Aaltonen's rookie season recap.

[GRZ 179]

Today we sat down with Mikko Aaltonen after their close defeats vs the Yukon Rush in the Wildcard position. Talked about everything starting the draft where Philadelphia landed him, the start of their season, the massive trade-deadline and the ending of the season.
(P.S Last season we did this too, if u are interested in that, check it out here.)

Greetings Mikko! How are you?
"Doing good, playoffs got me tired, now I'm just chilling and getting ready for all the craziness that is the off-season."

Awesome to hear, last time we spoke was a year ago, when you played the later part of the season with Oslo Storm(Now Minnesota Storm), and now you have completed your rookie season, what are your thoughts on your first full season in the VHLM?

"I can't believe it's been a year already, time flies...... Obviously I got picked by the Philadelphia Reapers in the draft, which was a shock to me, because I didn't necessarily expect to get picked up by an expansion team, but I'm really glad I did in the end.

Did you like Philadelphia, what was the atmosphere of the team as a whole?
"It was awesome, the city was nice and the fans were absolutely amazing, the squad we had together was also something I'll never forget, everyone was super nice and I think we had good chemistry, sucks that it turned out the way it did, but you know - hockey is a business world, sometimes changes are what turn the next cornerstone for your franchise"
Lets briefly talk about that, how did you feel when you got told that you would be traded to the Las Vegas Aces, what were your initial thoughts/emotions?
"Actually before even arriving in Philly, I did my research and actually came to the conclusion that this team is intending more of an playoff run towards the next seasons, the first being the actual "setup-season", so before seeing everyone I told myself that this might not be my home for long, and that I shouldn't get attached to people easily.... but boy did I fail at the 2nd part. Right when I walked in the locker-room I noticed we had some amazing guys in there, everyone was friendly and willing to improve, from the beginning I felt at home here, and as time passed we picked up new players that further developed our LR into even more of an awesome place, but yeah the day came that I predicted... I was contacted by Blade and got told that an offer was made for me, the Aces had big plans for their Playoff run and their GM thought that I'm the puzzle piece they were missing, with that I really couldn't refuse the offer, Philadelphia got nice assets for me, and I got closer to my dream of playing in playoffs and getting the cup, which is all that matters to me in the end."
How was the transition, easy?
"I think so, it didn't really take a while for me to get used to playing with these guys, as everyone had a clear goal in mind - winning the cup, I think us having the same goal made us even better together, and I had some awesome line mates and certainly without them I wouldn't score as much as I did."

Lets start with that, as the season regular season had concluded, you guys found yourself in a Wildcard position, having to face against Yukon and their main star Hunter Hearst Helmsley, did you expect to be in this type of a situation, and what were your reactions when you found out?

"Actually I thought we would do much better than this, I truly believed in this roster and thought that we have every chance of sitting higher in the rankings, but you know, losing couple of bad games in the end sums up and ultimately changes everything."

This, counting as your rookie, season you got 47G, 43A for a total of 90 points in 72 games, did you feel accomplished)   with your stats?
"Yeah this was the breakout performance I warned you guys about at the end of last season *laughs*, but yeah the work I did over the summer I think really boosted my confidence and game up to a point where this was possible, I felt comfortable playing and it really showed in the statistics, would have been awesome to hit the 50 goal mark, maybe in VHL some day.."
1st game of the Wildcard spot, you guys unfortunately lost it 3:4 with it going into OT, run me through the game.
"We started really slow, and you can't do that in the playoffs at the stakes.. allowing them a goal in each of the first 2 periods didn't help either... We did wake up in time for the 3rd as I think we got our momentum back they instantly took it away by scoring, then in the OT, a penalty is what cost us the game, overall a pretty sloppy game from us, but I had faith in us bouncing back in the 2nd game, we let them have too many shots and didn't put up many ourselves..."
With that being said the 2nd game, kind of a same scenario, game went into 2x OT, but Yukon crowned themselves victorious, any comments on this game?
"I think this was the total opposite of the 1st game, this game we were determined to make their lives miserable by putting up tons of shots and pressure on their goalie, it started out good for us as we took a 3-1 lead after the 1st period, but after that... everything fell apart. Their goalie came up clutch for them, not allowing a single goal after the 1st period. and I think that's what broke us, we had so many chances, the 1st OT we put up 18 shots, and in modern hockey if you can't take a win with 18 shots in an OT environment, you are not destined to win, that's pretty much what happened to us, the goalie stopped everything. Obviously props to their whole team, they played great and they have a buddy of mine - Frostbeard playing there, wish him best of luck going further in the playoffs."
With the Wildcard match concluded you guys were eliminated... Later it was brought in public that this was the last run as Aces GM for Jubo, any words about him as a GM, since you played in his final season?
"Yeah, I can only say good things about him, the guy works really hard, and that shows on the ice, I never had problems with him, whenever we had questions he was quik to answer and was always ready to help out in anyway possible. He created a legacy with the Aces and I'm sure if he ever returns as a GM, he will not be short of offers."
Now.... onto all of the off-season talk, upcoming for you is the VHL draft, and judging by the "Mock-Drafts" lots of people are doing now you are projected as a top5 prospect, what are your thoughts/wishes as to where you could land?
"This is the crazy time of the year, all draftees get excited and I'm excited too, I finished this VHLM season and felt good about my stats and growth compared to last season, unfortunately no cups for me as of yet, but hopefully that will change in the near future. As for the wishes, I currently have none, I'm happy to play for whomever finds me as a good fit in their team, I'm always ready to work hard and I think it showed during this season."
Nowadays there are scouts nearly everywhere, watching every game and analyzing players, if you had the chance to say anything to them, now's your time.
"Well, as the season showed, I'm ready to work hard and this off-season I'll do it even more, the VHL is the "big-boy" league as I like to call it, tough and experienced players in every team will make it harder to play, but I'm ready for the challenge. And as always, the goal is the cup, in the end - nothing else matters."
Alright, that's pretty much everything we had planned for you today, thank you for your time and any final words towards the audience?
"Yeah, thanks for having me here, it's awesome reflecting on my past season, because when the season is up and running, you don't really have time to think about anything, it's game night almost every day and focus is completetly on that, so that's really cool. I also would like to thank Everyone on Philadelphia & Las Vegas Aces, especially the GM's Blade(@BladeMaiden) and Jubo(@Jubo07), for the hard work they put in this season and for molding me into a better player.

1,510 words, claiming for weeks ending 04/21, 04/28 , 05/05.

Edited April 12, 2019 by GRZ

[BladeMaiden 1,807]

It was an honor having you on the Reapers GRZ