Not many MLRH players speak Finnish but they all know
one name and that's Tuuka Suoniemi, the highly competitive
guy that puts the "Roll" in Koovee Rollers and, off the rink,
loves to add some "Rock" to the roll with his Les Paul Gibson
guitar or his Fender Statocaster.
Ask any MLRH player to name one of the MLRH Europe teams and invariably, they will say "Koovee Rollers." Ask them to name a player and they will say, "That guy Tuukka." The last name would be a bit of a stretch but Tuuka Suoneimi has earned a reputation as a superb roller player who has earned the respect of opponents world-wide.
It was Tuukka Suoneimi and the Rollers who knocked out the North American champions Breakaway Bullies in the 2014 MLRH World Championships in Mannheim,Germany but the teams have nothing but respect for one another. "The Bullies (Now the Lobsterz) are a great team and we are always honored to play them," said Suoniemi. "They play hard but with respect and that is the way it supposed to be".
Tuukka is cutting back on the ice time these days and playing strictly roller hockey to devote more time to his career as business director for a research company but he still finds time to strap on his Les Paul Gibson or the Fender Stratocaster. And did we mention the Marshall 50 amp so that he can emulate the Gary Moore sound? Note: Moore, who died in 2011, was originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland and was a former member of the legendary Irish group Thin Lizzy who went on to become one of the great blues and jazz-rock musicians
who received critical acclaim but never mass popularity.
When not playing roller hockey or the blues, Tuukka seems to be a citizen of the world and lists travel and fine dining among his pleasures. The Rollers spent two weeks in America and, living in a small country, found American sports venues to be awesome. They made it to NHL, NBA and MLB games. Look out America,. they are returning in May for the MLRH World Championships in Washington, DC.
Last thing, he wants you to know is that the best place on earth is his hometown of Tampere, Finland.
With nine seasons in the highly competitive Finnish League (The 2013-14 MLRH World Championship game was an all-Finn final), Suoniemi has proven himself to a superb playmaker with 25 regular season goals and 64 assists. In 30 playoff games Suoniemi was good for 10 goals and 30 assists.
