“Of course it hurts” – The attacker who has learned to defend is looking for a new promotion from Switzerland and Leijon

Jukka Jalonen led by the coaching of the Finnish national ice hockey team selected Switzerland for the EHT tournament on 15-18 December, as many as six debutants of the A national team.

Defender Sami Niku and the attacker Janne Kuokkanen have played in the NHL for five seasons, but only now are the two putting on the adult lion jerseys. The other yellow noses on the Euro Hockey Tour are the Kärppie defender Topi NiemeläIlves attackers Joona Ikonen and Tommi Tikka and Luko’s attacker Sebastian Repo.

Niku, 26, and Kuokkanen, 24, searched for a long time for a place in the world’s toughest hockey league, but at least at this stage, the food was not enough to establish a place in the NHL.

Niku played for the Winnipeg Jets and last season for the Montreal Canadiens, but the elevator movement between the NHL and the AHL became too familiar. In Taalajää, the native of Jyväskylä played a total of 67 matches, where he scored 2+14=16.

Kuokkanen had 119 NHL games under his belt in the Carolina Hurricanes and mainly in the New Jersey Devils, which produced 14+28=42 points.

The return to Europe has gone well for both Niku and Kuokka. Considering that, the lion calls were expected. Niku is the second best Finn in the defensemen’s point exchange in the SM league, after scoring 5+19=24 points in 30 matches for JYP. Kuokkanen, on the other hand, is the best scorer of Fribourg, who is eighth in the Swiss league.

Niku and Kuokkanen, who have been through the youth national teams, burst out with genuine enthusiasm. You noticed it on Tuesday at the first ice practice of the Lions and at a meeting in the lobby of a Helsinki hotel.

– Now it’s great to be able to represent the country. The last time, seven years ago, when I got to wear the lion shirt, it left me with nice, incredibly nice memories, Niku grinned widely.

Of course, Niku was referring to the 2015–16 World Championship of the Young Lions. Even then, the team was piloted by Jukka Jalonen.

It has been five years since Kuokkanen’s last national team representation, who went to North America through Kiekko-Laser and Kärppie already for the 2016-17 season. During his time, the Young Lions finished ninth and sixth in the World Championships played in Montreal and Buffalo in the small rink tournaments.

– It’s great to be able to participate in these treats as well. For me, the youth national team games were already really meaningful games, and there is a bit left in my teeth now. As a child, I have always watched all possible national team games and wanted to be a part of it myself one day, Kuokkanen said.

Finland has a famous crew at the EHT tournament in Switzerland, which consists of eleven SM league players and nine Swiss and seven Swedish main league players. Next spring’s WC competitions in Tampere and Riga are in almost everyone’s dreams.

Gold coach Jukka Jalose is known to have a lot of faith in his old trusted players when he assembles the World Cup team. Both Niku and Kuokkanen must succeed exceptionally well in the A national team, if they want to break into the Finnish race crew.

Niku trained on the ice as a defender Sami Lepistön, 38, with. It seems that Niku will be joined at least in the EHT opening game by a defending world champion, who represents the SCL Tigers, who are 10th in the Swiss league this season. Lepistö has scored 5+7=12/+3 points in the 29 league matches they have played.

– Cooperation worked well, at least in training. There’s nothing more surprising about it, just your own game (at EHT) and then you have to show that you can play at this level, said the hard-working Niku, who totaled no less than seven power points in the last three league games before the national team break.

Niku gets to the national team in top form, unlike, for example, another Leijonien yellow beak Topi Niemelä. In the SM league, Niku has collected more than a point per game in the last ten games (3+8=11), while Kärppie’s attacking defender has accumulated 1+1 points in the same period.

Kuokkanen was cooling down in the rink during the first practices by Markus Granlund and Mikael Ruohomaan with when Teemu Hartikainen whistled.

– I have played in many different teams and with different playing styles. I’ve always adapted before. I don’t see it as a problem to play here in Leijon. The coaching and the Finnish style of play seem good to me. I believe that my style of play suits it well, Kuokkanen said.

– Great to join. Every team is full of Europe’s top players, and now it’s nice to see the level with my own eyes after spending many years in North America. Basic playing is my mainstay. I don’t take pressure from power points. Usually, when the basic game works, those points come as well.

Kuokkanen lives next to the Friborg ice rink and is only a stone’s throw away from the EHT arena for the weekend.

– It’s nice to be able to play in my hometown and I’m sure familiar fans will be in the stands. One day and one moment at a time, let’s move forward and enjoy at the same time. There are nice guys around.

A large number of top European players play in the Swiss league. Kuokkanen is Friborg’s scorer after collecting 6+11=17/+7 in the 24 matches he has played, but with that he only reaches 12th place in the Swiss points exchange only in the Finnish internal exchange.

– Yes, there are tough players from Finland. Our team’s playing style is also such that we play low-goal matches. We are perhaps the team that conceded the fewest goals, but on the other hand, we are the team that scored the fewest goals, Kuokkanen explained.

Kuokkanen says that in recent years, defending has become an even more important thesis for him. After the NHL visit, the two-way forward now appreciates the plus/minus statistics.

– For a couple of years I was in the cold in the NHL, sometimes quite a bit. My goal is to be a player with a plus mark. Playing defense has been emphasized, especially at the Devils, where I learned to play a reliable two-way stick. I believe it will now bear fruit in the Swiss series.

– I see that my game is very different now compared to last (NHL) season. Now I stay on the puck and I get to try good solutions in the offensive zone. There are many variables that have changed my playing style, analyzes Kuokkanen.

Kuokkanen spent the last two seasons in the NHL quite decently in terms of points, but still the New Jersey Devils bought out the Finnish contract last summer. Kuokkanen scored 14+28=42 in the 108 Devils games he played, but the credit ran out like a wall.

– I don’t know the reason for that. Sometimes it’s a rough business. Maybe they just didn’t see a place for me on this year’s team. Of course it’s sad. It’s not an optimal situation that there is still a contract left, but you don’t want to use it. There is no help here but to try to get up from here.

Last season, New Jersey was well over 30 points short of the NHL playoff spot, but at the moment, the team is the second best team in the dollar league in terms of points.

– The Devils have a lot of potential. It was already seen last year that it (profits) was often small. Now, perhaps that significant step forward has been taken there, and the team is able to turn tight games into wins. I believe that the next 5-10 years will be very positive for the club, Kuokkanen stated.

Kuokkanen will be free game in the NHL in the future, if he can raise his own level to an even higher level and give strong performances in top European hockey, i.e. in the World Cup or EHT tournaments.

Lions in the Swiss EHT tournament:

Goalkeepers:
30 Lehtinen Lassi, TPS Turku
32 Larmi Emil, Växjö Lakers, SHL

Defenders:
6 Honka Julius, Luleå HC, SHL
7 Sund Tony, Rögle BK, SHL
18 Lepistö Sami, SCL Tigers, NLA
36 Eronen Elmeri, Timrå IK, SHL
50 Koivisto Miika, Växjö Lakers, SHL
52 Vainio Juuso, HC Fribourg-Gottéron, NLA
55 Ohtamaa Atte, Kärpät Oulu
57 Parikka Jarkko, Ilves Tampere
77 Niemelä Topi, Kärpät Oulu
80 Niku Sami, JYP Jyväskylä

Attackers:
10 Finland Eemeli, Ilves Tampere
13 Ruohomaa Mikael, Leksands IF, SHL
15 Aaltonen Miro, EHC Kloten, NLA
20 Ikonen Joona, Ilves Tampere
21 Tyrväinen Juhani, Luleå HC, SHL
22 Swedish Arttu, EHC Kloten, NLA
23 Kemppainen Joonas, Kärpät Oulu
25 Rajala Toni, EHC Biel, NLA
27 Janne Kuokkanen, HC Fribourg-Gottéron, NLA
29 Repo Sebastian, Lukko Rauma
60 Granlund Markus, HC Lugano, NLA
62 Tikka Tommi, Ilves Tampere
70 Hartikainen Teemu, Genève-Servette HC, NLA
81 Pakarinen Iiro, HIFK Helsinki
82 Harri Pesonen, SCL Tigers, NLA