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The Kids Are Alright: Kelowna's Youth Movement
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jjaybsRegistered S30, S31 and S33 Challenge Cup Champion / Yeah I will change it Code: 1537 words, ready for gradingThough Kelowna’s playoff push came to an early end this weekend, losing 4-2 to the defending Four Star Cup champions, the Colorado Mammoths, this season has been one of more positives than negatives, and nothing more important than the team’s two biggest success stories of the season, roommates and best friends Mikael Talo and Mikke Laukkanen. Laukkanen, a second year goalie in his first year as starter, had some big question marks hovering over him at the start of the season; a questionable rookie season followed by an offseason disappearing act left many wondering just who was going to have to fill the shoes of star goaltender Bjornsson, who single-handedly dragged the Knights to a Four Star Cup victory just three seasons ago. ‘Yeah, that, uh, that was a rough time,’ Laukkanen said in a phone interview with Man Advantage. ‘My confidence had hit rock bottom, and I’d basically run out of Kelowna with my tail between my legs, straight back home to my family, and just-- hid. All summer.’ Laukkanen’s family home is in Rauma, Finland, where his childhood friend, Mikael Talo, was preparing for the SMJHL Prospect showcase, and the draft, just a week later. ‘I’d been working towards this my whole life,’ Talo said, also in a phone interview. ‘I knew Lauks hadn’t had the best time, but to see him come home like this was, uh, kind of a shock. I know he’s talked about it a lot, but he wasn’t the same guy that signed with the Knights two years ago. He was really quiet, withdrawn. It was weird. He wasn’t Mikke.’ Laukkanen spent the offseason with his family, only stepping on the ice once or twice for pick up games with Talo and his two brothers, and leaving the goalie pads at home. ‘Yeah, I actually started playing as a forward again,’ Laukkanen said. ‘It wasn’t really a proper game, mostly the four of us playing keepaway, but it was really good to remind me that hockey is fun, you know? I think that’s what I forgot, sitting on the bench in Kelowna. I’m Finnish, [laughs] hockey is the best sport in the world, and I have the best job in the world.’ When Talo left for the Showcase and the Draft, hoping to come back with an SMJHL roster spot, Laukkanen was still in Finland, and the goalie gear was still in the closet. ‘I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do,’ he said. ‘My contract with the Knights was only for a year, and I didn’t know whether I’d be welcomed back after the way I left town, or if I wanted to go back, or if there was even a job left for me to go back to.’ Then, a couple of things happened to the young netminder. ‘I got a couple of phonecalls,’ he says. ‘One from the GM of the Knights, asking me what my plans were, and telling me that if I wanted to come back, there was a job for me, and another from Mik, telling me where he got drafted. After that, my plans were really easy to figure out. I was gonna play.’ Talo being drafted by the Knights was ‘a real dream come true’, he said at the draft, when he spoke briefly with Man Advantage. A season on, he’s still living the dream, sharing an apartment with Laukkanen, playing games with him, and flying back home together, where all four proud parents met them at the airport. ‘There was a sign that said ‘Welcome back Champions’,’ Laukkanen recalls with a laugh. ‘Which was nice, if untrue. It was so great to see my mom and dad again, and Mr and Mrs Talo, who were basically a second set of parents to me growing up. We all went for dinner, it was nice to pretend we’re just a couple of normal families. It’s been a crazy year.’ Talo might be the biggest surprise of the SMJHL season, coming out of nowhere and having a relatively quiet start to the season before rocketing up the scoring ranks and finishing first on the Knights in points, goals, and tying the team lead in assists with first year captain Mikko Linna, and also scoring the second highest rookie by five points. Talo finished sixth in scoring overall, the only Knight to crack the top ten. ‘I always knew Mik was special,’ Laukkanen said. ‘Ever since we were kids, he just had-- something. While I was struggling to shoot the puck [Laukkanen spent his first three years playing hockey as a forward, before making the move to goalie], Mik was outscoring everyone else on the team put together. It was awesome. He was always going to be this good, it’s been fun watching other teams - especially other goalies - realise that too.’ ‘It’s been insane,’ Talo said. ‘Absolutely unbelievable, being in the top ten in scoring in the whole league? As a rookie? It’s the kind of thing that you dream about when you’re six and skating on the pond in your garden, you know? It’s like when you fantasise about scoring the Championship winning goal. I’m thrilled to have had so much success. Now I just need to replicate it next season.’ Laukkanen would also like to replicate his success this season, improving from last season’s 4-5-2 record to 23-17-2 as the fourth best goaltender in the league. ‘Would I like to have been even better?’ he asked. ‘Of course. But it’s my first season as a starter, and I like to think I did the team proud. All I wanted this season was to prove that they were right to take the chance on me, and I think I did that. Obviously the postseason didn’t go the way any of us wanted it to, but it’s something to build on. We have a really solid team here, and I think we can definitely come back next year even stronger.’ ‘I’m not leaving the Knights until I have that Four Star Cup in my hands,’ Talo said, laughing. ‘We have nowhere to go from here but up. Every day that passes, our team gets better and better, and I honestly believe this team can win championships.’ Talo isn’t thinking about the SHL draft just yet, but it’s certainly something he’s going to have to consider soon. ‘Of course I’ve considered it,’ he said. ‘There’s a lot of buzz flying around, a lot of rumours. Obviously I’ve heard about the potential of going first overall, but I’m not paying too much attention to that. It’s a strong draft class, there are so many guys that could go first. I would love to be chosen first overall, it would be amazing, but for now, I’m still a Knight, and that’s going to be my priority for a while. [Interviewer: Any teams you’re more interested in than others?] ‘I mean, it has to be New England, doesn’t it? That’s where Lauks is, and Deets, and Mia. Playing with them has been amazing, and I would love to keep playing with them. [pause] West Kendall has a lot of former Knights on it too, but I hope it’s not egotistical to think that I won’t fall that far in the draft, especially if they keep playing the way that they are. Really though, being drafted last year was the best experience of my life. I think I’ll be happy anywhere, as long as I’m healthy and playing. And, uh, winning wouldn’t hurt, either. [laughter] With the playoff hurt still fresh in both their minds, the two are already training for next season, back in their home town. ‘We’re training together, mostly,’ Talo said. ‘Lauks has special goalie sessions with Dad and his own goalie coach that no one’s allowed to see or know anything about, and I actually hired a skating coach to work with, because I always felt like that was what let me down this season, but mostly, we train together. Running, cycling, weightlifting, sometimes we’ll book out the local rink and I’ll just take shots on him for an hour or so. That, uh, that sometimes doesn’t go so well.’ [Interviewer: How so?] One of us will get pissy if the other one scores too much, or makes too many saves. We’re just too competitive, I guess. But it’s still a lot of fun.’ ‘This is my second early summer in a row,’ Laukkanen said. ‘There isn’t going to be a third, not if I can help it.’ So there is it. A virtual unknown, and a sophomore who crawled up from the bottom of the league, catapulted into Kelowna’s limelight. ‘The thought of carrying this team is-- stressful,’ Laukkanen said, after a pause. ‘And I don’t think it’s entirely true. I’m happy to carry this team as far as I can take them, but we have so many young guys - and women - that can carry themselves.’ ‘Definitely,’ Talo said, after hearing Laukkanen’s response. ‘The team can carry themselves, 100%. All I have to worry about is me. If I have to carry the team, I will, but like Lauks said, everyone carries themselves. It’s not that kind of team, here. Not at all.’ ![[Image: 57817_s.gif]](https://signavatar.com/57817_s.gif)
RichModerators S30, S31, S39 Challenge Cup Champion
Great stuff.
JennyRegistered S30, S31, S33, and S54 Challenge Cup Champion :-x
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