Valtteri Filppula’s activities in Mestis caught Raimo Summanen’s attention – “He probably said”

A hockey legend Valtteri Filppula40, returned to the Jokers at the end of the summer, accompanied by a lot of media attention.

It’s been a long time since Mestist, but Filppula hasn’t really been seen in the public spotlight.

How has he really fared in Mestis?

Purely based on the numbers, quite comfortably, but not dominantly: after 9 matches, the results are 5+4=9 (+5). Filppula’s ice time average of 21.57 minutes is clearly the highest of all Mesti’s forwards.

Expert Raimo Summanen has followed Filppula’s performances in the Jokers’ most recent matches and made observations from behind the statistics.

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This is a good example of how Filppula’s head holds up, even if he doesn’t play the first violin. It’s quite a beautiful thing.

“Filppula clearly respects Mest as a series and the Jokers a lot. He plays a lot for the team, by example. It’s not a simple thing for a player of that star status in Mestis and at that age,” says Summanen.

He refers to the fact that not just any veteran who returned from the world to Finland’s divar – clearly the worst team and series of his career – would necessarily be able to play every situation in a textbook way and deliberately leave himself a little in the shade.

In Summanen’s opinion, Filppula could score significantly more power points than seen in Mestis if he wanted to.

“This is a good example of how Filppula’s head holds up, even if he doesn’t play the first violin. It’s quite a beautiful thing.”

“Filppula plays in Mestis the same way he played in Tampa Bay Lightning. Or if he ever goes to the Stadiliiga in his old days, I think he would play in the same style there too.”

Flippula has played all nine matches of the season alongside the 19-year-old Emil Kuusla. He played the first four matches on the other side Samuel Salonenlater Onni Lind19, whose father John Filppula played as a chain friend even before Onni was born 20 years ago.

Summanen sees that age has started to show in certain characteristics of Filppula, such as movement speed, the sharpness of the first kicks and the roughness of the shot.

“But he has always been a smart player. Now he’s also a kind of playful father figure in Jokers.”

“If there is a calmer start to the attack, Filppula will even play under the defenders. It’s as if he’s making sure that if Pakit sucks, he’s going to make sure. Or when the Paks rise to attack or drive against the line, Filppula drops to secure. He gives others permission and freedom to go.”

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He has always been a smart player. Now he is also a kind of playful father figure in Jokers.

Summanen emphasizes Filppula’s role as a mentor to the young Jokers.

“That is one of his most important roles in this team. During his time in the NHL, Filppula was mentored Pavel Datsjuk. Now he passes that lesson on to these boys.”

Tuesday In the Jokerit–Hermes match (4–1) we saw an interesting demonstration of Filppula’s role in Jokerit.

In the middle of the second period, the Jokerit were able to play with a two-man superiority for a minute and a half, and Filppula surprisingly did not touch the puck once during this time.

“Filppula has been a top player at the NHL level, but he has never been at the top when it comes to scoring points and goals with superiority. It has never been Filppula’s steak. He has never been the creator of personal magic tricks, but always played for the team.”

“You could easily think that in such a situation, the idea is to give the puck to Filppula, and everything would run through him. But he gives it to others.”

Summanen thinks that Filppula may have instructed his younger ones.

“Knowing Filppula, he is in such a state that he has probably said that you don’t always have to try to play through him, but you should rather try.”

“It is Filppula’s leadership. He sees a bit of a bigger picture at that point in his career. He is passing the torch forward.”

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It is Filppula’s leadership. He sees a bit of a bigger picture at that point in his career. He passes the torch forward.

I sum up according to Filppula’s playing, you can see that he is involved in the Jokers with his heart.

The expert highlights, among other things, Filppula’s exchange discipline. Despite his superior star status, this one does not drag out his exchanges.

Filppula also gets close to the goal and in tight situations in a way that doesn’t look like a chilling veteran.

In these situations, Summanen has also quickly noticed the opponents’ respect for Filppula.

“We play hard against Filppula, but at the same time we respect them in a good way. Everyone knows who’s up against it. No wrong kind of contact is made, no snot-nosed work.”

“It’s great to see this kind of culture. Filppula’s position in Mestis could be compared Jaromir Jagriin in the Czech league. Or Gordie Howeenwhen he played as a senior in North America.”

I’ll see you based on this, you should not expect Filppula to win the Mesti points exchange. There are already 11 points to go to the top of the stock market.

A magician from Kiekko-Vantaa is performing at Piikkipaiki for the second year in a row Okko Kangasniemi 10+10 with their power of 10 matches.

But Filppula wasn’t recruited to the Jokers because of the points exchange. His role is co-head coach Risto Dufvan with leads the Jokerit to the spring league qualification.

At the moment, Jokerit is tied for fourth place in Mesti. The difference to the top team IPK is three points.

Where are we going with league dreams?

“Jokerit is a hard-working team, but in many places it still looks a bit like a gang. Of course, young guys can take developmental leaps surprisingly quickly,” says Summanen.

“But if you purely compare the difference to the teams at the bottom of the SM league, the Jokers still have a long way to go. If the Jokers were to be thrown now to play Jukurei, SaiPa or HPK is the equivalent”, at the level of the whole team, it is still not enough.”

FilppulaN While following the Mestis highlights, a hypothetical and interesting question has come to Summanen’s mind, which he wants the wider hockey community to think about.

“Which one would you take to your team for the SM league finals: Jori Lehterän or Valtteri Filppula? “

The 40-year-old Filppula’s career and achievements (e.g. Olympic gold, World Championship gold, Stanley Cup) are clearly tougher, while Lehterä, who will turn 37 at the end of the year, is now dominating at the top of the SM league point exchange in HIFK’s ranks.

“I don’t have an answer to that myself. Superiority skills turn the tide for Lehtera, but many other things for Filppula. If you could get Filppula as the second center of the final team with that style of play, it could have more hidden value”, Summanen spins enthusiastically.