Podcast highlights: Jesse Ylönen

MONTREAL - Jesse Ylönen's rookie campaign with the AHL's Laval Rocket is off to a great start.

SHOP: Set of 6 Canadiens glasses
Through eight games, the 21-year-old right-winger is tied for the team scoring lead with six points (2 goals, 4 assists) alongside Lukas Vejdemo and Jordan Weal.
A second-round selection of the Canadiens, 35th overall, in the 2018 NHL Draft, the son of former NHLer Juha Ylönen recently joined Marc Dumont to talk about his development and his transition to the North American game.
Read on for a few highlights from Ylönen's discussion with Dumont, which is available in its entirety wherever you get your podcasts.
MARC DUMONT: For fans that haven't watched you play yet, describe yourself as a player.
JESSE YLÖNEN: I just try to be a hard-working player and my all-around game is getting better, but I think skating is my biggest strength, along with my shot. I'm trying to learn to get better defensively as well. I have great coaches and great teammates in Laval, so it's been really easy for me to learn new things.
MD: How did you become an elite skater? What's the secret behind your ability?
JY:I still don't think I'm that amazing. When I was younger, skating wasn't the best aspect of my game. I've been working on it over the last five or six years on the ice and off the ice, too. I've been doing skating drills, different kinds of jumps, and doing those things in the gym as well. My dad has been helping me with those things and he kind of invented his own stuff, and I think it's been really helpful. As you get bigger and stronger, you also get faster.

MD: Does your father still give you advice, even when you don't ask for it?
JY: I still talk a lot about hockey with my father, but he's still my dad, so if I tell him that I don't want to talk about hockey, it's fine for him. But of course, he knows what it's like because he played for so many years, and after his pro career was over, he became a player agent, so he's been watching thousands of games. I would be dumb if I didn't ask him for advice. He helped me a lot. It's mostly positive feedback and encouraging me to keep doing what I'm doing well. Sometimes, if he sees that I'm doing something wrong, he tells me about it because I want to get better.
MD: What was the biggest piece of off-ice advice that he gave you about living and playing in North America?
JY:The games are the biggest things, so you need to practice well and practice as best you can. But every time there's a game, you have to do the right preparation for your body and your mind, so you can play a good game. Of course you're going to have a bad game sometimes, but you have to give yourself a chance to be at your best every game. I think that's the biggest thing he taught me.

MD: How did you know it was the right time to move to North America?
JY: I think the biggest thing was that when I got drafted, since then my dream has been to play for the Montreal Canadiens. The Finnish Liiga is a really good, high-level league, but if I want to make the NHL, then the AHL is a better place to get ready for it. I think the AHL is much closer to the NHL than the Finnish Liiga. They're both good leagues, but the style of play is a little bit different, so I developed for a few years in Finland and got a little bit stronger and became a better all-around player. Then, I thought it was the right step for me to come here to get a little bit closer to my dream.
MD: A lot of coaches told me that what they really liked about you was your vision. Is that something that you were born with, seeing the ice well, or is that a result of playing so much hockey?
JY: I don't think my vision is that good, but I've been working on playing with my head up. When I've been training my stickhandling, even when I'm practicing by myself, I try to look up and avoid looking at the puck too much. It's been easy to make those plays here with Laval because my teammates are doing a great job getting open.

MD: What was the best advice Rocket head coach Joël Bouchard has given you so far?
JY: There are so many things. It's hard to pick one. He wants his players to make the right plays at the right time. If there aren't any options available in the offensive zone, he just wants you to make the right play, so chip the puck in and protect your own zone. But when you get established in the offensive zone, you can use creativity and use your skill set. I think that's the biggest message he gave me, to make the right plays at the right time.
MD: What's been the biggest adjustment for you in terms of playing in North America?
JY: I think it's that everything happens a lot faster. The AHL is a very fast league. When you get the puck, you should already know what you're going to do before you get run over or you lose the puck. You have to move your feet, but be fast in your head as well.
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