Vaakanainen Ready for Transition to North America

BostonBruins.com - Urho Vaakanainen has one goal on his mind as he prepares to set forth on his foray into the North American game.
After signing a three-year, entry-level contract with the Bruins on Wednesday, the 19-year-old Finnish blue liner has his eyes set on Boston.

"Of course my goal is to get a spot in Boston," said Vaakanainen, the Bruins' first-round pick (18th overall) in last June's NHL Draft. "But other than that, I don't really have any expectations. I'm just part of the [training] camp trying to be as good as I can be and play as well as I can and try to get the spot. That's my only goal for the camp."
Vaakanainen has played in the Finnish Elite League for each of the last three seasons, suiting up for SaiPa in 2017-18, during which he picked up four goals and seven assists in 43 games, while clocking in as one of the league's leaders in ice time.
"I learned how to be a professional," he said. "When I played in juniors, we didn't care about defending much, so the first thing I learned in the Finnish league, playing with pros, is how to defend, and [I] just learned the game.
"The game is so much more physical in the pro league than in the juniors, so I had to adjust with that. Just grew up as a person playing with older men and maybe matured a little bit, too. I think it helped me a lot."

The smooth-skating blue liner knows that that physicality and intensity will ramp up even more as he transitions across the Atlantic.
"Well, I have to get a bit stronger and just overall better in everything," said Vaakanainen. "Have to work on my shot a lot this summer and just playing on the offensive blue line getting shots to the net through the traffic. That's probably the biggest thing that I have to improve."
Adjusting to some of the intangibles, particularly off the ice, will also be one of his main priorities.
"Of course, it's a smaller rink, and the game is a bit more physical and faster," said Vaakanainen. "I just think that the smaller rink is the biggest thing for me, and, of course, living in North America is different than in Finland, so maybe those two things."
While there is still plenty of work to be done as he adapts to life in North America, the 6-foot, 185-pound left shot knows that if he continues to progress there could be opportunity on the Bruins' back end.
"I'm really excited just to get to the camp and show how good I am and try to be at my best every day and just have fun and enjoy," he said. "These opportunities doesn't happen to every guy, so you just have to try to enjoy it and be at your best when you come to the camp."
Vaakanainen will be at the team's annual Development Camp later this month, the tune up to September's main training camp, at which point he'll truly be able to measure himself against bona fide NHLers.
"Just a dream come true," said Vaakanainen. "I've been dreaming of this since I was a little kid, so it's been an exciting few days here. Can't wait to get there and get things started."