PROSPECT QUICKLY BECOMES MONTREAL’S FAVOURITE SON
Kotkaniemi is already showing maturity beyond his years both on and off the ice
After Jesperi Kotkaniemi was named the first star in the Canadiens’ 3-2 pre-season win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night at the Bell Centre, one fan posted a video on Twitter of the smiling 18-year-old signing his autograph on the lens of a TV camera and wrote: “Look at our young hockey son.”
The Finnish teenager is quickly becoming the adopted son of Montreal hockey fans after being selected with the No. 3 overall pick at this year’s NHL Draft. It’s hard not to like the kid both on and off the ice.
On the ice, Kotkaniemi has made incredible progress since playing his first game in bleublanc-rouge on Sept. 7 at the NHL Rookie Showdown in Laval when the Canadiens lost 4-0 to the Ottawa Senators. Kotkaniemi was playing on a smaller North American rink for only the fourth time in his life and it showed as he often looked lost on the ice. To make matters worse, the player Ottawa selected with the No. 4 overall pick at the NHL Draft — Brady Tkachuk — scored twice.
Saturday night against the Senators, Kotkaniemi looked like he has been playing on a North American rink his whole life. He didn’t score — hitting two posts in the first period — but looked comfortable with and without the puck.
“The progress he’s made since Day 1 of that (rookie) tournament to where he is now on this kind of ice and against better players … I think he’s adapted really well,” coach Claude Julien said after the game.
Off the ice, Kotkaniemi has been mature beyond his years, comfortable interacting with the Montreal media and showing a great sense of humour. When asked after Saturday’s game about the goalposts he hit, Kotkaniemi smiled and laughed before saying: “We don’t have a friendship yet. The only thing I can say is I hate those posts.”
Julien insists he doesn’t read the newspapers and doesn’t know what the teenager has been saying to the media.
“I don’t read you guys … I have enough things on my plate,” Julien said during his post-game news conference. “I don’t know what he’s been saying, but you can tell he’s a smart individual. He doesn’t go with the big, I guess, one-liners and stuff like that. He’s mature in a way. He played with pros last year (with Assat Pori in the Finnish Elite League) so he does have that kind of maturity and it shows. He’s not coming out of junior hockey, he’s coming out of a league that he was playing with men. I like his demeanour. We have a great group of guys who have taken him under their wings and they’re helping him out through the whole process.
“He loves the game,” Julien added. “He’s always got a smile on his face. But the smile on his face can’t be perceived as easygoing because when he’s on the ice he’s all business. But he just loves playing hockey. He’s very receptive to the things that he’s being told. We’ve matched him with some of his comrades (from Finland) in ways where they can help him ease into the style of play and what we’re looking for. He’s had (Joel) Armia, he’s had (Artturi) Lehkonen (as linemates) so we want to make that transition as smooth as possible.”
The Canadiens had the day off Sunday and will be back in action Monday night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio).
During the NHL Rookie Showdown, Laval Rocket head coach Joël Bouchard spoke about how he wanted the Canadiens’ young prospects to play on their toes, not their heels. That’s exactly how Kotkaniemi has been playing throughout training camp, not afraid to show his creativity with the puck and his great vision, making some risky passes for a teenager at both ends of the ice.
“It’s exciting to see guys play well and play with confidence at an early age,” Canadiens goalie Carey Price said about Kotkaniemi and other youngsters like Nick Suzuki, Victor Mete and Mike Reilly. “In today’s NHL that’s pretty common, so it’s good to see it on our club.
“He’s got a great poise with the puck,” Price added about Kotkaniemi. “He’s got good vision. He’s got all the assets of a good hockey player.”
Kotkaniemi also seems like a good kid and his teammates like him as much as Canadiens fans.
“You see it on the bench when he scored that first (preseason) goal,” Julien said “The smile he’s got, it’s genuine. So his teammates obviously like him. He’s by no means cocky. He’s very humble and he does his work. He’s happy. He knows his place. When I say that I mean he’s a young player and he’s respecting the older players around to help him and certainly taking a lot of their advice.”
Hockey parents in Montreal who have quickly adopted the Finnish teenager will be happy to hear that.
We have a great group of guys who have taken him under their wings and they’re helping him out through the whole process.