Joe Wirkkunen

Viljo Wirkkunen
Born	1928 Port Arthur
Died	1986
Years in Thunder Bay	1928–1951; by 1970–1986

Viljo "Joe" Wirkkunen (June 27, 1928 – July 13, 1986) was a Finnish-Canadian ice hockey coach. Growing up in family of immigrants from Finland to Port Arthur, Ontario, he overcame polio as a child to become an instructor for the Finnish Ice Hockey Association and head coach of the Finland men's national ice hockey team. He led the national team at four Ice Hockey World Championships and two Winter Olympic Games, established a training camp at Vierumäki, and wrote three instructional books for coaches and players. Returning to Canada, he served as the first coach of the Thunder Bay Twins, and contributed to local minor ice hockey. He was among the inaugural class of inductees into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985, and was posthumously inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

Thunder Bay connections

Viljo "Joe" Wirkkunen was born on June 27, 1928, in Port Arthur, into a Finnish-Canadian family of immigrants from Finland. He overcame polio as a child, and during the 1940s worked as an ice hockey referee and coach for minor ice hockey games in Port Arthur. The Port Arthur hockey community recommended him to Frank Sargent, leading to his coaching career in Finland. He worked as a forester for the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario. Returning to Canada, he served as the first coach of the Thunder Bay Twins, remained involved in local youth leagues, and coached in the Port Arthur Minor Hockey league during the 1980s. He died in a home fire accident in Thunder Bay on July 13, 1986, and was posthumously inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.

This is a stub article adapted from the intro of the corresponding Wikipedia article, whose full text covers the subject in greater detail. Content is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Newspaper record

• Photo notice in Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 1949-02-02.
  • Index note: First in walkathon.
• Biographical notice in Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 1949-02-02.
  • Age recorded as 20 years.
  • Index note: First in walkathon.
• Photo notice in Fort William Daily Times-Journal, 1951-06-23.
  • Index note: Swimming course.
• Biographical notice in Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 1951-08-28.
  • Index note: To instruct hockey in Finland.
• Photo notice in Fort William Daily Times-Journal, 1956-02-13.
  • Index note: Walkathon winner.
• Biographical notice in Fort William Daily Times-Journal, 1956-02-13.
  • Index note: Walkathon winner.

Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame

Viljo Wirkkunen was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 as a builder (ceremony date given as 27 September 2008), for hockey, baseball, curling and golf.

Born in Port Arthur, Wirkkunen developed an interest in Hockey during his youth. At age 12, he was diagnosed with Polio, which ended his prospects as a competitive player. Despite medical predictions that he might not walk again, he underwent a rigorous recovery process. He eventually regained his mobility, winning walkathons and participating in Baseball, Curling, and Golf throughout his adulthood.

Wirkkunen remained involved in Hockey by transitioning into technical roles. During the 1940s, he served as a Referee and coach within the Port Arthur minor hockey system. In 1951, Frank Sargent, a former president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, recommended Wirkkunen for an instructional role in Finland. Because he spoke the language and understood the Canadian style of play, he was recruited to lead clinics and assist the Finnish National Team in their preparations for the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, Norway.

In 1959, Wirkkunen returned to Finland to serve as the head coach of the national team, becoming the first person born outside of the country to hold the position. He managed the squad during the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley and the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, as well as four World Championships. Under his leadership, Finland secured a silver medal at the 1962 European Championship, which was the highest international ranking the nation had achieved at that time.

Beyond his work on the ice, Wirkkunen authored three Finnish-language instructional books for players and coaches. Although his tenure as head coach concluded in 1966, he continued to travel with the national program for various international events during the 1970s. For his role in establishing the foundation of the country's hockey system, the government of Finland presented him with the Silver Medal for Merit in Sport in 1978. He was also part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985.

In his home community, Wirkkunen served as the inaugural head coach for the Thunder Bay Twins of the United States Hockey League. He also returned to coaching in the Port Arthur minor leagues during the 1980s. His career in the sport spanned more than four decades before his death in 1986.

Residence in the Thunder Bay area (1928–1951; by 1970–1986) rests on the following dated evidence. Born in Port Arthur in 1928, he coached minor hockey there in the 1940s before leaving for Finland in 1951, and later returned to coach the Thunder Bay Twins in 1970 and minor hockey in the 1980s until his death in 1986.

Achievements listed in the profile:

• Served as the first non-Finnish born head coach of the Finnish National Team
• Coached Finland at the 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics
• Led Finland to a silver medal at the 1962 European Championship
• Authored three hockey instructional books in the Finnish language
• Received the Finnish Silver Medal for Merit in Sport in 1978
• Inducted as an inaugural member of the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985
• Served as the first head coach of the Thunder Bay Twins