Column October
11 games played, 4 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws. That is the balance of the month October for Lukko. Both draws ended in a shoot-out and overtime loss. 14 points have been gathered. In the games that Lukko lost, they were not outplayed, although the Ässät match was quite bad. October was also the month were Lukko grabbed its first two away wins, in
Lukko welcomed two new signings. Centre Ondrej Steiner came on try-out for five matches. He scored two goals and had one assist. His defending abilities were questioned, having a +/- -rating of -3 and also his skating was not too impressive. He left after five matches to Pelicans for his next try-out period. Pauli Levokari recovered from his head injury. He signed for Lukko and played three matches so far. In his official debut for Lukko he scored two assists against TPS, in the arena that he left injured two months earlier.
Still on hot streak is Shayne Toporowski, scoring five goals and six assists in 11 matches. Against Ässät he showed also his fighting skills when he taught Matt Nickerson a lesson how to play fair ice hockey. With a total of 16 points in 17 matches, Topper is the proud owner of the golden helmet for Lukko.
Jamie Wright is getting on fire also. After a difficult start in September, he scored six goals and three assists this month. It seems that he is more settled now and is getting used to the team and the Finnish ice hockey.
Nobody knows still what is going on with Pasi Saarela. The top goal scorer of last year has so far only three points (2+1). He lacks form and he does not get in position to fire one of his typical shots. Against Kärpät he showed a little bit of recovery, getting into position to shoot and also actually doing that. Unfortunately his sight was not focused yet.
The youngsters of Lukko are mostly performing well. Petri Lammassaari has worked himself up in the team. Although being the smallest player (176 cm), he is working hard and shows good skills. He is fast with puck and also controls it well. Lammassaari is very skillful in the small spaces and he can create space for himself. Ville-Vesa Vainiola played this month several matches with the A-juniors and was not selected for the squad. The last two matches he played as the extra forward. Jarkko Kauvosaari has been second line centre since Ondrej Steiner left. He works hard although not scoring many points yet. Miikka Tuomainen had been out for a few matches due to a groin injury. He misses still a little bit match rhythm but he has the skills to perform at a high level.
Markus Nordlund came in October in the squad. The 19-year-old, 195 cm tall defender played himself in the squad. He played as 6th and 7th defense man and took over the job of Otto Honkaheimo. Honkaheimo played disappointing in October and played lately with the A-juniors.
The overall performance of the team is satisfying. The last three home matches were lost but on the other hand, the last two away matches were won. The scoring seems to be a difficult point, but in the last two away matches, eleven goals were scored. When some players get back in form (e.g. Saarela), than more goals can be expected and the overall game play will improve. GO LUKKO!
7.11.2005
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