As the third Finnish player, Mikko Rantanen can ever beat 100 power points in the NHL regular season. However, Rantanen, who plays for the NHL’s top team in Colorado, would prefer to win the league championship in the spring.
Simo Leinonen,
Roope Visuri
will show two NHL matches live on Saturday. At 7:30 p.m., the program features the New Jersey Devils-Florida Panthers. At 10pm it is the Colorado Avalanche-Pittsburgh Penguins.
Coloradon About Mikko Rantan may become the third Finn to score 100 points in a single season in the NHL regular season.
Only Finns have been able to do the same in the past Jari Kurri and Teemu Selänne. Kurri did the trick five times in the 1980s. Your back was similar three times. For the last time in the period 1998-1999.
Rantanen have scored 80 points in 65 matches this season. There are 34 goals and 46 assists in the pile. Colorado has 14 games left in the regular season.
– It can’t be denied that it would sometimes be nice to get 100 points in the NHL, but I would rather win its biggest prize in the spring. I’m not thinking terribly about stock exchanges, but about winning more, Rantanen, who is playing in the NHL championship candidate, tells Urheilu.
Of course, Rantanen, one of Colorado’s key players, is also aware of his role in the team. Rantanen plays in the team’s number one chain and number one strength.
– I have a responsibility for the result. I realize that we have a better chance of winning games if I can help us with the scoreboard, Rantanen says.
So far, 12 Finnish players have won the coveted Stanley Cup or NHL championship.
Rantanen is also currently ranked 12th on the NHL points market this season. Colorado’s best scorer is Nazem Kadri 83 power points. The NHL has already seen the first breaker of the 100-point mark before the culmination of the regular season. Edmonton Connor McDavid has made the readings 39 + 63 = 102 effective.
McDavidin’s chain mate Leon Draisaitl is next in line with 99 points. In the NHL, goals have been on the rise in recent years. Toronto Auston Matthews has already fired 50 hits this season.
– Is it just that the players are more skilled? Rantanen ponders.
Rantanen has no exact answer as to why more goals are being scored in the NHL now.
– After all, the league has become faster. Sometime 20 years ago, there were probably bigger guys and maybe it was harder to get to the goal area. That’s when you got to handle more. It’s hard to compare. Even then, there were top players. There are top players in the NHL every year, Rantanen says.
Defensive gaming is decisive in spring solving games
Colorado currently leads the Central Division in the Western Conference and is also the top team in the entire NHL. So the playoffs are pretty sure.
Last season, Colorado was one of the championship favorites in the series, but Vegas sent the team on a summer vacation already in the second round. Colorado has dropped three seasons in a row at the same point.
– We have the same guys who have gone through all three losses. We know what to do, Rantanen says confidently.
Rantanen recently slipped in an interview and accidentally talked about regular season matches as practice matches.
– Of course, the end of the regular season is important. It is mandatory to get the game in the condition required by the playoffs. We know we’re good at attacking, but in playoffs, defending is more decisive. We are still trying to invest in it at the end of the regular season, Rantanen says now.
He praises his team’s recent grips in that area as well.
– We’ve been pretty good in the defense lately. Defense is pretty much the job of the spirit world. If you want to defend well, you can do it. It’s not terribly difficult to have the right players in the right places, Rantanen describes.
Praise to Makari and Lehkonen
The Colorado team also has one of the best defenders in the NHL: Cale Makar. He is likely to compete for the Best Defender award this season in Nashville Romain Josia against. Rantanen glows Makari, who plays the cannon season without hindrance.
– He’s a top kit and by far the best kit I’ve ever played with. Probably also the best kit I’ve ever seen live. It is hoped that the prize will go to Makari. The dynamism of his skating is something I have never seen, Rantanen smokes.
Colorado also strengthened its team with one Finnish player at the back of the transfer. Artturi Lehkonen came from Montreal to Colorado.
Rantanen believes that another Turku resident will also help Colorado in the spring solving games. So far, Lehkonen has been seen in a Colorado shirt in two matches.
– Arsi has adapted well. He’s a top player. Of course, he’s still getting used to the systems. The first couple of games aren’t easy, but well gone. It’s a nice addition when I still know him outside the field, Rantanen says.