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***Rangerjase*** · 07-16-2020, 09:15 PM

1645 Words-Ready for Grading. X2 IIHF Media

Goodbye USA and Hello Finland

It was a hard decision to leave Team USA after 3 wonderful seasons playing in the WJC. It is time for me to go play for Finland and being my career in the IIHF playing with the big boys. To, the USA, I was born here you raised me to be the hockey player I am today. I played in the NCAA in college in America. A lot of my history is here and it was not the easiest decision to make. I am leaving a lot of my teammates behind and it really does pain me to make a decision like this. I want to thank team USA for taking a chance on me in my rookie year. I did not expect to play in the WJC right off the bat but you guys believed in me. I went from the fourth line up to the second line in just a few seasons and I could not be more thankful for the opportunity that you guys gave me. The team was just a little too top heavy when it came to the IIHF and I personally thought that it was time for me to move on and earn some ice time playing for Finland.

After much discussion with my teammate Jmac nCheese both in the Locker room in Detroit and briefly during last years WJC tournament where we placed 4th, just shy of a bronze medal. I was so proud of our team even though we weren’t in the top three. This didn’t contribute to my decision to leave, just so everybody knows that. Hours upon hours of discussion took place while playing NHL, watching Jelle’s marble runs, and Mayuu streams. I’ll tell you we stayed up late more nights than I could count. Neither of us felt any animosity towards team USA, but it was just time to make a move somewhere else.

Jmac’s story was a little bit different than mine… I wanted to document his experience as well compared to mine. As a close teammate of mine, I am really glad we both went in the same, but different direction.
“Jmac was approached by a representative from Norway asking if he wanted to play for a country rooted in his bloodline and guaranteed playing time up in IIHF as well as possible WJC. Jmac thought long and hard, with discussions from Zoltan while shooting the shit in the locker room, as well as during a one on one session of practice they had. He ultimately pondered that this would be the last year of WJC for the USA and no guarantee of IIHF play time in the next few seasons, with how stacked and plentiful the USA system is. So he agreed to get dual citizenship and play for Team Norway (Team World), since all he wants to do is be on the ice as much as possible and get better at his profession, his art, his love for the game!”

I want to stress that there are no hard feelings towards team USA whatsoever. I have the utmost respect for every single one of you guys and wish you all of the best in the future. I could have had a wonderful career with you guys but It would really have taken a long time for me to be able to earn the roster spot in the IIHF where I could really produce. I play the long game and this is where I think I will flourish. You guys were amazing and really had a phenomenal locker room going with a lot of young players and a lot of old players. This was really a great environment, it just wasn’t the perfect fit for me.

On that note, I really feel like I found the right fit with Finland. I am pretty familiar with a lot of the guys in the locker room from my time in the league so far. This is a young squad for sure, but one that is certainly going to grow into something amazing. I can’t say enough great things about Finland. It is an amazing Country. I was able to visit over the offseason as unfortunately my falcons were eliminated from the playoffs early than we had hoped. I started off Visiting Helsinki the largest city in Finland. Helsinki sits on the southern bored of Finland on the Gulf of Finland. On the other side of the Gulf lies the country of Estonia. I briefly thought about visiting Estonia as I briefly heard some rumors about Sergei Kostitsyn being sighted there. Unfortunately I was unable to find the time to visit. I am so sorry Andrei, maybe you can explore this. It is close to Belarus so the rumors may be true.

One of the first places I went to visit while I was in town was the Finnish Museum of Natural history. The most interesting thing there was their zoology collection as well as the extensive amount of Taxidermied animals. Such a rich and historic culture is really something I had to see. A trip to The largest city in Finland would be boring without a night on the town! Lucky for me, Michael Fitted was around to show me around his favorite spots. Fitted told me he likes to spend the summers in Finland to press that reset button and detox a little bit from the constant high energy of the SHL. Being teammates on Tampa Bay with Fitted, really helped me feel comfortable in the Finland Locker room and the country. Finland in the summer is beautiful and according to the boys in the finland locker room, the Tinder matches are off the hook.

Fitted took me out to Kuudes linja, one of the most popping night clubs in the area. Of course everyone knew fitted and we walked right in the door even though there was a line around the block. Man was I lucky that he was in town! This place was awesome! There were about 3 live bands that were playing and i’m still trying to learn Finnish so I wasn’t really able to talk to a whole lot of people. Fitted and I were just pounding Red bulls and Vodka’s the whole night. Being so close to Russia, Vodka was the drink of choice for a lot of the patrons. After a few hours hanging over at the club(and more than a few drinks) I went back to my hotel and just crashed.

I woke up more than a little after twelve with a wicked hangover. I had practice the next day at a local rink to keep sharp so I needed a kind of chill day. I took a ride on a boat with some locals that recognized me from the news. I guess there was some big announcement about the WJC and IIHF rosters and they asked me if I wanted to tag along with them for a few hours. This was so refreshing getting to boat around the Gulf of Finland with some fans. They were really picking my brain, why did you choose to come to Finland over the other countries?

If I had to give a definitive reason, it would be my relationship with the Kekkonen cousins. I played a few seasons with Kaarlo on the Detroit Falcons and just recently Kolja was drafted to the Falcons as well. We grew really close, especially during our Four Star Cup run. When I told them I was planning on transferring to Finland they couldn’t be happier. Kaarlo and I kept in contact even though he moved up to the SHL last season. When it was finally time for me to transfer he was the first one to send me a text message via my new Iphone 5.

After spending a few extra days traveling around Finland it was time to head to (i really tried to find out where this was being held and just ended up giving up. I think its London or somewhere in Great Britain so I'm going to go with that) Where all of the hockey was being played. All of the best players from around the SHL gathered to compete in this off-season tournament. Luckily, the current SHL CBA allowed for all of us to participate in this tournament. Hail Zoltan.

It is such an honor to be playing in the IIHF tournament this year. I am also playing in the WJC so I am going to have to go extra hard on the ice this time around and make sure I get plenty of rest. I have also taken a fancy to eating overnight oats in the morning to start my day for breakfast. You basically put a packet of oatmeal and chocolate into a cup with milk and then put it in the refrigerator OVERNIGHT. When you wake up in the morning and you are hungry for some food, you just go into the refrigerator and grab your overnight oats. Some people like to eat it with a spoon, and some other people like to just drink it. The company says they don’t care how you consume it, but just don’t eat it dry. It will not taste very good if you do that. My favorite flavor is the Chocolate banana one. If anyone else has any interest, please contact me for a referral code. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Before I let everyone go I just want to give a big shoutout to everyone in the Finland Locker room. Thank you, all of you for giving me a shot and letting my play for “our” beautiful country of Finland. I look forward to the continuing seasons and I know we are on our way to building an amazing team. LETS GOOOOO

Wearingabear · 07-16-2020, 09:20 PM

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