Finland Women's National Team Coach Leaves Team Due to Family Health Concerns

The Finnish Women's National Team will be without its head coach for the remainder of the 2022 Winter Olympics, as Pasi Mustonen will travel home to attend to family health concerns.

The Finnish Women's National Team will be without its original head coach for the remainder of the Olympics. 

On Friday morning, the Finnish Olympic Committee announced that coach Pasi Mustonen will leave the team immediately and travel home from Beijing to attend to "serious family health concerns". 

Assistant coach Jusso Toivola will take over Mustonen's duties for the rest of the tournament in his absence. 

Mustonen's departure deals a significant blow to Finland just two days into the Olympic Games. Stepping behind the bench in 2014, Mustonen has led the women's national team to a bronze medal at the 2018 Olympics in Sochi, as well as four medals at the IIHF Women's World Championships including one silver and four bronze. 

The move to appoint Toivola as his replacement, however, is less than surprising, as many believed that Toivola was expected to succeed Mustonen as the national team head coach at the end of this season. 

Now, it appears as if that transition of power will likely take place far sooner than anticipated. 

And while the details surrounding Mustonen's departure have not been revealed, we can only hope that he and his family are safe and healthy at this time.