I fell in love Artturi Lehkonen to playing immediately when he moved from Europe to the legendary Montreal Canadiens. The player from Turku had a lot in common with his teammate In Brendan Gallagher.
I had openly admired Gallagher back in my junior years in Vancouver. The player, who is no more than 175 centimeters tall, was the first to poke his nose everywhere – that is, even the places where it really hurts to poke it.
In addition, Gallagher scored 40 goals, 100 points and fought when necessary.
In Montreal, the Canadian got a soulmate in Lehkones. The duo rushed into the corners and goal posts without apologizing.
Lehkonen is a few centimeters taller than Gallagher, but playing like this in the NHL requires character. Really tough class character, especially from players who are often 10-15 centimeters shorter than big defenders.
Over the years, the duo has not changed their style, even though they have had to pay a tax for their style of play. Muscles and bones have been lost, and Gallagher’s career in particular has taken a hit in recent years due to various injuries.
The letter A is and still remains on the chest of the Canadian – for a reason.
Something inside moved
Lehkonella got bigger this week. The unfortunate situation resulted in the winger going head first towards the wing. The situation looked really dangerous, but according to reports, Lehkonen is fine.
However, it takes weeks to recover if the head coach Jared Bednar is believing.
When Bednar was asked on Saturday how to fill the gap left by Lehkonen in Colorado’s lineup, the answer said a lot about Lehkonen as a player:
– No way, Bednar stated.
Something inside moved. How many Finnish NHL role players would a coach say the same about?
I dare say that no one.
Lehkonen really is an irreplaceable player for Colorado in his role. I don’t think it’s fully understood at these heights how much of a beloved and needed player the TPS graduate has been in Denver since day one. That’s what Lehkonen was in Montreal too.
Reports from North America already said that in the last days of Montreal, there were 32 club bosses in the NHL who wanted Lehkonen.
The Finn’s powerful soul playing is highly appreciated. Lehkonen is an extremely reliable two-way player whose engine never seems to stop. Aerobic bases are at a high level.
And we should not forget that Lehkonen is also a quality player in terms of his skill level. In high-quality Colorado, this has come out better than in Montreal.
There is something about Lehkones that appeals to all star cults. Many of the top players have the essence, sign language and speech of a star player, but not the soul of a Turku man. Lehkonen’s playing style underlines everything that rubs off on puck romantics in the soft NHL of the new generation.
Lehkonen beats his soul out in every single game. He plays the game exceptionally right. At the same time as the new generation of opportunists are looking for luck in goal games with a risk to their own statistics, Lehkonen hits the puck deep when the game calls for it.
Lehkonen has lost the puck 19 times during the approximately 1,800 minutes he has played in Colorado – that is, once in approximately 95 minutes. Such players are burdened by the coaches in Nepal and Naples.
The winning type
Because of this, Lehkonen also shines in the playoffs and profiles himself as a winning type to the greatest extent. Lehkonen does a huge amount of right things and it is precisely such players who tend to become decisive.
Or are the two overtime goals that decided the Stanley Cup finals spot a coincidence? Or the winning shot that decided the Stanley Cup championship?
Only from Finns Jari Kurri, Esa Tikkanen and Teemu Selänne have scored more winning goals from Lehko in the NHL playoffs. Lehkonen’s pace is unfathomable: seven winning goals in 60 games.
Lehkonen has been ready to pay the maximum price for winning the Stanley Cup – and the personal successes that came along with it. Whatever it costs.
This kind of thinking and quality of character is a natural resource that is disappearing in the time of NHL opportunism. Millions, even tens of millions, of money are carelessly distributed to young, still completely immature players. I would argue that it changed the nature of the game.
Many of the high-paid players become playing card players in the NHL at a young age. You go to work at the prescribed times, but your soul remains hidden. Because of this, the result is also often hidden.
Lehkonen’s story is fascinating and should be told to children who play hockey. The NHL is the dream of many, but how do you get there and, above all, how do you succeed there. In the NHL, you can get lucky for a while, but the wall will come up even in the new age if you don’t find character.
Who decides the games in the Stanley Cup playoffs is not a matter of chance. Lehkonen’s greatest strength is strength of character and unquenchable desire to develop.
At this point, it’s probably certain that Lehkonen’s torso won’t be able to withstand the style of play he’s seen into his forties. It is certain that the back and knee department – as an example – is messed up on a daily basis. It is equally certain that Artturi Lehkonen will leave every single drop of himself on the ice.
Also from his soul.
This is always the biggest thing in sports. Own potential maximum foreclosure.
Hockey is also a choice
By the way, can you guess how many times the winner of the points exchange in the regular season has raised the pitcher later in the spring 35 during the previous year? Twice (1992 and 2004).
So.
Some win point exchanges, others match series and trophies. Lehkonen knows about the latter.