Login

Salming · 12-27-2020, 12:59 PM

(x2 media - Holidays Edition)

This article is all about William Salming. He sat with us to talk about his best performances ever. This interview is a part of series where players tell about games or matches where they have been extremely good. Salming picked two matches from his short career and tells about them more in this interview.

Reporter: Hi William. Thanks for doing this.

Salming: No problem, my pleasure. It is always very fun, nice, exciting, wonderful, amazing, unbelievable, awesome, marvelous, fascinating, fantastic, incredible, stunning, surprising, brilliant, cool, enjoyable, pleasant, suberb, sensational, terrific, outstanding, phenomenal, tremendous, chilly, unreal and exotic to talk with you guys.

Reporter: Well, thanks for that assortment of adjectives. This series has been very popular. Audience loves to hear positive memories. We have asked you to look back some of your best performances ever. Which games you are willing to talk about today?

Salming: There are especially two games I would love to talk about today. The first one happened in World Junior Championships and second one during this regular season in SMJHL.

Reporter: Uu, very interesting. Should we start from WJC because tournament is now again underway in Edmonton, Canada?

Salming: Why not. So, I have represented now twice Finland in WJC. On the first time, my role was pretty marginal. I had 1+1=2 points in 12 games in round robin. In playoffs I played pretty good game in quarter-finals and we won but in medal games I just filled my role in bottom six and tried to give some rest to our top guys. I was more than happy that we eventually came home with bronze medals. Silver was also close because we lost on 3OT in our semi-final against UCORCAL.

Okay, that is the background story. Last season I played my second WJC tournament. I had much bigger role and played in TOP6. My linemates were Raivo Helminen and Santtu Rasanen. I ended up with 3+5=8 points in 12 round robin games that time. My plus-minus was -3 so I wasn't happy about that but anyway there is one round robin game which I will never forget.

My best match was against British Isles. They ended up winning our group with a record of 6-5-1. We finished last place but our record was also solid 5-6-1. All four teams were within three points so the group was pretty tight and every point mattered a lot. Our third game was against the group winners Brits. In that game, I scored my first ever virtual hockey hattrick.

We got a great start to that match because I scored on the first minute. I got a puck to the left wing and shot from there an accurate wrister past British goalie. My second goal came in the end of second period. We had a pretty long cycle game in the offensive zone. In the end, I shot from near the blueline from the left side and apparently goalie didn't see anything because there was some traffic in front of the net. And then shortly before the halfway mark of the third period, I scored my third goal. My line-mates Helminen and Rasanen collected assists and I finished the play with a beautiful one-timer.

We won the match 6-1. Of course, I was the first star of the game. I had total six shots on goal and plus-minus of +4. I blocked one shot and had one hit. I played 28 shifts and had 20:46 of ice-time. My game rating was 70. Offensive game rating was 71 and defensive game rating 68. So yeah, that's it. I will never forget that match against Brits where I scored my first ever hattrick.

Reporter: Thanks for sharing that story Salming. It was also for sure pretty special that you scored hattrick in national team?

Salming: For sure. Lion jersey means so lot for me. I love national teams in every sport and prefer those matches over club games in all sports. To score a hattrick for your own country was unbeliavable and amazing. That is all I can say.

Reporter: You play in Quebec City Citadelles. You are top of the standings at the moment in SMJHL. In match number 12 you beat one of your division rivals Newfoundland Berserkers 6-3. Tell us about that game.

Salming: Yes, that is the second match I will never forget. Why? Because it was the first time when I scored four points in one game. And I shared a four-point game with my good friend Jst Maro who joined the league at the same time and started his career in Quebec from the 4th line with me two seasons ago. Together we have been build our way towards bigger roles and this season we have played almost all season at the second line together with Igor Petrov. Lately mr. Slate have joined us on the left wing after he was traded to our organisation but still in that historic match it was Igor who played with us on second line.

Maro is a gifted playmaker center who has been our best scorer this season together with Zdenko Beranek (at least that is the situation when writing first part of this story before Christmas). Igor on the other wing brought important athleticism and physicality to our line early on the season. He has also decent puck skills.

Okay, that is the background story and now we can move on. So, the start against NL was good. Our line scored the first goal when there was played 04:35. Let me repeat exact play call: "And he'll deal it down into Berserkers end. Jonas Caspari snaps it to a waiting Mew Two. Drop pass to Jasper Maximov. Jasper Maximov shoots it! The puck is deflected by Mew Two. Tim Allen Jr. attempts to play it to a teammate, but Jasper Maximov reaches in to grab it. Mew Two wheels it back to Teylora Petrov at the line. Teylora Petrov tries to force onto to Mew Two, in the corner. Mew Two passes the puck quickly to William Salming. He sends it to towards Jasper Maximov. Jasper Maximov let's one go from the outside. Jst Maro gets a stick on it... Jst Maro tallies it in!!"

So there was a mix line on ice because we were changing. Me and Maro jumped over the boards at the right time during cycle game in offensive zone. I passed the puck to Maximov who shot from the right side and Maro was in front of the net. He didn't miss his open chance and we lead one to nothing.

Two minutes later Newfoundland tied the game so they responded quickly. And when there was 13 minutes played, they scored again by putting the puck past our number one goalie Mat Smith. It was time to step up. As a TOP6 winger you need be able to score regularly because that's why you play big minutes and if you don't score, your team loses hockey games. So, we stepped up and tied the match in the next shift. Here is the play call: "They snap it up the boards. Held in by William Salming (on the right wing). Yuuto Kira Cloudera Jr. beats Jesse Trudeau and the Citadelles are in control. Cloudera Jr. shoots it on net... Robs him! Great save by Tim Allen Jr. The rebound squirts to Jst Maro, he snaps it on goal! Tim Allen Jr. with the stick save... Jst Maro has the rebound. Jst Maro gets a stick on that... Tim Allen Jr. lets it in! Jst Maro scores!"

So, we build also this goal from the right wing. I used my balance and strength skills but also two-way skills by holding the puck until I was able to pass it to Cloudera Jr. He shot the puck towards goal and Maro was again in front of the net in a place where most goals are scored. He fighted his own rebound back to him and in the end managed to score important goal for us.

There was no more goals until in the end of second period. At the time 37:54 we scored our third goal. Maro won the faceoff (he is by the way faceoff leader in the whole league) and Maximov-Petrov defensive pair passed the puck between them in the blue line until Petrov shot it towards goal. Igor Petrov was there and scored from the right corner. Our line scored also this goal but I and Maro didn't collect points on this one.

In the third period we scored 4-2 goal after five minutes when Ryan Rieley scored near the blueline between the dots. That goal gave us some space to breathe. But the game was not over and it was still very important to keep our focus. We kept our high standards and Newfoundland didn't find ways to score when we defended with good attitude.

And then our fifth goal came on the 53rd minute. Play call by TSN'n Gord Miller sounded like this: "The game will continue with a faceoff. Jst Maro is tossed and we'll try that again. Quebec City has possession off the draw... William Salming inside the blue line, he slaps one! Tim Allen Jr. can't handle it, goal for William Salming!"

Well, faceoffs are important aspect and can be crucial sometimes. In this case, we won the draw on offensive zone. I got the puck to the left wing and just tried to shoot quick one-timer to the net and somehow it went in. It wasn't the most beautiful goal but I didn't care. Igor and Maro got assists. Shots on goal were 39-24 on that moment so I guess the goal was well deserved.

After that goal the game pretty much over. Berserkers scored one more goal when there was 2:30 left in the clock. Because they were two goals behind, they deciced to pull the goalie out of his crease. Evok and Faelax, behind the bench, put our line on ice and we didn't let them down. We scored an empty net goal. It was Maro who got the credit and thanks to that empty-netter he scored hattrick. One more time play-by-play call: "Ric Charlesworth passes the puck quickly to Liam Slate. Squeezed into the high slot to Dwayne Gretzky. William Salming dives in front of it for the block! A bouncing back between the circles. William Salming snags the puck... Bjorn Jakobsen has it for Quebec City. He sends it towards William Salming. William Salming passes to Jst Maro. Jst Maro fires a slapper into the traffic... Jst Maro has the empty-net goal!"

Yeah, I can take also a lot of credit for myself from that last goal because I blocked the shot and grabbed the rebound. I passed the puck to Jakobsen to neutral zone who gave it back to me. I skated on the right wing and found Maro near to me. He then put an accurate shot to the empty net between two defenders who had rushed down to protect the goal. It was also interesting that our current linemate Liam Slate was on ice when that historic goal happened. And the guy who shot the puck from the high slot, mr. Gretzky, is one of my regular chatting friends in Twitter nowadays.

So, we won 6-3. Maro was the first star with 3+1 and I was the second star with 1+3. Maximov was the third star. His points were 0+3. Our line scored five out of six goals so stars were truly deserved. Even though I had a four-point night, my overall game rating was only 65 which was pretty funny. Offensive rating was 77 but defensive only 43. Of course, we were on ice a couple of times when NL scored and that's why my plus-minus was only +3 so understand why DR was so low as 43. I had three shots on goal and one missed one. I blocked two shots and had also two hits but not a single takeaway or giveaway.

And you know what is funny too? Immediately after this historic game I played 21 (!) games without scoring a goal. Maybe simulation gods punished me and balanced things after I had the game of my life so far.

Reporter: Wow, that was a long and detailed story. I am sure our audience loved that one.

Salming: I am glad to hear that. I am perfectionist and like to tell stories as accurately as I can remember them.

Reporter: We are heading towards end of this season and interview. Could you share your thoughts about your team's season so far?

Salming: Why not. We are top of the league with 78 points. Our record is 36-7-6 and goal differential +64. I have enjoyed a lot to play with the guys this season because we have been on the same page on the ice since day two. Lines have been pretty steady and that's why we have been able to build good chemistry among forwards and defencemen because you don't play every night with different guys. We lead our conference with a marginal of 21 points which is huge but at the same time we need to remember that playoffs are not yet here and we need to stay focused to be the best versions of ourselves when playoffs begin.

As a some kind of veteran player in our group and third season pro, that really is one aspect I try to keep on the table quite often. We haven't yet won anything and winning the regular season title is just one achievement on a way towards the cup. However, at the same time we can be proud how we have played this season and it gives us healthy self confidence. But yeah, I can't wait what happens in a next few weeks.

From individual perspective, I am pretty satisfied. I am on 26th place in scoring (49gp 9+25=34) which is a good position for a two-way winger in my opnion because I describe myself more as an reliable and responsible complimentary player than a forward who scores every night the game-winning goal. Of course, in TOP6 role you need to score also points and 26th place shows that I have been able to score them somehow. Last season I had 27 points so I have already improved from that. In plus-minus rating I am on 12th place in the league with +21. I follow that stat more closely than my points totals because like I said I want to play also good defence on even strength. If there is one thing I am disappointed, it is that I have only nine goals. I played 21 games in a row without a goal like I told earlier. That's why also my shooting percentage is only 8.04%. It was as low as 5.26% at some point a week ago or something. Lately I have warmed a little bit again and been able to score a couple of goals which have been relieved. For instance, I scored my first career short-handed goal when won one game 4-1 against an opponent who I can't unfortunately remember right now but it was an important win because Armada can still pass us in the standings because they have three games in hand when we are doing this.

Reporter: Are you disappointed that you weren't selected to an All-Star game?

Salming: It would have been for sure an unique experience to play for the very first time in All-Star game in my current hometown Quebec City but I am happy that seven of my teammates were selected and our fans can see so many players from their favourite team in the game. I am thankful that there were two members in the committee who gave me some votes and now I just needs to continue grinding so maybe next year I get a chance to experience All-Star match before leaving the SMJHL. If the standard of my game hadn't dropped a little bit in the middle of the season, maybe they would have picked me but like I told I had that one stretch where I didn't score in a long time and also defensively I wasn't able to collect takeaways at the same pace than in the beginning of the season when I lead the league in takeaways after the first week with 14 takeaways or something like that.

Reporter: You said earlier that scoring a hat-trick in a lion jersey meant very much to you. Have you already thought about this season's upcoming World Juniors Championships tournament?

Salming: No, I haven't at all. I will stay tightly focused for what is happening right now in Quebec City and when the playoffs are over, it is time to possibly represent Finland again if I get an invite. We won bronze medal two seasons ago and like in Quebec, we need to demand more from ourselves this time to upgrade that medal colour to silver or gold. Winning something in a national team is maybe my biggest dream as a hockey player and I work everyday hard to be the best version of myself and help the team on that way.

Reporter: Mr. Salming or should I say William, thank you very much for this interview. We really appreciate that you had time to sat down with us and talk about your best performances ever. I am sure this will be one of ours most read articles.

Salming: No problem, this was my pleasure. I like to give fans some positive things to think about when situation is what it is. So yeah, thanks for having me. It was nice to chat with you and share some memories which I won't never forget. Thanks and happy new year.

Words: 3105

DeletedAtUserRequest · 12-28-2020, 04:45 AM

|

|

|

|

3lewsers · 12-28-2020, 06:09 PM

Hey, it's my Twitter buddy!

Navigation

Extra Menu

About us