Behind Enemy Lines: Teuvo Teravainen on Artturi Lehkonen

Despite engaging in some heated battles on the ice, opposing NHL players often forge enduring friendships away from the rink. We thought it might be interesting, then, to do some reconnaissance in the visitors' dressing room to get an occasional take on a Canadiens player from a friendly foe on another club. Today: Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen on fellow countryman, Artturi Lehkonen.

You and Artturi played a few times together with the Finnish national team, but you guys are good friends as well, right?TEUVO TERAVAINEN:Yes. We met for the first time on the national team, and played there at the same time. We were roommates sometimes, too and linemates in the U20 tournament. He's a good guy.
What was your first impression of him?TT:I think Finns are always a little shy at first. You know, coming here, having to speak English, it can be hard to be in the group at first. But when he gets comfortable, he's a pretty nice guy and talks. He's a good guy.
Did you guys play against each other when you both were kids?TT:Yeah, I played against him a little bit. Not much, but I remember a few times, yeah.
How cool was it won win the gold medal together at 2014 WJC, especially since your country haven't won gold at the tournament in 16 years?TT:It was such a fun time, one of the best times of my life. The tournament was so much fun; we played against Sweden in the final, in Sweden. To win that kind of tournament with the guys we had in Finland, and our country hasn't won that many tournaments, so it was pretty big.

Since you had been playing in the NHL for a few years before he got to Montreal, did he talk to you before deciding to come play in North America, to see what the life in the NHL really is?TT:A little bit. Of course, he was playing in Sweden, so he knew how to live on his own. I know he knew what the pro life was like, but we talked about it a little bit. We usually see each other in the summer a few times.
What do you guys like to do together when you meet up in the summer?TT:We both like to play tennis, actually we'll play anything together, it doesn't matter. We like to compete, and neither of us likes to lose, so it's usually a pretty good battle. Anything we do - PlayStation, tennis, whatever. It's really fun.
Who usually wins in tennis?TT:I won last time, so I'm the champion right now.
We heard you spent your bye week together in Orlando at Universal Studios a weeks ago. Artturi said that it took him a while to recover from all the spinning from the rides, did you feel the same way after?TT:Yeah, it was pretty wild. It's a great place. It makes your head go a little spinny, but it was fun.
When you won the Stanley Cup a few years ago with Chicago, you were able to spend a day with the Cup back home in Finland. Did you invite Artturi to your party? Any funny stories of him with the Cup?TT: Yeah, he was there. I had all my friends around, a lot of hockey players, players who I'd played with before. We just went to a little island in Helsinki. It was pretty fun.
He said he didn't want to touch the Cup, that he didn't want to jinx it. Do you have any evidence to the contrary?TT: I don't think he touched it. A lot of guys say they won't, but later at night, they did.
Is there something on Artturi that you could tell us that not a lot of people would know about him?TT: He doesn't drink Coke or juice or anything like that. It's really weird. He doesn't like it… but who doesn't like soda?