Finland may have won the gold at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, but the most talked-about individual from the Finnish league was definitely Slovakia's young forward Juraj Slafkovský.
When the 2022 NHL draft-eligible youngster arrived in Turku in 2019, no one likely thought that he'd be an Olympic bronze medalist within a few years. Or that he would be named the most valued player of the tournament after scoring seven goals.
The 17-year-old Slafkovský is now playing his first season in TPS's elite team after spending a few seasons playing for the organisation's junior teams. The player said in an episode of Liiga's prospect web series Red Bull Läpimurto, that he came to play in Finland because he wanted to improve his skating. Apparently, he had heard there was more skating involved here than in other countries.
The player, jokingly nicknamed the "Big Baby'' by his teammates because of his size, age, and demeanour, decided to show what he is made of in one of his very first Liiga games. The 192 cm (6'4") tall Slafkovský ended up fighting with Lukko defenceman Matthew Abt, 11 years his senior, and maybe slightly to everyone's surprise, he was the one to win that fight.
At the Olympics on the other hand, Slafkovský showed his goal-scoring skills, which he hasn't done much of in Liiga yet. So far in the season, he has only scored one goal.
His size and physicality have been seen as his best assets. But also, at the same time, the latter might be his downside. This is because once Slafkovský arrives back in Finland, he will be suspended for six games for conducting an illegal check on the head against Kärpät's Jaakko Niskala just prior to his Olympics stint.
Liiga players lacking in numbers but not in talent
Overall, the Finnish league didn't have a big representation in the Olympics. Probably partly because there was no Olympic pause in the schedule, unlike in the KHL, for example.
Out of the gold medal winning Finnish roster, 17 players were from the KHL, five from the Swiss league, and one from the Swedish Hockey League. Only two players of the Finnish squad were from Liiga.
Kärpät's captain and defenceman Atte Ohtamaa and the team's top scorer Saku Mäenalanen have become some of the head coach Jukka Jalonen's most trusted players.
As Finland's alternate captain, Ohtamaa is obviously one of the leaders of the team, a driving force of their defence, and someone who plays a lot of minutes, especially on the penalty kill. On Jalonen's team, Mäenalanen is usually seen playing with KHL players Hannes Björninen and Marko Anttila, creating a strong fourth line, where his job is to show his strengths in skating and forechecking.
The trio was responsible for Finland's game-winning goal in the Olympic final against the Russian Olympic Committee.
Among the other Liiga players at the tournament were two Jukurit players, as fourth line centre Oskars Batna played for Latvia and defenceman Oliver Larsen was part of the Danish group, who made their first appearance at the Olympics. Neither player produced any points for their teams.
Pelicans losing their top scorer Jiří Smejkal to Czechia's team likely hurt their team a little bit as they have been struggling to win games lately. Unfortunately, Smejkal and team Czechia also didn't advance further than the ninth place at the tournament.