Canberra Brave captain, Kai Miettinen, has been a key part of the hockey landscape in the capital throughout the Brave era. As the team celebrates it’s 10-year-anniversary, 28-year-old Miettinen can trace his journey back to the Canberra Knights period.

Like Miettinen, the passionate ice hockey community in Canberra likely finds it difficult pinpointing favourite moments from the Knights franchise, where the team at times struggled to be competitive.

“That’s a tough one,” Miettinen says when asked. After pausing for a moment he continues, “probably my AIHL debut. It feels like a lifetime ago.

“I grew up a fan of the Canberra Knights, I loved going to the games and meeting the players. To put on the Knights jersey and wear the uniform with my idols – Mark Rummukainen, Aaron Clayworth, and Jordy Gavin – that was special.”

Kai’s father, Jorma Miettinen, was a foundation forward with the Canberra Knights in 1981, after having moved to Australia two years earlier at the age of 15.

“His sister was originally here doing a nursing degree,” Miettinen recalls. “He came over to visit her and fell in love with Australia.”

That decision gifted the Canberra hockey community with multiple generations of Miettinens. Kai’s brother, Ricki, made his AIHL debut last season for the Brave, and the 17-year-old forward is back again this year.

While highlights were few and far between for the Canberra Knights, the opposite has been true for the Brave.

The Brave have been perennial contenders for almost a decade, and are recognised as one of the most consistently competitive organisations across Australia and New Zealand.

Miettinen has been a part of two Goodall Cup winning teams – 2018 and 2022.

“2018 is always going to feel a bit more special,” Miettinen suggested when asked to compare the two triumphs. “It was the first championship that I won, and the league was better then.”

The 2022 AIHL season featured a reduced number of teams and imports as travel restrictions slowly eased both domestically and internationally.

“2022 was still a flat year for the AIHL coming out of COVID,” Miettinen continued. “There wasn’t quite the same level of competition.”

However, 2022 was special in one respect for Miettinen, his first season wearing the C on a permanent basis.

“I had worn an A in the team and filled in as C at points previously. While the captaincy was still pretty new, I’d had a taste of the leadership.”

Miettinen pauses, reflecting on the memory before revealing, “It’s a pretty cool feeling to lift that cup as the captain of the team. A pretty special moment.”

Earlier this season, Miettinen reached a personal milestone with his 250^th AIHL game played. He has his sights set on Rummukainen’s games played record, and according to Sean O’Connor from Hockey Hype Australia, Miettinen will match Rummukainen’s record of three seasons as captain of the team at the end of this season.

“I don’t really believe that for a second,” Miettinen replies in disbelief. “It felt like Rummo [Rummokainen] was captain for 20 years!

“That’s a new one, it would be pretty cool, pretty special, to be the longest serving captain.”

Miettinen takes his role as a leader seriously, and is constantly looking for ways to improve.

When asked what makes a good leader, Miettinen insightfully replied, “One of the biggest things is being able to see the bigger picture and put yourself second.

“It’s tough sometimes when you’re in a game and haven’t had some great shifts and need to put that aside and focus on what’s best for the team – being able to put people around you before yourself.”

240 years ago, essayist Thomas Reid suggested that “The chain is only as strong as its weakest link, for if that fails the chain fails and the object that it has been holding up falls to the ground.”

That truth is a guiding principle for Miettinen, who works hard in his role as captain.

“By no means am I a perfect leader,” Miettinen concedes, “I’m constantly learning and adapting. I work hard to make sure the young guys and rookies stay motivated and everyone feels included.

“In a sense as captain you’re managing 20 different personalities. It has its challenges. But we have a great group of guys, a great culture, and a tight-knit team.”

The goal for Miettinen this season is to be the best leader he can be. “I want to make sure that I am keeping everyone together as best as I can,” he says.

This season brings more games than ever before in the AIHL, with teams playing 30 regular season games.

“Everyone is working full-time jobs,” Miettinen states. “Sometimes the season feels like a bit of a drag. We need to make sure we get through those moments and lift the cup at the end of the season.”

Miettinen also enjoys a good relationship with the Brave fans. For example, last season I was sitting with Brave fans at Macquarie Ice Rink for the team’s game against the Sydney Ice Dogs.

I was seated directly behind the penalty box, where Miettinen made a couple of visits. The Brave fans and Miettinen exchanged some good-natured banter and some laughs around his inability to stay out of the box.

Miettinen has a lot of love for the Brave fans. “At home our fans are the best in the league,” he says proudly. “Our atmosphere is the best in the league. Quite a few times at away games we have come close to having more supporters than the home team has!

“It’s incredible dedication. Not only will they come to all our home games, they travel to cheer us on.”

Asked to choose three words to describe Brave fans, Miettinen suggests “Passionate, loud, enthusiastic.”

The Brave have had a challenging start to the season, with just a single win in nine games played. Recently, the Hockey Hype Australia team calculated the Brave have been missing 11 players from the lineup due to national team and other commitments.

No other team in the league has been impacted as heavily to start the season, which explains the team’s position at the bottom of the Rurak Conference standings.

“I don’t believe that there is another team in the league that can afford to go without 11 players and still be competitive,” Miettinen says. “We have been competitive in every game right to the end.

“That’s a reflection on the depth that we have in Canberra. It’s a good sign that we can still be competitive, and as we get players back it’s going to be a different look on the ice.”

“We obviously haven’t had the greatest start to the season results-wise,” Miettinen notes, “we want to give a big thank you to the fans, volunteers, and sponsors.

“We can promise we have some wins coming. We’re still going to be right up there come Finals time.

“Thanks for sticking with us, get ready for some wins!”

This article was published in the Canberra Brave Game Day Program, the club’s website, and here with permission from the author, Gordon Goodenough, and both organisations.