HELSINKI – FINLAND. The puck drops today in the Finnish SM-League. After the 2009-2010 season, a huge number of players have left the Finnish league for either retirement or a lucrative contract in the KHL or the Swedish Elite Serien. Despite an ongoing discussion and debate over the junior development, there has been an encouraging number of prospects that have stepped up to the top level, some of whom have a promising future ahead of them all the way in the NHL level.
The Finnish Ilta-Sanomat has listed the key players for the season and Pro Hockey News will take a look at the findings and profile each key player for their team.
Blues, Espoo: Jere Karalahti – The once NHL blue liner has been in the headlines a lot in Finland, though mainly for the wrong reasons. Karalahti’s career has been colourful to say the least. He left NHL after refusing to enter the leagues substance abuse programme and returned to Europe. Karalahti has spent the last few years in the German DEL league with the Hamburg Freezers. Karalahti has all the tools in his arsenal. He is physical, he can move the puck, he moves well and has a brilliant shot. If the preseason is anything to go by and he can stay healthy and in good shape he will be one of the elite players in the league. If you would need to sum up Karalahti in a sentence, it would be: Where Karalahti goes, something is bound to happen. Let’s hope that we’ll see him stay on the straight and narrow for the entire season.
HIFK, Helsinki: Mikael Granlund – A tough choice between him and Ville Peltonen. Peltonen might be the core element in the HIFK roster, Granlund is definitely the one to watch. He broke through last year and won the rookie of the year honours, which lead to him being picked in the first round by the Minnesota Wild. Interesting to see how he will handle the sophomore season. Might be slow out of the gate as he suffered an injury during his off ice training regimen few months ago. Never the less, Granlund is the most gifted player to emerge from Finland and the most gifted youngster in the league this year. HPK, Hameenlinna: Teemu Lassila – HPK has undergone such a revamp it is difficult to pick a player of interest. A lot of foreign talent (mainly from Latvia) has arrived, so it will be interesting to see whether HPK’s famous scouting has paid off yet again. Lassila is undoubtedly the best goalie in the league and will give HPK the chance to win every night. He will carry majority of the goal tending duties for the season and is capable of acrobatics and will usually have a save or two in the highlight reel.
Ilves, Tampere: Toni Rajala – Rajala returns to the SM-Liiga after a year in the Canadian Junior leagues. Rajala played for the Brandon Wheat Knights with success finishing in the top 5 in the teams’ point scoring and had a strong run in the playoffs as well. He was picked by Edmonton Oilers in the 2009 draft and together with Granlund, he is one of the brightest junior talents in the league. Is yet to establish himself fully at the SM-liiga level, but is one to watch how he will cope back in the Finnish leagues. Jokerit, Helsinki: Teemu Pulkkinen – Along with Rajala and Granlund, Pulkkinen has been projected to be one of the top young talents. Pulkkinen’s career has been plagued by injuries and was bit of an unknown quantity last season. During the off season he acquired more mass which will help him compete. The off season saw him as one of the most productive Jokeri players. JYP, Jyvaskyla: Sami Vatanen – Vatanen was another breakthrough sensation last year. He continued his season in the World Championships in Germany. He is an offensive defence man that can be compared to another young talent called P.K Subban. Good with the puck in the offensive zone and solid defensively, he is a joy to watch. Vatanen was picked by Anaheim Ducks in 2009 draft, so time will tell when Ducks tie up his contract. Kalpa, Kuopio: Janne Laakkonen – Kalpa lost a lot of talent in the off season when three veteran players, including Sami Kapanen, called it a day. Lot of changes have taken place in the changing room and the player to watch this season is Janne Laakkonen. Laakkonen is originally from the Kuopio region and after spending many years playing in south of Finland he has come back home. Great with the puck and can really dazzle the opposition. Karpat, Oulu: Kamil Kreps – Out of all the import acquisitions in the off season, Kamil Kreps has to be one of the biggest names in the league. Kreps is more than capable of still playing in the NHL, but he wanted to get more ice time and show his offensive prowess. The Finnish media is predicting him to compete for the top point scorer slot. Wants to get back to the NHL so there should be no lack of motivation. Lukko, Rauma: Perttu Lindgren – Lindgren spent last season in the Dallas Stars AHL affiliate and was one of the team’s leading scorers in the playoffs. Lindgren will be looking to show what he can do offensively in the SM-Liiga in hopes that he will crack the NHL. Will be able to put up the points, but will he cope with the pressure and turn his stick into saw dust when things don’t click?
Pelicans, Lahti: Jyri Marttinen: One of the top defencemen in the league. Will be clocking up the minutes and will have to make sure he keeps the opposing offence in check if Pelicans want to have a shot at the play offs. Saipa, Lappeenranta: Dale McTavish – McTavish is no strange to SM-Liiga. He used to put up good numbers in the 1990s, but the main question is how much is his age weighing down his skates. He’s sure to have the scent for the goal but will he have the jump to get to the situations. Tappara, Tampere: Harri Sateri – Many have predicted a difficult season for Tappara and not least due to the head coach leaving two weeks before the season starting. Sateri will be the bright spot game in game out. Sateri will miss the start of the season due to the NHL training camp. Will need to perform well under pressure this season if he wants to make San Jose his next address. TPS, Turku: Atte Engren – The young championship winning goalie will be thrust into the spotlight after David Leggio opted to leave for the US. Other player to watch out for will be Mario Valery-Trabucco, who has put up solid numbers in the North American University leagues. Assat, Pori: Jesse Jyrkio – Along with JYP’s Sami Vatanen, a solid offensive defence man. His biggest assets are with the puck . Many have said that he has the potential to go far if he can put his heart and soul into the game night in, night out.
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