BEIJING (AP) — Marko Anttila had time for many thoughts while in isolation at the Olympics.
“Can I play here or not?” was one of them.
The Finnish hockey veteran spent six days at an isolation hotel after testing positive for the coronavirus upon arrival in Beijing, wondering when he could resume his quest for gold. Anttila returned for the second game of the tournament, scored twice, and on Sunday will play in the final against the Russians looking to help deliver the country's first Olympic hockey gold medal.
“I was thinking that we can win something here and how (would) it feel after that to be isolated and win something," Anttila said. "The target was to be here and enjoy and have this dream come true. Now it’s possible."
It's possible thanks in part to Anttila, a 36-year-old alternate captain at the Olympics who has worn the “C” for Finland at the past two world championships and is a respected leader in the locker room. He scored in his first game back and again in the quarterfinals.
“He must be feeling it in his legs the first couple games when he came back and the first practice, but he’s a pro,” former NHL defenseman Sami Vatanen said Saturday after the Finns' final Olympic practice. “He knows what it takes to win the games, and he’s doing everything to help the team. (He) leads us the right way, shows us how to battle and win the little things on the ice.”
Despite feeling no symptoms, Anttila could not skate in the first few practices at the Olympics. Thinking about the possibility of winning the tournament motivated him to do a few extra workouts in his room while biding his time.
There was a lot of time to kill, and the mental anguish was worse than the physical toll.
“I was just lonely in a hotel room,” Anttila said. “It wasn’t easy."
He made it look easy getting back in playing condition. General manager Jere Lehtinen, who played in the final in 2006 the last time Finland got that far at the Olympics, credits Anttila's off-ice routine that has gotten more rigorous with age.
“You have to do that even more and more, and he’s doing a good job for that and that’s why he’s playing at that level,” Lehtinen said. “Don’t see any tiredness from him.”
Of course, Anttila isn't tired. After six days of doing nothing, he had plenty of pent-up energy.
Captain Valtteri Filppula joked that playing after getting freed from isolation “seems to be working for” Anttila, who was joined briefly at the hotel by Jussi Olkinuora, the goaltender in net when Finland came back from a three-goal deficit to beat rival Sweden in the preliminary round finale.
While Olkinuora has since given way to Harri Sateri in goal, Anttila's line became coach Jukka Jalonen's pick to start every game. That's because, Lehtinen said, “We know what they can do.”
Jalonen knows Anttila well and is not at all surprised to see this performance at the Olympics.
“He’s mentally a very tough individual,” said Jalonen, who has coached Anttila for more than a decade. “We knew that when he was coming back that he had time enough to get physically in great condition. That’s what he’s doing at the moment.”
When it was taking several days to pass consecutive COVID-19 tests to get cleared, Anttila was making sure he wouldn't need too much time to get back up to speed. That isolation work paid off so far, though Finland has left the Olympics before with silver and Anttila wants to be part of the country's first team to bring home gold.
“It’s our job to be ready when the chance comes and to do everything that you can to prepare yourself," he said. "Hopefully now mine and the team’s best game is ahead of us.”
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Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
