Tuomas Kiiskinen is one of the top forwards in SM league. He is very skilled with the puck and always impressing the crowds with his fearless tactics and ambition to win. Last SM league season he was KalPa’s second best forward with 16 scores and 26 assists, total of 42 points.

If you look back on last season, what would be your summary of it?
KalPa played irregularly, at some point we played extremely well and won game after game, but sometimes there were tougher times. The whole season was quite a rollercoaster for KalPa, but considering the regular season standing (5th) we played well although the team’s play could have been more stable throughout the season. My own performance was pretty similar to the team’s: sometimes it went very well, but sometimes it was more difficult.

I think the most memorable moments were our awesome consecutive wins and then on the downside there was losing in the playoffs.

What are you doing in the off-season?
After the last hockey season we had three weeks’ break and then we started the summer workouts with the whole team. After that we had six weeks’ independent training period, but even then we trained together as a team with all the players, who stayed in Kuopio. During the independent season we trained once or twice a day and it really helped that my teammates were there. I had a week’s rest in the summer, but that was all the summer holiday I had. KalPa team practices were very versatile, but in my independent season I concentrated mostly on the aerobic exercises and stamina. I ran quite a lot during the summer and I ran long distance, an hour or an hour and half, whereas I got anaerobic training by playing a lot.

How would you compare European Trophy to other club tournaments you’ve played?
European Trophy is very interesting, as there are many strong foreign teams that we haven’t met in the rink before. So I really like the possibility to play against new teams, because during the SM league season we’ll be playing at least four games against each team already in the regular season, so it’s nice to have variety. I think that the international tournament of good quality will help also in preparation for the SM league season. We haven’t yet set a goal for the team in European Trophy, but of course it would be great to play in Red Bulls Salute.  Personally I really want to win, always, so the Red Bulls Salute would be a brilliant experience in Christmas break.

Who will be your strongest rival for winning your division?
It’s difficult to say anything yet about our division, as most of the teams are not familiar to me. I think that our division has strong teams, and we’ll be wiser after the first games. Playing in the Bratislava arena will be a great experience to us (Finns), as Finnish national ice-hockey team won its legendary World Championship there this spring.

What will be your goal for the upcoming season?
Team’s goal is to improve since last season and to be able to perform more steady play throughout the season and therefore improve the standing at the end of the season. Personally my goal is the same: I want to develop and gain more steadiness in my play. I haven’t set any goals regarding scoring or total points.