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Who came up with the name Nimo? I think it came from Star Trek's Captain Nimo. A fellow Finn, defenseman Sami Helenius said about Hershey: "It's a hellish place, there's nothing more than the candy factory -- nobody likes to live there." How have you lasted there for so long or is Sami talking bull ? If you live alone in a hotel and the home crowd boos everytime you get the puck, I guess you can tell something about liking the place about that. I have my own friends outside hockey and I spend time by finding things to do. Does the team get fringe benefits from the chocolate sponsor? Taste good? We don't get freebies but it tastes good. Do you miss rye bread, sal ammoniac [a Finnish candy] and sauna? Or something other typically Finnish? There's a sauna in the gym, I get sal ammoniac from Finland, but there's no rye bread. Five Karelian pies [a local Finnish dish] for 10 Finnish marks would be great in the mornings.

Have you told anything about Tampere or Tappara to your team mates?
There's always someone who tries to be interested or has been in Finland before. We tell stories and talk about things if we have
mutual player friends.

Do you follow how Tappara is doing? Do you follow Tappara's internet message board?
I get all the results, news and fan talk from the net, everything a Tappara fan needs.

Your best memory about Tappara?
The fact that I got to play there and grew from a little peewee junior to SM-liiga inside the own hockey club. In the rink, the best
memory is the last regular season game against HIFK in the 1996-97 season. We tied the game and made the playoffs [Tappara
needed at least the tie], and I scored a goal on both ends. The playoff series against Jokerit after that was also a great battle
from a team with no real stars.

At least during the summers you are near the Finnish hockey circles and hear things. Do you have any opinions about the hockey leaders here and the decisions they make?
It's better that I don't say anything, because they decide what happens and maybe they even read this forum too. But I hope
some day someone writes a book about them too.

How has the new season begun (personally, the team) and how far do you think Hershey will go this season?
The team has been renewed but we are even better a skating team than before. Now we have won five in-a-row and three latest
on the road. Once again the playoffs are a new world and it's hard to say anything. Personally this one has started fairly if I only
could only learn not to lose my nerves and concentrate on the game. But it feels a lot better than early last season.

Honestly and frankly, how did it feel when Colorado once again sent you to Hershey from the training camp although all seemed to go so well?
You can't print my honest feelings, but I was pissed off. But there's nothing more I can do than to laugh, look forward and say,
"Show must go on". In every game there's a chance to show my skills to someone or leave a business card to the scouts, so the
worst thing I could do now would be to turn the parking lights on.

What about your motivation in the AHL? Is it frustrating to be "an NHL caliber player who doesn't have a spot in our NHL organization right now"?
If I didn't see the light at the end of the tunnel or if I didn't like it here, I would already be back in Tampere. If some day all this
bus travelling pays off, I could have a cider or two and say it was all worth it.

What did the first NHL game feel like? How did the game and the atmosphere feel like, but most of all, what went through your head when the dream you have worked for for many years was there?
I got invited to NHL for the first time in Detroit, but I didn't get to suit up for the game and headed back to make chocolate the
same night. That day was very exciting for me because I have waited for 22 years for it to come, and then it ended in a
disappointment. Next time I didn't feel so excited to be heading for my first NHL game. Somehow I just was very thrilled and
concentrated like in a normal AHL game. After the game I was relieved when the number 1 was behind me.

European goalies traditionally "learn for the NHL" by playing in the minors, but do the minor league games help forwards in the same way? What does a forward learn there?
I guess most of all playing near the boards and in the corners. Also the defending is different than in Europe. You have to learn
to shoot more. I guess it's mostly the same sport with different people and rules.

In what department have you been developing the most?
It's hard to tell it yourself, but I guess I've improved all over. I certainly hope so. Also my skills. I think I'm three years better
player than I once was. I doubt that the 240 games here have been complete waste.

Have you been thinking if things might have gone different if you had left for North America in a more traditional fashion with more Finnish league games, more national team games, maybe even World Championship tournaments?
Tappara didn't do so well during the years 1997-99. And what happened to those "our boys" in the team. Would I have been
one of those who got lost? Would my contract here been better? I'm very satisfied with the road I chose. [There was many
Tappara's own junior players in the team when Ville left. Then one by one they were traded around and last season there was
only 7 players left who were "Tappara products". That's what Ville means there.]

Have you misunderstood any coach's orders in Hershey? What funny things have come out of it?
There hasn't been anything in the last couple of years, but in my first year there was always everything almost every day. I can't
remember any examples now, I guess I should have put them down in a book... You could do a stomach muscle workout just
by laughing.

During last year's playoffs you bumped into (Rochester Americans' goalie) Mika Noronen [another Tappara player in the NHL] a few times. Was it pre-meditated?
Well I didn't want to start my summer holiday just yet, but "The Wall"'s concentration wasn't shaken. In fact, I had the puck
every time I hit him and I was only trying to get to the net, no matter who was there, the net, the goalie, the defenseman, the
usher. I hear the goals come from the front of the net...

What are your goals in your hockey career? Besides NHL, any wishes to win international merits in World Championships or in Olympics?
I want to develop as a player and play in the NHL. And finish my career as a player with big feeling and heart. It's hard to tell
about anything else right now, because I'm not even in my first goal yet.

Have you considered about how you will continue? Do you demand a trade? If you are not given a chance in the NHL now, are you willing to return to Europe and then come back with a fresh start like Marko Tuomainen did?
It's worth it to look around for a while longer. When there's nothing more left in the tunnel than the green exit light, then it's time
to stop and think.

How do you want your fellow players / the opponents / the hockey fans to remember you after your career is over some day?
As a player that people remember. And I want to see THAT glimmer in my fellow players' eyes when we shake hands and say
hi after the games are over...