The Eppaner in the far north

When we reach Galimberti in the winter sports stronghold of Lahti, almost 2500 kilometers away, he has just finished his training. The South Tyrolean has now settled in brilliantly with the local Pelicans – not just off the ice, but also on the playing surface. The striker collected seven scorer points in 13 games and is currently in third place with his team in the best Finnish U20 youth league. That's something to be proud of.

But how did it come about that Galimberti only looked for the next challenge abroad when he was 17 years old – and not after completing middle school like many other South Tyroleans? “I already had the idea of leaving South Tyrol sooner. I specifically wanted to go to the academy in Salzburg after middle school. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen,” he explains. In the following years a change failed for several reasons before it finally worked out this summer. Bernard lets contacts play “During the World Cup preparations, I shared a room with Andreas Bernard, who spent many years in Finland and has a lot of contacts there, and talked about a possible involvement,” says Galimberti. “Andy immediately agreed to help me.” And so the 31-year-old pulled out all the stops to come to the conclusion that Lahti could be the perfect place. After a tryout “to see if it was a good fit for both sides,” Galimberti and the Pelicans decided to continue working together.

Thomas Galimberti at the last World Cup in Riga. © AFP / GINTS IVUSKANS

The youngster has now been living in the far north for several months. But in Lahti it's not just about ice hockey, as Galimberti explains. “I'm also doing the Walthers in Bolzano online because I definitely want to get my degree.” Going to school locally isn't an issue, especially since, unlike other cities, there is no "English class". He therefore does not speak the difficult Finnish language, which can be extremely difficult. For example when teammates talk among themselves. “If you want to talk to them, it’s of course no problem, we speak in English. Otherwise you don't understand anything. At least I’ve gotten used to it now; it was much more difficult at the beginning.”

Apart from the inevitable language barrier, Galimberi has fully arrived, as the statistics mentioned at the beginning prove. “Everything is very intense. “I’m very happy with my first few months – even if there’s always something to improve,” he says. In just a few weeks, the South Tyrolean also experienced first-hand how big the sport is in Finland. “The level and the competition is simply completely different. Ice hockey is number 1 here, everyone knows it, everyone lives it. The biggest difference to South Tyrol is the broad masses.” Galimberti leaves everything open He doesn’t know what his future will look like: “I don’t want to think too far ahead. Everything is still new. I focus on the here and now because you never know what the future holds. What comes, comes,” he says, referring to last season when, for many people, he was nominated for the World Championships in Riga, a complete surprise.

What is certain, however, is that Galimberti will return to his homeland next week to play a tournament with the U20 national team in Neumarkt. And that despite the long distance, he continues to follow the results of the local ice hockey scene. “Unfortunately, Eppan is not doing very well,” he concludes.

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The Eppaner in the far north

On the advice of a prominent roommate, Thomas Galimberti ventured abroad this summer. About the 17-year-old from Eppan and his dream of a glorious ice hockey career.

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