First game in Liiga for this year accomplished.
Don't know why but i'm rooting extra for this kid. Perhaps because I really do believe Finland is becoming a powerhouse and one of the absolute favorites behind Canada in a best-on-best. But I'm wishing for some speedy wingers a la Antti Pihlström to our future lower lines.
Jesse, a bit like Lambert, seemed like a super talent two or three years ago. Then he fell pretty much in my books. I hope he can bounce back and especially become a producing player and get top minutes on home soil.
I tend to believe that speedy talents are often put in the lower lines in Liiga. I hope there are some coaches that can give these talents some trust as well.
This reminds me a bit of Erik Karlsson as a talent. His weaknesses were pretty obvious but to take further steps in his development he didn't only need his obvious talent, he needed to get some trust to play to his strengths.
This is actually one of the few things I do believe the Finnish coaches are lacking in overall.
I don't wanna witness a talent like Kemell play for a d*nkey like Rautakorpi. Look how it went for the Finnish u-20 with D's like Heiskanen, Juolevi and Välimäki etc. The D-department was more stacked than ever, but it still went down the drain with players playing without any confidence and lack of trust to their own strengths.
Kapanen was the first, Leevi Aaltonen the second (not the same range perhaps), then perhaps both Tieksola and Tuomaala, and now later on I have my hopes for Lambert and Jesse Nurmi.
Of course I wan't them to develop and become better players with a bigger repertoar than Pihlström back in the days, but I do see a need for speed for Team Finland in the future. We have some great upcoming centers, or actually, they are already top notch and pretty young. But I do believe this is one area we are lacking in, intensity and speed among forwards and perhaps a bit on the D as well.
I mean our current great centers: Barkov, Aho, Lundell, Hintz and perhaps even Granlund.
Lundell isn't the fastest even if he's great, I wouldn't mind some speed on his wing in the future. Even if these names are so good that they can play with a variety of players.
But our upcoming centers then? Aatu Räty perhaps? I'm rooting for him because of his obvious talent but it's just as obvious that he lacks speed and intensity as of today.
Nikkanen could become something as well, again, not a speedster. Kotkaniemi etc.
So, I believe Jesse Nurmi, Lambert, Kiviharju, Salo, Heinola, Niemelä, Vilén, Malinen, Heimosalmi, Laaksonen( hope he finds a new franchise), Vaakanainen, perhaps even Kupari as a winger for Team Finland, Heponiemi, Ylönen and so on, are talents i'm rooting a bit extra for.
Because regarding our more big bodied talents like Huuhtanen, Nyman and others? I feel pretty secure that they can and will reach the NHL if they manage to stay healthy.
But as of today we have wingers like Rantanen and Laine, players with a whole lot of skill, talent and size.
I understand my post wasn't only about Nurmi. Some thoughts about Finnish hockey in general and a tad too long but yeah, I won't apologize.
