Finland NN: Rusty Rask

Little in the way of surprises has occurred in the first quarter of the Finnish SM-Liiga post-lockout edition. Many key players were lost to North American clubs with some veterans injected like Tommi Santala, Brad Norton, Peter White, Mark Murphy, Karl Goehring and Tom Askey. Ässät Pori used their connections to Dallas Stars in getting two youngsters in Matt Nickerson and Rob Hisey.

GOALIE SHUFFLE

HPK netminder Karri Rämö(Tampa Bay Lightning) is off to a great start to his year. After backing up Miika Wiikman to begin the season, Rämö stole the starter's position with strong performances, leading the league in goals-against average (0.98) and save percentage (.962) before suffering an unfortunate knee injury.

The knee is feeling better and Rämö is expected to be back in the lineup in a couple of weeks after initial fears that we would be out until after the World Juniors. Expectations of quick recovery mean that Rämö will be neck-in-neck with Toronto draft pick Tuukka Rask for the starting duties in the tournament, partly due to Rask's recent struggles.

After getting the nod as the starter for Ilves Tampere, Rask has been outplayed by Juha PitkamakiPitkämäki on a losing club. Tuukka is still looking for his first league win after seven fruitless but hard-luck starts.

ROADRUNNER ON THE LOOSE

Edmonton Oilers farmhand Tony Salmelainen returned to Europe this summer when getting a one-way deal with the NHL club became an impossibility. The results have been impressive – Salmelainen has been consistently the best skater for IFK Helsinki and had a monster game against the Pelicans, amassing five goals and an assist.

Considered too small for a checking role in the NHL and lacking the hands to land scoring line duty, Salmelainen looks like he might make a quick return to North America. His speed and determination on the forecheck are assets that should prove successful at the highest level of competition.

CAN O' JAM

October has not been kind for TPS Turku forward Andreas Jämtin. After getting knocked out of a game by KalPa Kuopio defender Kyle Rossiter's bodycheck, he was given a beating by enforcer Patrik Lostedt after reportedly shooting pucks in the direction of the opponent's end during warm-ups.

Jämtin was one of TPS's best in the preseason which carried over early in the regular season and is known for being a competitive, physical pest. It is questionable whether he is tough enough to take on NHL's best heavyweights however, should he ever come over, due to his lack of size.

2006 DRAFT CONFIDENTIAL

Defenseman Eetu Heikkinen is beginning to get attention from NHL scouts. He made his SM-Liiga debut for Ässät Pori this season and is looking like the best rearguard out of Finland for the upcoming draft.

Heikkinen's progress has been exceptional, so much so that coach Mika Toivola promoted him to the team's top defensive pairing in only his second game, in which he logged 17 minutes of icetime. Hikkinen logged more modest minutes in the following three matches and will be gradually incorporated into the league.

Heikkinen was the youngest 88-born player in the SM-Liiga until Ilves dressed rearguard Joonas Lehtivuori, who has yet to see any icetime.