In Finnish terms and why not more widely, it was definitely one of the talking points of the week Jesse Puljujärvi two-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Puljujärvi, who was looking for experience in the Farmiliiga AHL, signed a contract on Sunday and was already in action on Tuesday morning Finnish time in a match against Winnipeg.
Puljujärvi operated together in the three-point line in the match that ended in Pittsburgh’s 3–0 victory by Lars Eller and Rikard Rakell with.
Sports expert Ismo Lehkonen was pleased with what he saw.
– Didn’t get caught skating, the skating position had actually improved and looked good. Puljujärvi did good things and made the right moves and didn’t play with the puck, says Lehkonen.
– The whole time there was readiness to defend. Ketju also scored the winning goal, a big honor for Puljujärvi. That was a nice bonus. Such a start will certainly give the man more power, Lehkonen praises.
Lehkonen gave value to Puljujärvi’s rehabilitation process.
– Let’s take our hat off to the boy for pulling an insane set to get through that rehabilitation process. It’s quite a hell to go through after such a major operation. When the business still looked this good, that’s how well it has gone.
You should still set your expectations for spring in Puljujärvi in moderation.
– It goes well when he improves the game Napsu here and there in small things. You shouldn’t start getting greedy either, but pull a short exchange.
– I hope that Jesse himself understands that in a heavy rush of matches, at some point a wall may hit. Therefore, constant maximization of recovery with eating and sleeping is now important.
Who surprised?
Detroit is back. At some point towards the end of the year, the pride of the car city seemed to be already falling off the playoff train, but so what.
The balance of the team’s 13 previous matches is impressively recorded as 9-2-2. Detroit has even had to play without recently Patrick Kane mixed Ville Hussoa.
Detroit holds the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
– Now it looks brighter again, but you can’t slack off at all, you have to bring an A-level game to the table all the time. Their game still has bad habits from previous years when it comes to defending.
From the headline level to Detroit Olli Mäattä there is no need to look, but on the ice he delivers at an excellent level without much attention.
Määtä has had his own difficulties over the years, but he has found his place in Detroit. Määtä’s +8 side of 2024 is the team’s best quote and the previous 13 games also includes a nice points balance of 1+5. Good readings from a player who always plays with his own head first.
– It’s funny to think that Olli is only now in his prime. Ten years of NHL and a couple of rings are behind us. His self-image of the game has become so good that he knows exactly what he is doing on the field.
Who cheated?
Los Angeles club management failed. Los Angeles, which started the season fantastically, has won only five of its previous twenty matches and has fallen from the top spot in the Western Conference to fight for the last playoff spots.
Last week, the measure of the club’s management was full and it gave the head coach the boot To Todd McLellan, who coached his fifth season at the club. An assistant coach was appointed as the responsible coach Jim Hiller.
– They played really passively through the defense. The Kings started playing goal games, but it turned out that they started losing those goal games, Lehkonen sums up.
– At that point, the club management couldn’t take it anymore. In a way, it didn’t come as a surprise when you think about the comments heard during the season from the club management that the championship is their only goal, Lehkonen states.
In the NHL, coaches have been changed over the course of the season. McLellan was already the sixth coach to be fired during the current season. Edmonton, Minnesota, St. Louis, Ottawa and the New York Islanders had previously changed coaches.
– I guessed that this would happen, because so many clubs have so to speak tough times. For some, it’s all in the game, some pull the last waltz.
– And I don’t think that everything has been seen yet. In the near future, I’m guessing that 2–3 layoffs may still be coming.
Goal of the week
For the goal of the week, we raise Colorado Cale Makarin goal against New Jersey. Star newcomer Luke Hughes didn’t know where he was going when heading behind the goal. Artturi Lehkonen a strong tackle stopped the journey of the defender and the puck and soon the puck was in the net.
– I saw that Arttur got completely upset in a losing position and he turned on the turbo screw. It was great to see that there were no traces of the big injury, but that he is still going full speed. It didn’t occur to Hughes that this could happen when he went behind the goal. Fortunately, there was no bigger man coming, Lehkonen laughs.
Ismo Lehkonen is Artturi Lehkonen’s father.
What next?
Arizona has been a hot topic in the NHL for a long time. The club, which is profiled as a kind of problem child, plays in an arena that attracts less than 5,000 people, and the activities in the desert have never caught wind anyway.
Still, it has enjoyed the NHL’s unlimited – sometimes even financial – protection. At the weekend, the player’s association boss Marty Walsh opened his verbal casket on the subject in an exceptionally powerful way. Walsh practically barked the whole pipe and demanded that the NHL move it to another city because there is still no new arena plan.
– That game should be called off. Nothing will come of that skiing in the desert in the Mestis hall. Can’t you really find a hockey city in North America that sells 20,000 season tickets in an instant? You will definitely find it. There are several cities, even with great arenas, just waiting to get an NHL club there.
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