Hello hockey fans.
I want to start this month by saying that my thoughts are with everyone who is being affected by the situation in Ukraine and I hope there will peace again very soon.
In last month's diary, I mentioned that I thought Finland had a really good chance of winning gold at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and it was a great feeling when they did. A bonus was seeing Hannes Bjorninen scoring the golden goal in the final.
Hannes is from Lahti and always played with Pelicans prior to moving to the Kontinental Hockey League this season. I think I was 12 the first time I did ice skills with him so I've seen how hard he's worked and how committed he is to making himself better every day. It was nice to see him get rewarded.
He's definitely someone I look up to, and with Jokerit pulling out of the KHL playoffs, he's back playing with us at Pelicans so it's great to get a chance to play with him for the rest of the season.
I've been with Pelicans for a little over a month and a half now and it's been really good to be here, both off and on the ice. We've got a good group of guys. Off the ice we've had a lot of fun ice fishing, playing ping pong, poker tournaments, hitting balls at the golf simulator -- there's still lots of snow here -- or just going to eat together.
On the ice, we have points in 14 of our last 16 games (8-2-6), and overall we are playing pretty well as a team. But we have lost six of those games in overtime or shootouts, so we definitely still have room for improvement.
The playoffs start in two weeks and the standings are so tight right now. Ten teams make the playoffs and we're one of eight battling for the seven final playoff spots, so every game is a big game and every point is very important if we want to make it.
We've got lots of talent, guys are working hard, and we have a good atmosphere so I like our chances. Wednesday was a big step in the right direction when we tied the game against Karpat with two seconds left and won in overtime for our fourth win in the last five games. We just need to keep building on that.
Personally I think I've been playing pretty well since I moved to Pelicans, but I would definitely like to be producing more. I had things going pretty good at the World Juniors and feel like I'm still getting and creating a lot of chances, but we just haven't been converting.
However I've always felt I've been able to raise my game for big games and the biggest games are still to come. I came to Pelicans because I wanted an opportunity to play in the playoffs and we've got six games left to make that happen. I'm excited and looking forward to doing whatever it takes to help us win.
Until next month, thanks for reading!
Photo credit: Tomi Natri, Pelicans
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