What were you doing when you were 18-years-old? If you didn’t move to a new country, live with an adopted family, get selected with the second overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft or play in front of 18,000 at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, you don’t have the slightest idea of what this Finnish kid has endured this season.
The grueling pressure day in and day out has to be overwhelming. We have a kid who pretty much dominated the Finnish hockey league and only to have his entire world turned upside down.
He’s met every media responsibility, has had to learn a new system, and has now lost the safety net of having familiar faces and family around, along with others who speak his language on an everyday basis.