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akamai · 04-21-2016, 08:53 AM

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<div align="center"> Knights

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The Kelowna locker room is quiet after their sixth-round loss to the Colorado Mammoths, last season's Cup champions. Though Kelowna battled back from a three-game deficit after some timely line changes, the Knights ultimately could not hold on long enough to force a game seven.

When we approached Talo for his interview, the young rookie was quietly consoling a disappointed Laukkanen, whose head was hung low, towel slung over the back of his neck. The young rookie had a small, somber smile for us as he addressed the room at large.

"Before we begin, I want to say thank you to the rest of our players, our coaches and trainers, and our fans for making my first year as a Knight so fantastic and memorable.

"I really believe that we have a great group here. You can feel the drive and the commitment, even while we're in the middle of a large rebuild. It's easy today to feel disappointed, you know, it's always tough to be the eliminated team. And of course we would have loved to have had a better showing for our fans. But on the other hand, this wasn't a group that just gave up--we battled hard, and we went up against a Colorado team that took it all the way to the Cup last year. So I think we're where we need to be to have a lot of success next year."

With that, Talo addressed the crowd of reporters, opening the floor for questions to be asked.

Mik, please provide the top three reasons Mia is the best.

She's obviously one of our top defenders. She puts her body in the way and not just takes the big hits, but makes them. But I think a thing that not a lot of people talk about is her loyalty. She's extremely protective of all of us, every Knight on the team. And even some alumns! I think she wants to make sure that nobody's gonna beat us up and take our lunch money. Including the refs sometimes. [laughs] No lunch money for you today, officials!

And then...I think her competitive intensity is something that comes naturally to her. She likes to joke around and play pranks with us like everybody else, but when it's game time... [Talo gestures] she has those murder eyes! [laughs]

Finally, she's very reliable, when it comes time to lay it on the line. I'd trust her to have my back any day, and not just on the ice.

How are you so fire?

I dunno, but I heard some rumors that the police and the fireman were called...something else about a dragon retiring, so I can only assume they mean Calgary. [laughs] But in all seriousness, I'm fortunate to have a very close childhood friend in Mikke [Laukkanen], and to be able to play on the same minors team together has been great.

I also have a ton of phenomenal mentors around the league--I've looked up to Bennett Jones for a really long time, tried to emulate his style of play in a lot of my work, and he's been great about helping me get my rookie start even though we're on different teams in the West.

Lins [Mikko Linna] has also been a big help, both as a linesman at the end there and as just a good friend, too. And Maniac [Mainio Makinen] has been the coolest guy ever--lots of stories and good advice from him. With as busy as he is, I really appreciate that he has time to reach out and help me as a rookie, too.

DD [Dieter Dominique] has been fun to meet as well, we play at center with a little bit of a different style, but I'm trying to catch up to him! [grins] He's such a great guy, though; I feel really lucky to have gotten to know him more during this season. And Mia, of course, I know she'd fight me if I forgot her! But all the offense in the world doesn't matter without a great defense back there too, and she's been phenomenal.

So I think it's less about me, who I am, and more about the help I've gotten to get this far. I do my best to work hard, pay attention, obviously. But there's no question that I wouldn't be the player I am now without the support of a whole community backing me.

What's the coolest thing you did in Kelowna this season (that wasn't playing hockey)?

This is gonna sound lame [laughs] but my parents are really into wine, so it was really cool to get to tour the wine country up in the less populated part of Kelowna. I've always been sort of an indoors guy, but Kelowna's much less cold than my hometown for most of the year, so it's still 'the big city' to me but it's not overwhelming like someplace larger might've been. I can go out and eat great food, but I can also drive into real nature if I want to. Not that I've had time to do that yet! [laughs] But it's something I wanna do in the off-season, maybe go hiking out there.

In your opinion, who played the best prank of the season and what was it?

I think that one has to go to Dieter. I don't know how he did it--he must have had an inside man or three--but he swapped everybody's stuff from one locker to another--all mixed around. And you know us hockey players, we're all really superstitious. It was total chaos, everybody trying to find their lucky gear and stuff. And he's just sitting back there all smug. It was pretty good.

What are your three favourite things about Bennett?

He's handsome, he's Finnish, he plays good offensive hockey. What else is there?

What are your plans for the offseason?

Right now I'm planning to pack all of my stuff up and get out of Mikke's hair for a while--going to be heading home to Rauma and taking a little downtime, say hi to my family. He and I are trying to coordinate schedules so we don't leave Arnold at the kennel for more than a week or so. We'll both have some time at home, about three days of overlap so our families can see us and we can hang out together, and then I'll fly back to the US for the SHL draft. Then I'll hang out here and practice with a couple of the other guys who are sticking around for the summer, and then participate in my team's training camp. The rest depends on what my majors team is open to--I think I'd like to stay with the Knights for at least another season. We're a young, dangerous team and we definitely have unfinished business here.

How loudly will you be cheering for #winland in the IIHF tournament this offseason?

How loud is a preteen girl at a Justin Bieber concert?

How's Arnold?

He's good, thanks for asking! [grins] Probably farting up my sheets as we speak. That dog is a menace. But he's very sweet.

Why are Mia and Bennett so obsessed with themselves?

I think they're just insecure. Don't worry, kids, Papa Mik has enough love for everyone.

Relatedly, how much ass would you, Bennett, and Mikko kick on a line together for team #winland?

Whose ass wouldn't we kick?

How are you preparing for the SHL draft?

At the moment, resting. I think it's important to give your body and mind a break after the end of a season. Not too much, of course, you don't want to slack off or anything, but there's a lot more stretching and yoga in my off-season than heavy muscular training. I'm going to watch the next couple rounds of the playoffs and cheer my buddies who are still in there on, but there's no reason I can't do film study on a couch with a blanket on and at least one of our family cats in my lap.

What was the highlight of your SMJHL rookie season?

There are a lot of great moments to choose from. I think my first hat trick was a pretty big one. There's always the talk surrounding whether or not rookies are going to stay steady or flame out once they hit the big leagues, so I think getting that took a lot of pressure off of my shoulders, got some critics of my playing style off my back. But I also had a great time just generally bonding with my team. It's a really great group of people and I'm proud and honored to be a part of the organization we have here.

How do you feel about being one of, if not the top rated prospect in this years Draft?

I'm definitely excited! Coming into the league as a brand-new rookie, it was honestly awesome to show that I had just as much upside potential as recreates. There were a lot of big names in the league coming in with their new players this year, so being able to not just keep up but succeed--that was pretty cool.

Being an elite SMJHL player, do you feel the need to promote yourself to SHL GM's? Either way, explain why.
What are you looking for from a SHL team? Have you gotten any PM's from GM's showing/expressing interest?

I'm gonna go ahead and answer these two together, since they're pretty similar! Smile

Mostly what I'm looking for in a team is a friendly locker room with a more or less respectful atmosphere. I'm not saying everything has to be sunshine and roses, but as a 1) girl 2) new to hockey stats and 3) openly bi, I'm not gonna wanna stay in a place I don't feel safe or welcome. I want to be with a team that has my back. I think the league has been pretty good about the culture as a whole, but that's essentially what I'm looking for. Team success and history, in that sense, is really secondary. And I can make my own money with a quick article here and there if need be, so I don't really mind if team pockets aren't super-deep if it's a place I want to go to.

Given that, I think it's safe to say that I've already promo'd the hell out of myself to the Wolfpack, haha! I don't think it's a secret that they're my number-one team of choice, mostly because my offline friends play there and I'd like to be able to stay with people I know; I know that the locker room is a safe space for me. There are some scattered people in Portland and WKP and I've heard nothing but wonderful things from both of my friends there, but (and maybe it's egotistical to say this) I don't think either team will have an early enough pick to try and get me.

On the whole, though, I'm not planning on doing a lot of self-promos to individual GMs. I'll of course very happily answer any questions they might have for me, but I think SHL drafting is likely to be a lot more predictable than SMJHL--by this point, a good GM will presumably know who has done what to separate themselves from the pack, built up a hearty bank account, etc. Part of the reason I'm doing this post-season presser is to try and address those questions they might have as well, so while it would be a nice courtesy to be reached out to if I am a heavy favorite as a potential prospect for a team, it certainly isn't something I'm expecting.

Taking one from your book! Do you think you can stay consistent, maybe not at this level, but still be a top end TPE earner and on ice performer?

(Hehe, good question! Wink

)

Absolutely. I mentioned in an earlier Point Task that beginning in June and going until August I'm going to be swim coaching and working about fifteen hours a day if the company I'm working for now decides to keep me on--we're hearing buzz about potentially downsizing, so this may not even be an issue after all.

Either way, I'll have some external commitments but my Sundays will be entirely free, so I can certainly participate in the minimum weekly updates and keep writing enough Sunday articles to refill my bank account when necessary. I will probably make time for mid-week point tasks as well.

However, one of the things I did that I think boosted my TPE level above some other players this season is the Post-Game Show articles, and since I haven't been eligible to do a PBP yet, I don't know how long finishing one will take me (though from what I've heard it will be a couple of hours minimum) and I don't know where in my schedule I will get to fit those in. I really want to try my hand at some, though, so I am planning to make as much time (and $$$/TPE! Wink

as I can before summer starts in earnest.

If you could pick your dream line (3 forwards, 2 d-men and 1 goalie) from the SMJHL rookies, who would you pick?

Hans Moleman (LW) - Casper Jakobssen ( C ) - Dos Diablo (RW)

Ilmari Maatta (D1) - Tobias Thorvaldsen (D2)

Kimmo Lokinen (G)

Casper and Ilmari are 1) my offline bros and 2) have gone in the same direction I would've gone with their stats for the most part, so I know they're a safe bet to keep climbing the rankings. Everyone else was more or less randomly chosen from the seasonal stats. Overall, these guys had good defensive ratings (yes, for the forwards too; it's an important stat and shows who is building their player in a smart way), and didn't put a lot of TPE into less useful stats like checking.

Who do you miss more, Arnold or Mikke?

Our dog. If only because I'll see Mikke for a few days while we're both at home too.

But. I'll really, really miss Mikke too. Getting used to spending all that time together, like when we were kids, and then splitting up again...the next time we see each other we might be on different majors teams. I was talking to Mikke a little bit about that just now. I think we both got a little more emotional than we expected.

Who are you rooting for in the Four Star Cup Finals with Kelowna out?

The refs. [laughs] Nah, nah, I'm just kidding. I have friends on both sides, so I'd be happy with either outcome, as long as it's a safe, clean game. No injuries.

What are your goals for next season?

On the ice, I'd like to build my endurance and increase my defensive playing ability--I think I still have a lot of ground to gain there if I want to be able to compete at an elite level. I'd also like to pull my face-off numbers up a bit, and I think to do that I'll have to bulk up a bit to really take full advantage at the dot.

Off the ice, I want to continue the work we're doing in Kelowna with the various charities and organizations we support. We did a Dads' Trip this year and talked about doing a Moms' Trip but that ultimately never materialized--I'd like to see that come into being as well, and I'll definitely do all I can do assist with that.

Jenny · 04-21-2016, 09:48 AM

Mik, please provide the top three reasons Mia is the best.

How are you so fire?

What's the coolest thing you did in Kelowna this season (that wasn't playing hockey)?

In your opinion, who played the best prank of the season and what was it?

rrireal · 04-21-2016, 12:48 PM

Getting in on the party to ask you, Mik:

What are your three favourite things about Bennett?

What are your plans for the offseason?

How loudly will you be cheering for #winland in the IIHF tournament this offseason?

How's Arnold?

ej27 · 04-21-2016, 01:41 PM

Hi, Mik:

- Why are Mia and Bennett so obsessed with themselves? Tongue

:-x

- Relatedly, how much ass would you, Bennett, and Mikko kick on a line together for team #winland?

- How are you preparing for the SHL draft?

- What was the highlight of your SMJHL rookie season?

Bishop · 04-21-2016, 10:38 PM

Hey!

Here are some questions:

- How do you feel about being one of, if not the top rated prospect in this years Draft?

- Being an elite SMJHL player, do you feel the need to promote yourself to SHL GM's? Either way, explain why.

- What are you looking for from a SHL team? Have you gotten any PM's from GM's showing/expressing interest?

- Taking one from your book Smile

Do you think you can stay consistent, maybe not at this level, but still be a top end TPE earner and on ice performer?

- If you could pick your dream line (3 forwards, 2 d-men and 1 goalie) from the SMJHL rookies, who would you pick?

Good Luck!

Cheers

jjaybs · 04-22-2016, 05:58 PM

Who do you miss more, Arnold or Mikke?

Interview

Who are you rooting for in the Four Star Cup Finals with Kelowna out?

Interview

What are your goals for next season?

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