It is again that time of the year when William Salming is available to chat with the print media. Finnish two-way winger, Quebec City Citadelles alumni and nowadays member of Seattle Argonauts talked with us about his prime year in the SHL. Salming arrived to the SHL after winning Four Star Cup with the Citadelles in his last junior season. He is also two-time WJC Gold Medalist with Team Finland from seasons 57 and 58 and one-time IIHF Gold Medalist on S62.

Reporter: Thank you for taking your time with us, William. As always, our great readers love your fun, nice, exciting, wonderful, amazing, unbelievable, awesome, marvelous, fascinating, fantastic, incredible, stunning, surprising, brilliant, cool, enjoyable, pleasant, superb, sensational, terrific, outstanding, phenomenal, tremendous, chilly, unreal and exotic personality. It has been a couple of seasons since we have last talked because our last interview session was after your rookie season. Could you shortly describe what has happened after that season before recent prime year?

Salming: No problem, my pleasure. Well yeah, I guess our last interview was made when I had just passed milestone of 1000 TPE in the Argonauts' testing laboratory. And I can proudly inform that this week I have achieved milestone of 1900 TPE. But a dream about 2000 TPE is not going to fulfill. However, I am fine with it. But yeah, we have played now five full seasons since our last dialogue. After rookie season (66gp 10+20=30, -5) I had a tough sophomore year. I scored only 25 points. But as a team we improved and were 11th best team in the league with a record of 31-26-9. In the playoffs we then lost G7 to Dragons on overtime. It hurt a lot then but we learned a lot about it. On previous season we had beat Pride on the first round 4-2 and then lost in the quarter-finals to Renegades 4-0 so in the end season was a disappointment also as a team.

Season 61 was a little bit harder in the regular season after last season's playoff disappointment. We were only 14th best team but still continued our playoff streak even though our record was 31-30-5 which was slightly above 0.500%. In the playoffs we lost second season in a row in the first round when Edmonton was better in five games. Two of those games went to OT but we were still worse team. Individually, I improved my point record by one point and scored 31 points (8+23). Season 61 was also a first season when I got upgrade to first PK unit and cemented my place on it. And since that season we have played together with excellent shutdown center Jean-Uthred Söderberg-Tremblay as a forward pair on the first PK unit. Also from this year I have to mention Kriss Darzins and Reid Sutherland. Darzins scored amazingly 41 goals and 79 points. Also Sutherland collected 70 points. They were true leaders in the attack.

On season 62 we continued to be pretty much on the same level as on previous seasons. We were 12th best team in the league with 30 wins, 29 losses and seven OT points. However, individually I continued my improvement. I scored 37 points with an TOI of 19:12 per night. But as a line our plus-minus (-23) was pretty rough. I mentored couple of new faces Daud Ramza and Brian Davenport in the third line and our season as a line was a roller coaster. Davenport had already one season under his belt but it was Ramza's rookie year so there were some things to learn for him. But we were much better already when playoffs began. In 12 playoff games for example I had six points (2+4) and plus-minus was only -1. Davenport had seven points and Ramza played even better with nine points so his first playoff campaign was success. As a team, after two first-round exits we managed to for a while advance to second round. It was our turn to win Dragons on G7 and overtime. GWG was scored by Pojo Biscuit and before that Sutherland scored twice in the late third period. Such a clutch performance by them. However, in the next round then Los Angeles was too strong for us in five games.

Season 63 was a good year personally. I scored 12 points more than year before (66gp 13+36=49, +13). It was because I got ice-time on the second line instead of third. JURT and Podcalzone were my main linemates if I remember correctly. Our forward group was very deep because eight of our nine forwards scored at least 47 points. First line Pritchard-Hobbes-Slate had 66-68 points and then myself, Darzins, JURT, Podcalzone and Sutherland were within two points (49-47). As a team we played also our best season. Before the season we acquired Cale Amundsen to the net and he was excellent all year with 30 wins in 52 starts. In the end we were 6th best team in the league with 43 wins in 66 games. Goal differential was +69, nice. Those stats brought us our first division title in the franchise history. San Francisco lost seven points to us. In the playoffs, on the first round we beat Calgary in six games. We were down 1-2 but won then three in a row. In the division finals, Los Angeles was once again too tough opponent. Series went to six games. We lost twice on OT so it was pretty 50-50 series but in the meaningful moments we just weren't good enough. That year was our best chance to advance TOP4 for the very first time so it hurt to lose.

Reporter: Before we talk about then about this season, I have to ask about S62 one more question. After playoff elimination, you once again represented Team Finland at the IIHF event and you guys won the gold medal. How cool that was?

Salming: It was a dream come true to win something in the adult's in a lion jersey. I had two junior gold medals already and we had a lot of players from that group in IIHF team too. We had learned winning already couple of seasons and then on S62 we were ready to show our best. We were second best team in our group behind USA with seven wins in 12 games. My own role was pretty marginal. I played only 12 minutes per night without special teams time and scored three points. But plus-minus was +0 and my goal was to survive from my shifts and let more experienced guys to win their match-ups. In the playoffs we beat rival team Sweden 6-1 in the quarter-finals. It tasted very well. In the semis we played against other neighbour, Russia. Carpet was again a human wall in the net because we won 3-0. And then it was time for a once in a lifetime game for some us like I tweeted before the final. For example for Carpet it was probably biggest game of his career because his club success wasn't so good. Our opponent was the best team in the world, Canada. But we continued our impressive run and won the gold medal with a score 3-1. Carpet was brilliant third game in a row. He really wanted to win that trophy. I was also very happy to score our last goal and be a third star of that historic match:

43:33 3-0 W. Salming (E. Makela, K. Kampainen)

The win also meant that I had won already my third major trophy out of four possible ones. From my teammates Lemo Pihl and Mat Smith joined Quad Gold Club thanks to their previous SHL titles. I still miss that trophy which is of course the most hardest one to win but I dream about still winning it and it is my biggest source of motivation at the moment.

Reporter: Then we can finally talk about your prime year which was S64 in the SHL. Before the season, what kind of improvements you made in your training?

Salming: I played a lot together with local amateur players in the beer league at Finland. And there my skills to getting open improved a lot. I could say even by two points if we use a scale from 1 to 20. On previous seasons I had sometimes some problems to make myself available on the ice but after the summer, I would say my level was 17 out of 20. I also made some cardio workout to boost my stamina so I was even more ready to log big minutes on the biggest year of my career.

Reporter: And before the season you had also some contract talks with GM Tig?

Salming: Sure. My previous deal had expired and we needed to negotiate a new one. My goal was to get a deal which would have been four or five years long but management was only willing to give up three years. Why I wanted a long contract? Because my player idol is Reilly Smith, similar two-way winger from Vegas Golden Knights, who had a five-year deal with Vegas with a cap hit of five millions per year. I was happy to take minimum amount of money which was in my case six millions per season and it was even number too like Smith's 5.0M. But after management told their reasons for little bit shorter deal (which I can't open here unfortunately more), I agreed with three years and six millions per seasons.

Reporter: Like many people know, you were 44th overall pick in the S56 SHL draft and Seattle took you in the third round. Someone could say you were a big steal for Seattle and crucial part of its first-ever draft class. But could you have imagined then that some day you sign a deal worth of 18 million dollars?

Salming: My draft number #44 has been a huge source of motivation for me everyday. I have wanted to prove that I am one the best players in my class despite being drafted only on the third round. I have all the time believed that I have a chance to become a player with 1900+ TPE and today I can say it was worth it to train hard every day, week and month. So to answer your question, I have always believed it is possible to earn big amounts of money by playing hockey even though I was a third-round pick and odds weren't in my favour but I have grinded my way to a big role in Seattle and couldn't be more happy how my career has went so far.

Reporter: And then, finally, it is time to talk about your prime year. You played whole season in the second line with Jean-Uthred and new rookie Max Manning. How your chemistry worked?

Salming: I think it improved during the season. It was privilege to mentor Max together with Jean-Uthred. We tried to teach him that offence isn't everything and you need to also defend because good defending leads to good offence, right? I think Max did a lot of forechecking, Jean-Uthred was as usually great defensive-minded center and I was a two-way winger who had little bit more responsibility to also produce points than previous years because we traded for example Darzins to Montreal prior to season. Our first line was a lethal one, Podcalzone-Hobbes-Slate and they had biggest offensive responsibility due to their minutes also on the first PP unit and then I tried to offer some secondary scoring with my linemates. And in the end, I played individually a year I was very happy about. I had 60 points in 66 games (27+33, +7) so for the first time during my career I got milestones of 50 and 60 points on the same season. Last point of the regular season came on the second last game against Philadelphia at home and it was a late game-winner 3-2 at 59:19 from the assist of lovely Söderberg-Tremblay. My totals were 27 goals, 33 assists, 60 points, plus-minus +7, 193 shots, shooting percentage 13.99%, 119 hits, 93 block, five penalties, 32 takeaways, 46 giveaways, one PP goal and point, and average ice-time of 20:36 from which on the PP was 0:37 per game and on short-handed 1:36 minutes per night. PDO was 98,90% and CF% 55,40%. Average game rating was solid 62 (OGR 69 and DGR 53).

Reporter: And you were also 44th best player in the fantasy. I guess many people didn't even consider to pick you before the season?

Salming: Well, I like to cheer only for my own team so I don't play any SHL fantasy games because to cheer other team's players to score points is against my moral. But yeah, I knew I had a good summer training sessions behind me and I was confident I could play a big year. But maybe then others didn't had such a information to use and they ended up pick other players who had played previously well. As a two-time IIHF Fantasy Winner (for which I participated because it was a mandatory task and prize was 1M if I remember correctly) my tip for all fantasy players is that don't look past, watch the present and future.

Reporter: And how was this season 64 as a team?

Salming: Like I said, we had some changes in our line-up after previous good year. Amundsen retired in net and rookie Willie Miller replaced him. Also in the defence long-time captain Cassius Darrow retired and Landon Fischermann replaced him. Also Darzins was traded alongside Biscuit who was replaced by Teddy Murphy from Baltimore. Maybe I forget now some other moves but all in all, we knew the beginning of the season might be tough when we learn to know each other better. But we won two out of first three games which was a positive surprise and actually, on the first three gamedays our record was in everyone of them 2/3 wins. Personally I started strongly and had 12 points (3+9) after nine games. But our new captain mr. Podcalzone began even better. He lead the whole league with 20 points and lead us by his example on the ice.

After good start we cooled down little bit. After 21 games our record was 11-9-1. We weren't careful enough with the puck and lost some games due to that. Personally I played still pretty well. For example after 17 games I was 18th best player in the league based on fantasy points. I had 21 points and eighth most assists (14). Podcalzone lead the league also in that category with 18 apples on that time. After 25 games we had 13 wins so we trended to right direction but after that we had again a couple of tougher days at the rink. However, after 32 games I was still a TOP20 in fantasy points because I had 34 points (13+21) in 32 games. Also plus-minus was +11. So our line with Max and JURT was good and I think we did our part but of course sometimes it isn't enough and you need to do even more to help the team win hockey games.

And then it was soon time for a playoff push. It was pretty clear for a long time that Los Angeles will win the division title and we will battle against Pride about second place and home ice advantage. After 40 games I had 42 points so I still dreamed a little bit about a PPG season. But main goal was to clinch second place in the division. Next five games were bad unfortunately. I had only two points in them and after 45 games my totals were 18+26=44, +4. That was weakest stretch for our line during the season and also Pride won some games when we lost so gap widened to them. After a bad stretch we improved once again little bit. I scored my 49th and 50th points of the season in a game against Minnesota which we won 4-1 in front of home crowd. The feeling was unbelievable. Thanks to that I had 53 points after 54 games before last week of regular season. Plus-minus was +10.

In the last week we couldn't catch San Francisco so they were second best team in the division and we were third with 76 points. Our record was 35-25-6. Pride had five points more and Los Angeles won the division title with impressive 96 points. Personally, in the last 12 games I scored seven points and like mentioned above, got the 60th point of the season in front of our home fans against Philadelphia. That left a good taste about regular season and I was ready to contribute also in the playoffs and help the team win that way.

Reporter: And like you said, you didn't even play on first PP unit and still had 60 points. That is impressive.

Salming: Yeah, I played on the second PP unit but we couldn't get our tactics working correctly whole season so I had only one PP point and 59 even strength points which was for example only eight less than Ryu Jones who won the scoring title with 93 points so like I said, I was happy about my season especially on 5v5. But also first line played well on 5v5 because Slate had 63, Hobbes 61 and Podzalcone 58 points on even strength.

Reporter: And then came the playoffs. Your opponent was familiar for you, San Francisco Pride.

Salming: Yes. Unfortunately we were sheeps in the first two games instead of being lions. But we were much better in our first two home games. We controlled corsi statistics and won 5-2 & 4-2. After that in game five it was time for a big steal. We managed to do it and won 1-4 in the San Francisco. In that point everything looked good but after that...

Reporter: Yeah, what on earth happened in the last two matches of the series?

Salming: Something which is unforgivable. The level of our game dropped dramatically. Of course, we can always blame some weird bounces and variance but in the end there are no excuses. We should have been much better than we were. It was a hard result and very big disappointment to lose 2-6 and 5-0 last two matches. Our fans deserved more especially in that game six. I still feel some shame that I couldn't help the team more. Even though I had my career first four-point playoff game in G3 (2+2) but it brought us only one win when we needed to win four times. Six points in seven games (3+3) wasn't good enough even though I lead our team in playoff scoring together with trade deadline acquisition Rotticus Scott who was excellent depth piece in the third line.

Reporter: Let's talk about your two-way performance then. Among all the wingers in the league you were 23rd in points and goals but at the same time you had 5th most PK time (1:36 per game), 6th most takeaways and 16th most blocked shots in the regular season. I am not sure if that is enough to contend about some individual prizes for example in a two-way category but at least in my opinion you were one of the best two-way wingers in the league this season.

Salming: Thanks, I appreciate it. For me, defence comes first and offence second. And like I have said many times, I prefer team success over individual honors but if someone sees my season like you did, I am humble about it. My goal is to contribute on the both ends on the ice and play like Reilly Smith who is in my opinion a premium two-way winger in the National Hockey League.

Reporter: In the end I would like to ask about your future. You have still two seasons left with the Argonauts. I guess championship title is the ultimate goal to win during next seasons?

Salming: Yes it is because I only miss Challenge Cup from my trophy room, haha. I am not interested about individual prizes. I want my team to have success and that's why I have agreed with Team Finland to play as a defender this year in the IIHF event even though I could have my best year offensively on international stage but because there are some injuries in our back end, someone needs to drop down to defence and I was willing to do that. And I don't have anymore so much pressure to have success on international games after already winning the gold medal there.

But when it comes to Seattle, this season 64 was a little bit re-tool year for us. We had three new rookies and they needed to learn about demand level of SHL. You have to be an athlete 24/7 to have success. I guess all of them (Max Manning, Landon Fischermann and Willie Miller) played solidly. Miller also gave us a chance to win in the playoffs. Especially his development will be crucial for us because without a good goaltender you don't win anything. That is a lesson I have learned in Quebec City and international games. In the Quebec we had Mat Smith in the net and he was clutch in junior playoffs. In the first WJC gold medal run I guess our netminder was RART, brother of JURT, and then in IIHF gold medal run Carpet was amazing as human wall. I think Miller showed already some flashes about his potential this year and if he continues his development, our future will be bright and we will advance at least once to conference finals.

I also expect that Max continues his development and becomes a big offensive player for us in the future. And when it comes to Fischermann, his role should increase in the defence in the future too and if he plays as well as in juniors when he enters his prime in the SHL, our defence looks solid too when seasons go on from this point because Murphy's, Centerman IV and Urquhart are good pieces for this league alongside Landon. I think our core will stay together pretty nicely and when we get a couple of new rookies also next season in Sconnie McHits and Wendolene Ramsbottom, maybe next year is also some kind of a re-tool season but a season after that should be a year when we should be able to at least repeat our regular season record from season 63 (40+ wins in 66 games) and hopefully go far in the playoffs. It is also last season of my current contract but I can't see any reasons why I wouldn't play my whole career here because I enjoy the atmosphere in our home rink, weather is great and of course my teammates are good human beings. In my opinion we are building a hockey organisation which wins something big sometimes in the future. Hopefully sooner than later.

Reporter: Well, I think we are done. Thank you very much for this session, William. Our readers will appreciate it and will for sure enjoy to read this piece with almost 4000 words.

Salming: Like I said, it was a pleasure. Hopefully we get to play also next season in front of full house in our home games. Fans are the most important thing for us and we enjoy everytime when we get to play in front of them.

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