Miettinen, Jorma

BORN IN FINLAND IN 1964, he moved to Australia in 1979 when he was 15, and began the hectic schedule of training and playing matches in New South Wales and Canberra, somehow squeezing in studies and playing guitar in a band. A foundation forward in 1981 with the Canberra Knights, his speed and positioning placed him among the most consistent scorers, along with Russ Johnson and Giles Brunet. The Knights were formed by a group of former hockey players and competed in exhibition matches against international and Australian teams that year, including teams from the newly-formed NIHL.

Miettinen put his head down and concentrated on both his studies at Dickson College and his ice hockey with the Canberra Knights, all but ignoring the two Canadian ice hockey scouts who had shown an interest in him. At just 18, he was the youngest player in the first edition of the Canberra team, but he had a lot more experience than many others his age, having already played the game for 10 years. Usually lined up with captain Russ Johnson and Taisto Karhu in the early years, he was the Club's top point scorer that first season.

In 1982, he and his club were a founding members of the New South Wales Super League led by Canadian player-coaches, Stuart Wright, Chuck Naish and Jim Fuyarchuk. The Knights were wooden spooners in their inaugural Super League season. He also played the visiting Ontario Canadians, a team selected from the Royal Canadian ships visiting for the Commonwealth Games. In 1983, his team was NSW Superleague runner-up to the Warringah Bombers and in 1984 they were Super League champions. Neither he nor the ACT has ever won a Goodall Cup.

Australia's national senior team had not competed for seven years when the nation returned to the world stage in 1986. The squad was coached by the Knight's Charles Naish, and the ACT players who represented Australia that year were Russ Johnson, Dean Pollock and Jim Fuyarchuk, all imported from Canada a few years earlier. The next year there were more new arrivals from overseas in the squad than ever before. Miettinen later formed Geneva, one of the hardest working pro bands during the years 1988 and 1993, performing over 200 shows each year all over Australia.

His son Kai, who has been playing ice hockey since the age of 6, represented Australia in the National Youth Team, and made his AIHL debut with Knights in 2011. He now plays with the CBR Brave. In 2016, Miettinen Snr was a national account manager for the telecommunications company, Addcom, and approaching his fifth decade as a hockey player.