Stay chill Fabio!

[jRuutu 2,291]

Great work!

[SlapshotWrangler 781]

1 hour ago, jRuutu said:

Great work!

Thanks!