Stamina & Finnish

by Derek Zona on Apr 28, 2009 9:56 AM MDT in Prospects

In my entry from yesterday on Teemu Hartikainen, the hardest working man in the blog business, Jonathan Willis said

this is an interesting chart and some very nice company for young Hartikainen.
Sustain, IMO, is the biggest question.

In that vein, here is a chart of NHL-bound forwards in the 19-year-old seasons in the Finnish Liga.

The bottom three on this chart were 19-year-old rookies in the Liga. If we compare this to the 18-year-old chart in the previous entry, we see that the players that eventually became impact players took significant steps forward and Hartikainen must do the same. I think that in order for the kid to become a legit impact prospect around these parts, he would have to post a minimum in the range of 20 goals and 38 points -- his line in the sand, so to speak. If, at this time next year, Hartikainen comes with numbers in this range, as Lowetide would say, he becomes a "player of interest", regardless of improvements needed in skating. Everything I have been able to translate using google has him at center and left wing -- he could be the only left wing prospect in the org at this point.

Shiny things to look at: below is some media on Hartikainen. I don't have translations available, but if you have any Finnish contacts that can translate for me, let me know.

A video of Hartikainen reviewing his rookie year with Kalpan

Teemu Hartikainen sets the KalPan rookie record for goals.

A Finnish journalist goes one-on-one with Hartikainen

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Comments

Meh, I don't work that hard.

20 goals/38 points a pretty tall order for a 19-year old in that league, although it would certainly vault Hartikainen into the top tier of Oilers prospects. If Hartikainen can even hit thirty points (.6 PPG) I think we could call the season a success, although we'd probably need to revise our estimates of his future down a bit.

by Jonathan Willis on Apr 28, 2009 7:40 PM MDT reply actions

I'm framing this in the context of the success of his 18-year-old season. Remember, it looks like it's an edge case, if he remains that, his 19-year-old season should be big. I don't disagree with you, my take is coming from the recent scuttlebutt that has all of a sudden propelled him to the upper part of the prospects list. If he is a top-tier prospect, his line in the sand is .75 PPG, I think.

If he manages .6 PPG, I think he becomes a legit NHL prospect, and a helluva draft pick, but not top shelf.

by Coach pb9617 on Apr 28, 2009 7:56 PM MDT reply actions

I can't disagree with that assessment.

by Jonathan Willis on Apr 28, 2009 8:37 PM MDT reply actions

You just got yourself a Finnish contact of your own (thank Lowetide, I stumbled here via his blogroll). I'll translate the stuff for you tomorrow.

by Eetu on May 10, 2009 4:59 PM MDT reply actions

Excellent! Thanks for stopping in. Are you a Finn in Canada or a Finn in the land of the Finns?

by Coach pb9617 on May 10, 2009 6:26 PM MDT reply actions

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