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jRuutu · 07-16-2020, 12:32 PM

Good day, my name is Randy and you are listening to Randy FM. I´m currently standing inside a hockey arena in Tampa, Florida. Next to me is one of the players who might be picked in the upcoming SMJHL draft - Raivo Helminen from Finland! Welcome, how was the ice today?
RH: Thank you, thank you. Ice was good, it was great to skate a little bit, quite a few scouts in the stands today and players get to talk with different teams and media in general afterward, so been a good day so far.

R: Speaking of scouts, was the decision to wear the Finnish national team's jersey and equipment part of the plan? To get their attention?
RH: No and yes, this was the only jersey I had and also I need to show some love towards my home nation and the sponsors. If the scouts were able to focus on me bit more than on the other players on the ice that is only a good thing, but the point of the open ice today was just to skate and shoot around, no games or drills, so I don´t think the scouts got too much out of whatever happened on the ice. Perhaps the players who showed up today got a plus on their papers from taking the opportunity to skate and answer some questions, but that's about it.

R: You fell a few times, do you think that is going to get into your report?
RH: I hope not, I had a heavy breakfast today and that played a part on my balance being bit wonky, I´m usually a well-balanced skater and it takes some effort to knock me down for example, so I´m not worried.

R: let's talk about the upcoming draft little bit, just how nervous are you right now, this draft is a big deal to many players, do you feel the pressure of getting into the best possible situation?
RH: I´m not nervous yet, but there is no denying the fact that the draft is a big moment in my career, I left Finland to come here and if I don´t get into a position where I can use my strengths as a player and show what I can do, that can have a huge impact in my hopes of getting drafted into SHL next year. I want to improve as a player, but I also want to play. Nobody learns that much by sitting on the bench or just skating around in the practice, you need to play the game at a high level and for real to take steps forward.

R: The SMJHL draft is looking to be deep this year and there are also quite a few centers who are available to picked, your thoughts on that?
RH: It's true, the draft is starting to look like a great one. The competition is real and every player wants to get picked into a solid position where they can play and win. I´m no different, I know what I can do as a player and where my goals are as a player. Like you said there are other centers with me in the draft, naturally, that is going to have an impact on my odds on finding that solid position where I can play and win, but that is out of my hands now, all I can do is wait and trust that I get picked into a team that has a role on the table that plays into my strengths as a player.

R: I know you might not want to speculate about it, but can you give a rough guess on when you will be picked?
RH: Yeah I have no idea, there is so many players and teams have different needs, even more so now with two new teams joining the league and expansion draft making things interesting, but truly a rough guess would be that I get picked some point in the first five rounds. If I get picked on the first three rounds, I think that would be an excellent result, but I don´t really focus too much on when I get picked, more important for me is to get picked into the right place that has a plan and a role for me as a player. If that happens after getting picked as the last player in the draft - so be it, I´m happy with that.

To the end I would like to ask few questions that the fans sent me, I mentioned last week that I´m going try to get an interview with you and I asked them to send some questions that I could ask from you just in case I indeed manage to get a hold of you and now we are here! If you don´t mind let's get to it,

First one is from a user called EK_Alju: Raivo, I have seen some pictures of you and I don´t want you to take this the wrong way, but you don´t look like a junior player, if I would have to guess you look at very least over 35, is that something you hear a lot?
RH: My mom told me that even as a child I looked a lot older than everybody else, so I´m used to it by now. I had to start shaving in the first grade, but other than that I have not felt any different or left out because I looked older than the rest of the kids.

Cool, cool. The second question was sent to us by MinnesotaJei212: Where do you see yourself in five years?
RH: Hopefully playing in the SHL, that is the goal and what I work for every day in practice and at the gym. Once I make it into SHL I´m going to set the next set of goals, but right now the focus is on purely making it into the SHL. Five years is both a long and short time, goes by really fast, especially if I´m going to spend the next two years at least in the juniors, but hard work and one day at a time, should be good times ahead.

The last question is from MendaL who wants to know: Why Finland seems to produce so many hockey players into SHL despite Finland being a fairly small country?
RH: Finland is a hockey crazy nation, despite the sport being expensive, still a lot of kids play the game. There is a clear path in place starting from juniors that could lead to the pros, which helps a lot, and of course the long winters at least potentially make skating outside something that everybody can do, which only increases the popularity of the sport. Overall, hockey is the number one sport in Finland that takes majority of the best athletes, which again increases the odds of someone making it into the big leagues someday.

R: Thank you for the chat Raivo, good luck in the draft!
RH: Thank you, it was a pleasure.

(1170, X2 = Draft related media, Ready to be graded)

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