In Conversation with Veli-Pekka Ketola

Veli-Pekka Ketola doesn’t think Winnipeg Jets fans should get too excited about Patrik Laine — because he should end up with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The highly-skilled Ketola, a centreman, along with defenceman Hexi Riihiranta, were the first Finns to make it as hockey players on this side of the Atlantic Ocean when they joined the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association in the fall of 1974.

Veli-Pekka Ketola in 1974. Veli-Pekka Ketola was GM of the Finnish junior hockey team that won gold in 2016.They went on to play nearly three seasons with the team, playing a critical role in both dispelling the myth that European players could be physically intimidated and implementing a…