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Anton Lundell was 10 years old, but still he remembers it so clearly.

Mikael Granlund swinging behind the Russia goal, heading for its right side. In the process, the center, then only 19 years old on May 13, 2011, put the puck on his blade and flung it behind Russia’s goalie, Konstantin Barulin. He scored.

“He did that lacrosse move in 2011, which went viral,” Lundell, the Florida Panthers center, recently told the “NHL @TheRink” podcast of the goal from Finland’s semifinal game in the 2011 World Hockey Championship. “He was one guy I looked up to. Yeah, it’s pretty cool now we get to play on the same team.”

It’s 14 years later, and though Granlund was not the first to score on a “Michigan” -- that honor goes to Mike Legg of the University of Michigan back in 1996 -- he performed the move eight years before Andrei Svechnikov would bring it to the NHL. It was his first try at the World Championship, a tournament looked up to with the veneration of the Super Bowl in Finland. He was impossibly young, still a full season before he would make the jump to the NHL from HIFK of Liiga, the top professional men’s league in Finland.

Granlund, 32, has become a mainstay for Finland on the international stage, a veteran of World Championships, of Olympic teams, of the World Cup of Hockey. He’s now getting set for his latest challenge for his home country, playing for Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off against the United States, Canada and Sweden in Montreal and Boston from Feb. 12-20, though first his San Jose Sharks are set to visit the Seattle Kraken on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN).

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And though his scoring is still a major reason Granlund was named to the team -- he’s third in the NHL among Finland-born players with 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) in 51 games -- his leadership isn’t far behind.

“He’s a leader out there,” Finland general manager Jere Lehtinen said. “He just keeps getting better and can play in all situations. He can put up points but he can be a good two-way player too. He’s going to be a huge part of our team. He’s been just that whenever he’s been part of our national team over the years and last year at the World Championships too. He’s just been getting better and better with age.”

Lehtinen is not alone in feeling that way.

“The first thing that comes to mind is his experience, also mental strength, leadership, and his ability to play in many roles,” Finland coach Antti Pennanen said. “These qualities will definitely help Team Finland.”

It’s what is echoed, too, by Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky, who is in his first year as a head coach in the NHL, navigating adjusting to the League with adjusting to the Sharks.

Granlund has helped.

“He’s really led our group, been one of our most consistent players,” Warsofsky said. “I think he’s really stepped up as part of the leadership group, being the voice in that dressing room. Obviously he’s rewarded by making the 4 Nations team for Finland.”

Trailing only Carolina Hurricanes forwards Mikko Rantanen (65 points; 25 goals, 40 assists in 51 games) and Sebastian Aho (51 points; 17 goals, 34 assists in 51 games) among countrymen doesn’t hurt either.

The past two seasons have been a bit of a revitalization for Granlund, who had a down 2022-23 with the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins, finishing with 41 points (10 goals, 31 assists) in 79 games after scoring 64 points (11 goals, 53 assists) in 80 games the season prior.

But last season he bounced back for 60 points (12 goals, 48 assists) in 69 games with the Sharks, and he’s on pace to better that this season. Though he declined to go into detail, Granlund said he altered a few things in his offseason preparation, saying he’s starting to make the “right choices.”

“I wasn’t really happy how I was playing before these last two seasons,” he said. “Let’s put everything into it and try to be as good of a player as you can be. It’s been good. I feel like it’s only going to get better.

“Just feels like I’m on the right path, what I’ve been doing. It makes hockey more fun. You are able to do out there the things you know you can do.”

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      PIT@SJS: Granlund breaks the stalemate with a goal in 2nd

      And it’s showing on the ice.

      “He is great with the puck, can create chances for himself and others, in no time and in a small space,” former Finland teammate Kimmo Timonen said. “Strong player on [the] PP. He's pretty good also without the puck, so you can play him against the top lines.”

      Granlund entered the season in great shape, part of why he’s been able to average 20:52 of ice time. He’s a solid, dependable player who has given Warsofsky a worry-free forward to roll out as much as he can.

      “You know what you’re getting every single night and when he doesn’t have maybe his hands, he impacts the games in different ways,” Warsofsky said.

      It’s what he will do for Finland.

      Granlund’s experience playing for Finland’s senior men’s team goes back to that World Championship in 2011 and has continued for six more, including last year’s, for which he was named captain. He was on Finland teams that won gold in 2011 and 2022, and he played in the Sochi Olympics in 2014, where Finland won bronze despite significant injury woes, and the World Cup of Hockey in 2016.

      granlund_olympics

      He knows how good Finland can be, how much of a team. He called it a special feeling to play for the country.

      “Everyone is real close right away,” Granlund said. “The way we play, we always try to play hard. We always try to do the right things, the things that will make us be able to win a hockey game. No one is above anyone else. Everybody is equal. Everyone is just trying to do the right thing.”

      It’s why the team often punches above its weight class, because of each of its players’ dedication to each other and to the cause, because it’s something they’ve dreamed about playing for their whole lives. Granlund included.

      “Playing for the national team, since I’ve been a kid, that’s one of the things I’m most proud of, playing for the country,” Granlund said. “Personally, I feel it’s just a proud moment every single time. Hockey is such a big thing in Finland and being able to play for the country, it’s always exciting, a really proud moment.”

      NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger and NHL.com/fi independent correspondent Varpu Sihvonen contributed to this report

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