Esa Tikkanen to coach Halla Winia

The five-time Stanley Cup champion Esa Tikkanen will coach Halla Winia next season, tells Ilta-Sanomat. Five-time Stanley Cup winner Esa "Tiki" Tikkanen packs his bags and leaves for Seoul, South Korea to coach the reigning champion Halla Winia. Tikkanen has been searching for a coach post for some time, but he couldn't believe it was true that the decisive call came from South Korea. - It's a big challenge and responsibility, but I'm ready to face is, says Tikkanan to Ilta-Sanomat sports. According to Kalervo Kummola, the president of the Finnish Icehockey Federation, Tikkanen might even enter the rink as a player-coach, if the team needs it. Update. A later report says that Tikkanen and Halla Winia have differing opinions on what Tikkanen was supposed to do there. Halla expects him to mainly play, but Tikkanen says that there's no way his going there as a player. "It was clearly stated in the contract that it was about coaching" (Ilta-Sanomat).