Hello hockey fans:
Anyone who read my December Draft Diary knew how much I was looking forward to the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton and it was an awesome experience the first 13 days we were there.
Then it was canceled.
It's hard to put into words how disappointing it was to have it end like that. It all happened really fast. We woke up expecting to play Czechia on Dec. 29 but were told one of their players tested positive for COVID-19
(Los Angeles Kings) and
Ville Koivunen
(Carolina Hurricanes) at the World Juniors. They are both great players and I thought we played well together. Ville is a smart player, makes good plays and can put the puck in the net. Samuel is a big guy (6-foot-6, 217 pounds) who's really good on the forecheck, can't be moved in front of the net and is really reliable and good defensively too. I think we developed some really good chemistry in the practices prior to the start of the tournament and that carried over into the games. We moved the puck and supported each other really well, and definitely had a lot of fun playing together.
Since returning to Finland, I've had the required negative COVID-19 tests and was looking forward to playing Liiga games again against HIFK on Jan. 5 in Helsinki, but a couple of hours before the game, while on the bus to the game, the match was canceled due to the virus. Yesterday morning (Jan. 6), they also canceled our games scheduled for tonight (Jan. 7) against Karpat and Saturday (Jan. 8) against Assat. So right now, our next game will be Wednesday, Jan. 12.
Even though it was very disappointing that we couldn't complete the tournament, I'm thankful for the great experience and games we were able to play in Edmonton during the two weeks we were there. It was a great feeling to win all three games we played. Wins have been hard to come by with JYP this year (7-22, seven ties), so the one thing I'm looking for most coming back from this tournament is to win more during the second half of the season.
Finally, I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope everyone's 2022 turns out great!
Until next month.
Photo credits: Jiri Halttunen, JYP photographer
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