The Anaheim Ducks’ Finnish defenseman has overcome numerous adversities, but the NHL door is still just ajar.
Jussi Saarinen,
Johanna Juntunen
Urho Vaakanainen has found himself mostly on the sidelines as the Anaheim Ducks have been fighting for early season points in the NHL. The 25-year-old Finnish defender knows the spirit of the game: the place to play is simply cleared.
However, Vaakanainen is not in a new situation.
– I am in the same situation now as I was a year ago at this same time. I start the season as an extra player. Through hard work, I try to play myself in the playing lineup, so that is currently my main goal, says Urho Vaakanainen in an interview with Urheilu.
– We aim for the new season with a good mood. My game went well during the training camp, so I’m looking forward to this season, he continues.
Profiled as a reliable basic defenseman, Urho Vaakanainen has not yet been able to properly clear a place in the NHL team’s regular lineup in his NHL career. Last season, credit in Anaheim’s shirt came for 68 matches.
– Sometimes you think why you can’t play and what you should do now. You have to try to move forward one day at a time, you get used to that too. This is the kind of sport here, Vaakanainen, who signed a one-year extension contract with Anaheim in the summer, formulates.
– You have to understand that this is business and you shouldn’t take it personally. You have to try to enjoy every day. It’s quite a cliché, but that’s how it goes.
The NHL sky went “a bit like this and like that”
In the summer of 2017, Urho Vaakanainen basked in the big lights of the NHL draft as a first round pick. The young man from Joensuu was on the same stage as creators such as Miro Heiskanen and Cale Makarin with.
The way was open for Vaakanainen, who was picked up by the Boston Bruins. However, he has experienced that clearing the way to the standard lineup of an NHL team is very often rocky. A first-round pick is never a one-way ticket to an NHL team’s regular lineup.
Adversities with AHL assignments, club changes and injuries have slowed down Vaakanainen’s NHL journey, which started in Boston six years ago.
– Here, a few years have gone a bit this way and that way. Every time he has been able to play a little bit, the next step has already caused some kind of injury, he regrets.
– I haven’t got a proper rhythm and flow for playing. Last season was already good, as I kept getting more grip on playing, says Vaakanainen, who played almost 70 matches in Anaheim.
Two head injuries in particular have hindered Vaakanainen’s development in past seasons.
– Fortunately, I’ve recovered well from the head injuries and they haven’t left anything in the back of my head, and they don’t worry me. I have proceeded with the head injuries on the safe side and through a longer formula, so that there would be no sensations when I return to play.
High-quality care for head injuries
Speaking of head injuries, Urho Vaakanainen is getting serious. Blows and injuries to the head are never a joke.
– Head injuries are really difficult to rehabilitate. Every day when you come to the hall, you wonder how it feels. Do you also make a scale for yourself about how you feel today? After all, it is heavy in the long run, he describes.
– No one wants to take too many head injuries in their career, but they don’t worry me or stress me out, even though they have happened along the course of my career.
Vaakanainen assures that they are not taken lightly in the NHL.
– We have a lot of different things related to head injuries, such as videos and meetings, etc. Various tests are already done for the players at the training camp. If the player has had a concussion in the past, he will be subjected to additional tests, he explains.
– I think head injuries are well taken into account in the NHL and the best possible treatment will certainly be given during the rehabilitation phase, says Urho Vaakanainen.
Will the Ducks take the next step?
The 2024-25 Anaheim Ducks are a more interesting group than they have been in years. The top promises of young ducks Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish’s mixed I’m Zellweger’s is expected to take significant developmental steps in his career and lead his team in the fight for a playoff spot. There is plenty of talent in the Ducks, but is the team that has been stuck in the bottom floor of the NHL in recent years still good enough for the playoffs.
– There are a lot of young players in the team, but even so, the playoffs are our goal. It has been set as a goal even before the start of the training camp, Vaakanainen emphasizes.
– It would be a big step for this club, he says.
The Anaheim Ducks have been left out of the playoffs for six previous springs in a row, which tells you how low the Californian club has fallen in the NHL over the years.
Maybe now the course will turn.