When fate shows its cruelty again

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He looks so happy on Sunday night, beaming and proud of his team. How she defeated SC Bern in the quarter-finals of the play-offs. But inside, he’s probably in total emotional chaos. As an outsider you can’t even imagine it.

Because right at the start of the series against SCB, Antti Törmänen discovered after a routine check that the cancer was back in his body after almost three years. The 52-year-old will initially continue as a coach. As if nothing had happened. Until Bern is defeated. It wasn’t until Tuesday that the totally shocked team found out what was wrong with their coach.

In the evening, the EHC Biel informs the public. The sympathy is high on social media. Semi-final opponent ZSC Lions also sent his recovery wishes: “Playoff opponents or not – the ZSC family also wishes Antti Törmänen and his family a lot of strength and all the best!”

No point in waiting five years

“I want to live my life now,” Törmänen said in an interview with the “Berner Zeitung” two years ago. And that is perhaps also the explanation for the fact that he does not retire immediately. But in these playoffs you keep assisting the gang and want to stay there till the end. Wants to help his team realize their dream: winning the first championship title in Biel since 1983. And probably also want to soak up the emotions of these exciting hockey days. If his health allows

In 2021, after a year off due to illness, Törmänen returned to the coaching bench at EHC Biel surprisingly early. He was aware that he was also taking risks if he were again exposed to this stressful job. But he said: “People over 50 are at increased risk anyway. And I can also go out the door and then a car runs over me. Life is full of surprises – both positive and negative.” He is not prepared to wait five years until he is officially cured from a medical point of view. Ice hockey and being a coach is his life.

Cancer diagnosis on the wedding day

Cancer first struck the charismatic Finn on July 9, 2020. Terrible news on what is actually a wonderful afternoon. On this sunny summer day, Törmänen was just enjoying his 21st wedding anniversary with his wife Minna when the phone rang. Then his doctor called him into his office and told him he had gallbladder cancer.

After the terrible news, Lars Leuenberger took over his coaching job in Biel for a year. Törmänen began chemotherapy in Lausanne. She pushes him to the limits of his physical and psychological limits. In the “Berner Zeitung” he described how bad he felt after treatment on the way home in Biel: “I pulled over the car, opened the door, threw up, drove on, after 200 meters again: stop, open door, puke. At home there was still something to eat, then I sat on the toilet from 12.00 to 18.00 »

Always thinking of the family

He had to fight. Something Törmänen was used to from his active time. He was never the greatest talent and yet with his attitude and his will as a player he made it to the NHL and a world title with Finland. To the outside world, however, he coped with his illness with astonishing ease and almost black humour. It was his way not to show his bad mood to the other person, but to cover it up with jokes, Törmänen later explained.

In the most difficult hours, he was not the center of his thoughts, but thought about abandoning his family. His wife, who was also in poor health due to Long Covid. His sons Aaro (21) and Henrik (13). “I want to be part of their future,” said Antti Törmänen two years ago. Now the battle for it begins again. Everyone crosses their fingers for him.

Source : Blick