Pajari Shows Progress

[Devise 4,475]

A big question mark heading into Season 64 for the Riga Reign was the continued improvement of depth forward Mikka Pajari. The young center was a third round draft pick for Riga in S61, and despite playing for the team for a few seasons was on reduced minutes as the Continental Cup Champion Reign balanced their roster as best as possible. However in S64 it finally came time for Pajari to get more minutes and become an anchor for that second line.

 

Early on into the season Pajari is showing good signs of progress. Anchoring a second line that currently features Leph Twinger and Ryuu Crimson, Pajari got his first two points and a second star effort in the teams second game of the season, a 5-3 win over the Helsinki Titans. We spoke with the Riga Reign coaching staff to see their thoughts on Pajari's increased role this season, and if the player could handle it. 

 

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Absolutely he can handle it. We've been keeping a close eye on him for seasons now and letting him progress. We really feel he's ready to take on the responsibility of more minutes, more special team minutes and even to be counted on to be more offensive. Edwin and Cast are our work horses no doubt, but you need secondary scoring to get anywhere and we believe that currently constructed, we have the best second line in the league. You could even argue that along with Cast, Pajari and him provide the best one two punch down the center spot in the league. Both natrual centers, both fantastic on faceoffs sitting above 50% for us. You need quality centers helping out all over the ice to do well in this league and we are very pleased that Pajari is finally able to slot in and contribute like we had hoped when we initially drafted him so late.