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Pulkkinen tops Finland roster for junior camp

Monday, 08.01.2011 / 10:52 PM / 2012 World Junior Championship

By Adam Kimelman - NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor

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Pulkkinen tops Finland roster for junior camp
Teemu Pulkkinen, who totaled a team-best 9 points for Finland at the 2011 World Junior Championship, is one of the 24 players that will take part in a junior evaluation camp next week in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Teemu Pulkkinen, who totaled a team-best 9 points for Finland at the 2011 World Junior Championship, is one of the 24 players that will take part in a junior evaluation camp next week in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Pulkkinen, a 2010 fourth-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings, is one of six players returning from last year's team that finished sixth in Buffalo.

Also at the camp from last year's team are goaltender Sami Aittokallio, defenseman Olli Maatta, and forwards Joel Armia, Joonas Donskoi and Miikka Salomaki.

The camp runs Aug. 6-13, at the Olympic Center, and will feature exhibition games between the United States, Sweden and Finland.

Armia, a 6-foot-3, 192-pound right wing, was taken by the Buffalo Sabres with the No. 16 pick of the 2011 Entry Draft after a strong season with Assat in the top Finnish league. He had 18 goals and 11 assists in 48 games while playing on the team's top line. He had just 1 assists in six games at last year's tournament.

Maatta, a 6-1.5, 196-pound defenseman, is a top prospect for the 2012 Entry Draft. He was selected by the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League with the first pick of June's Canadian Hockey League Import Draft. He could play in London, or remain in Finland, where he had 8 points in 19 games with JYP's under-20 team. He also had 4 points in 6 games for Finland at the 2011 World Under-18 Championship. 

Three of the 24 players on the Finnish roster currently play in North America.

Goaltender Christopher Gibson, a 2011 second-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings, plays for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, defenseman Patrik Parkkonen plays for the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League, and left wing Mika Partanen plays for the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors of the OHL. Parkkonen and Partanen are candidates for the 2012 Draft.

Nine NHL teams will have at least one prospect skating for Finland -- Colorado (Aittokallio), Los Angeles (Gibson), St. Louis (defenseman Jani Hakanpaa), Buffalo (Armia), Florida (Donskoi), Calgary (center Markus Granlund), Detroit (Pulkkinen), Phoenix (center Alexander Ruuttu) and Nashville (Salomaki).

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

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