The SM-Liiga common year or so is about to enter the stretch generate. With every club acquiring either 16 or 17 game titles remaining from the 58-game campaign, the Finnish playoff photo has already started to arrive into quite apparent emphasis.
The playoffs get started on March twelve.
JYP Jyvyskyla contains a stranglehold on initially area in the 14-team league, now savoring a 10-point cushion through second place Assat Pori. With 6 first-round playoff byes at stake, sixth-place Lukko Rauma holds a five-point advantage about the Espoo Blues and KalPa Kuopio.
The 10th and closing postseason spot is really a two-horse race. That seed is at present occupied by Ilves Tampere, but former league powerhouse Karpat Oulu is just one particular position off the pace. It is unlikely that any of the bottom a few teams in the standings is going to be in a position to mount an effective drive for that postseason. Lahti Pelicans, in 12th spot, are 11 factors powering Ilves.
Following is really a glimpse at some key modern developments inside league, as teams gear approximately drive for the increased playoff seeding or regroup using the future in mind:
Flyers mortgage Lehtivuori to KalPa ?C A single yr back, Philadelphia Flyers defense prospect Joonas Lehtivuori enjoyed an effective rookie year while in the American Hockey League for that Adirondack Phantoms. This period, nonetheless, very little has gone suitable for Lehtivuori amidst a disastrous campaign for Philadelphia's best farm group.
At Lehtivuori's behest, the Flyers have permitted the 22-year-old defenseman to return household to Finland. He has been loaned to KalPa Kuopio with the rest with the season. KalPa's vast majority owner is previous Flyers forward Sami Kapanen. Its minority owners consist of existing Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen and left winger Scott Hartnell.
"We're satisfied to possess Joonas on the crew. He is a great young puck-moving defenseman and he has had success within the league prior to. We assume he can help us out in various spots," stated Kapanen.
A item on the Ilves Tampere method, Lehtivuori was drafted by Philadelphia inside the fourth spherical (No. 101) from the 2006 Entry Draft. At age 19, he had a breakthrough year for Ilves in 2007-08, tallying 8 goals and 21 details in 48 game titles regardless of acquiring third-pairing ice time in the course of the initial 50 % in the period. He also represented Finland at a pair of World Junior Championships.
Adhering to signing a three-year entry stage agreement with Philadelphia in 2009, Lehtivuori posted 5 plans and 23 points in 68 games for Adirondack final year. His minus-7 plus-minus rating was basically 1 with the greater totals on a weak Phantoms clubs. In spite of his absence of dimensions (a generously outlined 5-foot-11, 180 kilos), Lehtivuori was extensively viewed as by far the most polished of 3 rookie defensemen in the club, surpassing extra remarkably hyped teammates Kevin Marshall and Marc-Andre Bourdon.
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