(2158 words, ready to be graded,  [Double Media Week - Holidays Edition])

Good evening! My name is Moe MacCaa, you are watching Late Night Sports With Moe.  Did you guys hear about Tamba Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov being out for the season? Kucherov, more like Oucherov. Because he is hurt and when people get hurt they sometimes say ''ouch''.

What else has been in the news... Oh, the covid vaccine is finally out. That should be good news for sports fans as a return to arenas and stadiums gets closer. I must still say that I have not heard people getting this excited about getting a needle in their arms since the Soviet Union organized tryouts for their track and field teams.  They used a lot of steroids back then.

In entertainment news, did you hear about Hilaria Baldwin? She has been pretending to be from Spain, but in reality, she is from Boston. Personally, I don't see what the big deal is, we all pretend to be something we are not. I for one pretend I'm happily married.

We get a great show today. Nevada Battleborn center Raivo Helminen will be joining us!  Let's get started.




Welcome, Raivo! How goes it?
R.H: All is well, thank you for having me. Before we get started, do you write your material? That was great.

Noooh, we got writers here, but thank you though. I got a lot of questions for you, but few words about Nevada to start, how has the season gone so far?
R.H: Down and up, start to the season was a tough one. The schedule with so many back-to-back games really took us by a surprise. We had a solid off-season and training camp, but I'm not sure if we fully understood what it means to play so much hockey in a short period of time. Last year when we had more time to rest between games it was easier to prepare for the games and intensity in the games was higher, but as the season has progressed we have found ways on how to adjust.

As of late Nevada has been playing well, we are moving up in the standings, which is nice to see. All the players and staff members in the team have worked hard every week.

Thoughts on your own game so far?
R.H: 34 points in 47 games. That is ok total,  I feel I should have more goals as I play in a big role, I have ten goals right now. The competition for ice time in the middle is fierce, but I'm trying my best out there. Hopefully, my lack of goals does not hurt the team too much. I try to play hard in every shift and lead by example on the ice.

Speaking of leading by example, let's move back in time to the last off-season, you got a five-game suspension for your comments on social media, what happened exactly?
R.H: That is correct, I was suspended for five games. After a tough day at practice, I was back home and opened MySpace. I saw questionable content in one profile, so I thought I name and shame that user. I posted a few things on my profile about it. The discussion heated up a little bit, nothing too dramatic, but the result of it all was that I was dropped by the SHL team that drafted me a couple of seasons earlier, and soon after I received a five games suspension from the league.

The SHL team that hold my rights felt I was making the rebuild harder for them, which is a fair comment. After all, I'm just one player, so I don't have anything against their decision to drop my contract.

Five game suspension sounds excessive for comments on social media?
R.H: I thought so too, the league felt I was trolling and decided to throw the book at me. I guess the negative attention for the league is such a big worry that they need to have strict rules for social media and off the ice behavior. In all fairness, the agency that I represent has collected negative press in the past, so that more than likely played a part in the length of the suspension.

So you are a free agent now, right? Any interest from SHL teams?
R.H: Yes I am, but no interest so far. To be fair I have not really done much to look for teams as I have focused in Nevada and trying to win games. A future goal of mine is to play in SHL, that is what every player wants at the end of the day and I'm not any different.

What about next year? Still going to play in Nevada?
R.H: That is tough to say, the core in our team is thinking about moving into the big show after this season. Or well, I say they are thinking about it but in all reality, most have played three years in the juniors once this season is over, so not a surprise that players tend to make the jump around that time, but as mentioned I don't have such plans as I'm a free agent.

I have discussed the future with the management briefly, I think we have a fair understanding between us.  I could return to Nevada, but I could also go back to Europe, for example. Point is that everything is still wide open about next season, how many of our core players end up moving up is the biggest difference-maker regarding on what happens in Nevada. I'm an old junior player, if the team goes for a rebuild, getting big minutes to the next core makes sense for the future and I could very well be on my way to Europe

If Raivo Helminen ends up playing in Europe, is Finland the go-to place?
R.H: When looking at it right now, Finland is first on my list. Obviously, I know the language and league fairly well, so it would be an easy transition. I'm a lot better player compared to the junior who left Finland almost three years ago. I think I could have a good couple of years there. After a couple of solid seasons in Europe fighting for a spot in an SHL roster would certainly be a reality.

No denying the fact that Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland could perhaps mean a bigger salary, but are those leagues right for me at this point of my career? In Finland, I could get into a big role, or at very least the odds of getting a big role is higher. Also, living near my family and friends is something you can not buy. We shall see, I have set my eyes on playing in SHL, Europe is a strong option and something me and my agent will monitor actively.

Let's hear a few words from our sponsors next, after that we have some questions from the audience! Stay tuned, we will be right back.

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Welcome back, my name is Moe and you are watching Late Night Sports With Moe. With me, I have Nevada center Raivo Helminen. Before the break, we talked briefly about the ongoing season and your future. Good stuff, good stuff, but we did not talk about anything real or interesting. Who is Raivo Helminen? I thought we try to get an answer to that today. That is why we asked the audience to send us questions for you, the questions could be about anything and everything. My assistant has picked some for me to ask, are you ready?


R.H: Oh man, of course. Ask away!

The first question comes from Nick, he is from Alberta. Grandmaster Funk, Kenji Sugimoto, Sachimo Zoidberg III, Zelma Zuntnere, and Tanjiro Kamado, who is the fastest skater?
R.H: Hmmm, do I know these players? Have I seen them play or are these some 70´s legends? I'll say Zelma Zuntnere, sounds like a fast player.

Question from ClickCake22: what is your opinion about online dating?
R.H: Good question, perhaps Cake22 has been following me on social media and knows that I'm a single man. I have tried online dating, but I'm starting to think that it's not for me. Swiping and looking at profiles gets surprisingly boring fast. I also don't like the fact that companies force you to spend money if you want to have a good experience. I know I'm not the nicest looking guy out there, but would think SMJHL hockey player status counts for something in the free versions, but I guess not. I don't get that many matches.

However, I need to give online dating another go once 2021 starts, with new pictures and new everything. These weird times are perhaps the optimal time as more and more people are using the sites and apps.

Aoz Akon from Nevada wants to know why can't you score goals? I thought you were a goal scorer, but you can not score goals, what is up?
R.H:  I know, I know. I came into this league as a player who has a bit of a reputation as a goal scorer, but after the first season, my role has changed a little bit. I play against better players and as a player more is expected from in the defensive end, I simply have more to offer nowadays than my shot. I should still have more goals there is no denying that fact, but Aoz and everybody else who follows and support Nevada, I promise to score more goals in the future. You know what, now that the playoffs are only around the corner, what would be a better place to score some goals than in the playoffs?!

Username ''European Bob'' has sent us a question, does not say where Bob is from, but European Bob wants to know what you like to do for fun?
R.H:  Another excellent question. For me activities that revolve around taking it easy are fun. In the past I played a lot of video games, I still do but not as much. Lately, I have played Witcher 3, which has been fun times. I have also started to read more, I don't know what it is but when I read for an hour or so, I feel nice and relaxed.  Hard to find good stories nowadays, which could be the reason why I don't play video games as much and read more instead. Nothing better than a good story.

The last question comes from ''TreeRadio'', the card says that he is from Mexico. He has a question: if playing hockey would not be possible - what would you do?
R.H: This is a question and topic that I had with my parents a lot when growing up. I knew I wanted to play hockey early on, but my parents were not convinced. They said that I will never make it, I would never be a hockey player in SHL. They said such talk is crazy talk and I should find a real job instead.  They still call me at times and ask if I would like to come home and work on the family cucumber farm, but if I was able to come this far - why would I give up now?

To answer the question, if for whatever reason I could not play hockey, I would perhaps go to school and see if I could find a career path that way, or I would just go work on the family farm. I have no idea, to be honest, but it is, of course, something I need to think about in the future more and more as a career of an athlete is fairly short, only a few lucky ones end up making huge amounts of money.

Thanks, Raivo and thanks to the audience for the questions!

R.H: Hey Moe, were they really sent by the audience? I thought you wanted to know more about me as a person? These questions were pretty general.

If I'm completely honest with you Raivo, nobody sent us any questions, so I made my assistant write down some. With that bombshell, it's time to end this show. I would like to once more thank our guest Raivo Helminen. I would also like to thank my assistant Mary, go and start the car, honey - let's go out for dinner, let's go to that favorite restaurant of yours, how does that sound? Good, I hope, I will be right there.

Thank you for tuning in, on behalf of everybody here in Late Night Sports With Moe - good night!



(2158 words, ready to be graded,  [Double Media Week - Holidays Edition])