* Sebastian Aho hit his first goals for the Carolina Hurricanes last night in the NHL, scoring his side's opener, and fifth goal, in a 5-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Aho recorded three points in the match, which puts him on to nine overall in 14 NHL matches so far.
Born in Rauma, Aho is a product of the Karpat Oulu junior system, playing through until making his Liiga debut in the 2013/14 season. The 19-year old played his first full season for the Oulu side last year, finishing as top scorer for the team with 45 points (20+25) in the regular season, and 15 (4+11) in the playoffs. Last season his side won a bronze medal in Finland's Liiga, a year after taking top prize, while Aho topped the league for overall plus/minus record.
In the CHL, Aho notched three goals and seven assists in 18 games over two seasons, playing the 2016 final as his side lost out by a goal to Frolunda. The year previous, his side went out to the same opposition in the semifinals. On the international scene, Aho already has a collection of medals to his name. A World U20 Junior Champion from the 2015/16 season, Aho was also voted a Top 3 player for Team Finland in the tournament. Wind forward to the summer, and Aho was part of the Finland side that won the World Championship silver - being voted MVP as he scored two goals as his side eliminated hosts Russia. He also has a silver medal from the World U18 Championship a year previous. With his two goals recently in the NHL, Aho is now another player formally plying his trade in the CHL that's making headlines in the world's top league.
* Born in Tampere and a product of the Tappara junior system, Laine made three CHL appearances and six in the Liiga for Tappara that year, in which he also was Top Scorer and a Tournament All-Star at the World U18 Junior Championships where Finland took a silver medal. Last season really was the major year in Europe for Laine, who scored 2+2 in Tappara’s eight CHL matches. In the Liiga he notched 33 points in 46 games (17+16) in the regular season, and 10+5 in the play-offs as he was voted Rookie of the Year, and took home the Jari Kurri award for Play-off MVP. Aside from also picking up a Liiga Play-off Champion medal, Laine scored the most goals, assists, and points for a Rookie in the league and also shot seven goals as Team Finland went on to win gold at the U20 World Junior Championships. That was however not the end of Laine’s success at international level last season. He was part of the Finland side that knocked out Russia and eventually won a silver medal behind Canada at the 2016 World Ice Hockey Championships, being voted tournament MVP, Best Forward, and on to the All-Star team as well. Drafted second overall in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, Laine has hit the ground running in the NHL with 17 points from his opening 18 matches; including a goal on opening night against Carolina, and two hat-tricks so far this season!
* Jesse Puljujarvi was a big part of Karpat Oulu's Liiga team last season, a year after picking up the Finnish championship with 11 points in 21 regular season games for the 2014-15 Liiga winners. Last season he put up 48 points (21+17) in 50 domestic games for his team, and 4+5 in 10 playoff contests as they went on to win a bronze medal overall. Puljujarvi also played a key part in their Champions Hockey League run all the way to the Final – icing in all 13 games en route to the silver medal, and contributing with two assists along the way.
Having only turned 18 in May, Puljujarvi was also a key player on the Team Finland roster that went on to win gold at the 2015 IIHF U18 World Championship, notching 5+2 as his team went to pick up the top prize a year after they took silver. In the same year, Puljujarvi also helped his country to a World Junior title with 5+12 in seven tournament games as part of the multi-talented roster the Finns had. Voted to the all-star team of both tournaments, the Karpat-system product was also voted Best Forward and player of the U20 championship last year. This past summer, Puljujarvi was drafted fourth overall in the NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. To date, has he scored one goal (on opening night) for the Oilers in the world's top league, and contributed five further assists to his team in 16 games. He is yet another of the top prospects from last year that have gone from CHL to NHL in a little under 12 months.
* A 17-year-old defenceman is in his first season of senior hockey, Heiskanen played in six CHL games for IFK this season, notching three assists. To date he’s also played in 23 Liiga games as well, putting up 7 points (3+4). Born in Espoo, Heiskanen has played in the IFK system and was last year voted Rookie of the Year in the Junior-A SM-liiga. He also played in seven games for the gold medal-winning Finnish team at the U18 World Championships last year, getting one assist. In the summer of 2016, coming off the back of 3+11 in 30 games for IFK’s U20 team, Heiskanen was rewarded with a three-year contract with the IFK senior side. Of Heiskanen, IFK Helsinki say, "Miro is a good kid, a very good athlete and he’s progressing at pace that is amazing. We don’t know what he’s limitations are, if there are any. For now he seems to be heading for a first round pick in the NHL Draft next summer. He has played all season beside Joe Finley. Big Joe has been something like a father figure or an older brother to Miro. So far no one has even tried to hit Miro too hard." With Finley coming in at 203 cm and 116 kg, it's hardly surprising! On the latest November rankings, Heiskanen slots in #20 on Hockeyprospect.com’s list – the highest player currently playing in Finland. Future Considerations has him 16/31, while at 11/31 on McKeen’s hockey Heiskanen is the second-highest ranked defenceman.
No comments:
Post a Comment