The Sunday Read: Meet Venla Hovi, the B’s Development Camp Guest Coach

BOSTON –– Venla Hovi pulled a wrapped box from under the Christmas tree at home in Tampere, Finland.

A pair of figure skates lay inside. Hovi had watched her older brother play hockey, and her family wanted to get her on the ice, too. She had a slightly different idea, though.

“Pretty quickly, I was a determined kid, and I was like, ‘This is not what I want to do. I want to play,’” Hovi said. “So I started skating at two, joined the boys team at four, and I have loved the game ever since.”

It was the start of a decorated career for Hovi, who was a guest coach at the Boston Bruins’ Development Camp last week at Warrior Ice Arena.

“It was wonderful. I think a lot of learning. I live for learning, so that’s always exciting. It is just super nice to meet new people, meet the guys, be on the ice again,” Hovi said. “Honestly, just felt pretty much like home the whole time. Everyone was very welcoming, and it was great.”

​Hovi is entering her fourth season as an assistant coach for the Harvard women’s hockey team, and, since first unwrapping those figure skates, has competed at almost every level of the game.

​The 38-year-old forward has played in over 200 international competitions with Finland, including three Olympic appearances; she led her team to two bronze medals in the 2010 and 2018 Winter Games in Vancouver and Pyeongchang, respectively. Hovi then joined the University of Manitoba’s club from 2015 to 2018 before jumping to the CWHL (Canadian Women’s Hockey League) with the Calgary Inferno. Hovi helped the Inferno win its second Clarkson Cup in franchise history; she was the first Finnish player to lift that trophy.

​Then came the start of Hovi’s coaching tenure. She was an assistant for the University of Manitoba’s women’s team from 2018-20. In 2019, she became the first woman to join the Winnipeg Jets behind the bench. Hovi was hired as a development coach by the organization, working with players from the youth level and the Manitoba Moose (AHL affiliate) to the NHL. Before being added to the Harvard staff, Hovi was the head coach of the Metropolitan Riveters in the PHF (Premier Hockey Federation).

She, accordingly, was a strong resource for the B’s.

“Just hockey knowledge. Sometimes you get a little different outlook – some of the things that they look for in the women’s game and how it can translate to the men’s game and vice versa,” said Adam McQuaid, the Bruins’ director of player development. “Good energy, lots of hockey experience. It was a great week with her.”

One of Hovi’s areas of expertise as an assistant coach in the NCAA is scouting and recruiting. She works with and observes women players of the same age and path as a lot of Boston’s prospects. Hovi knows what makes a successful athlete in college hockey, and has the mission of getting all of her players to the next level.

“It’s a similar kind of time in their lives where they’re striving to get to the NHL level. Similar in women’s hockey, where college is the step before whether you get drafted to the PWHL or whether you have to maybe take a few steps prior to that and go play in Europe,” Hovi said. “A lot of those things are translatable. We are in the thick of recruiting right now with our Harvard program, so obviously a lot of those thoughts and things we’re looking at in players have been here with me. Trying to share some of the ways we go about that time and what we’re looking at and what could be helpful.”

Aside from the on-ice instruction at Development Camp, Hovi and the other Bruins staff members emphasized being a professional away from the rink, too, in regards to workout, sleep, eating routines and more.

“How do you spend your free time? Do you spend it like a pro athlete? Or do you have some steps to take, and that’s okay. Do you make some modifications or not?” Hovi said. “So I think really taking in the talks about consistency, your habits, all the things that don’t sound exciting, but they’ll be very exciting down the line if you stick to them.”

Hovi’s stint with the B’s was also supported by the NHL Coaches’ Association Female Coaches Program, which aims to assist female coaches in skill development, leadership strategies, communication tactics, networking and career advancement opportunities. Hovi is proud to be a member.

“I just think we should start looking at things more from the perspective of knowledge and the ability to learn from one another,” she said. “Especially if there's any young girls in the crowd with their brothers who are screaming; hopefully the girls are screaming, too. Just having it visually in front of them that there can be women out there is so valuable. It should be the norm. We’re not quite there yet, but it’s obviously a big step in the way.”

What would the two-year-old Hovi, just opening her first pair of figure skates, think of everything she has been able to accomplish since that day?

“It’s just a different route for a young girl to, in general, just be in the sport than for some of these guys,” Hovi said. “There are a lot more hurdles and a lot more people telling you that you can’t. I think she would be pretty proud.”