Is Janne NHL Ready?

So the big discussion that surrounds the entrance to the NHL for Janne is about if he is ready to play NHL hockey... The big issues that surround him are...

1. How will he respond to the smaller rink?
2. How will he respond to the increased physical play?
3. How will he respond to a longer season?

For the smaller rink, hockey skills are hockey skills, whether the rink is giant or small. I think this will take some getting used to, but after some practices and pre-season games he should be able to completely adjust his game.

As per the physical play... As you can see by watching him, Janne is an incredibly fast player, not saying that the physicality is going to be a complete non-issue, but every player adapts to the physicality when they come into the NHL (you can' t tell me the Canadian junior leagues are as physical as the NHL), I don't see why Janne can't adapt like everybody else. Obviously if he becomes a threat, players will try and increase the physicality to make him a non-factor (a-la malkin), but he does have the speed to work around these things. This could be a big issue, but we really cannot judge this considering we have no basis to judge his answer to physical play. This is a wait and see thing.

As for the longer season, this is where we will see the biggest problem. Going from a 56 game season to an 82 game season (not including playoffs) will be a huge step up. He is obviously in shape, but when it comes to the human body it's hard to tell who can take more wear and tear than others.

The other big question is if Janne is ready to jump into the NHL right from SM-Liiga (Finish Elite League). Everywhere i have been reading SM-Liiga is considered a notch below the AHL. Basically the overall sentiment is that the top players in the AHL and SM-Liiga are interchangeable in talent, but the AHL has significantly more depth, so i honestly do believe that Janne will be able to be a top talent in the AHL if he starts out there.

I think Janne has all the necessary tools to be a top 6 winger in the NHL, but I do think that unless he shows us some excellent adaptation and skills during the preseason, it may be a good idea to send him to the AHL and let him adjust to the NHL way of things, then hopefully he can come up to the NHL and woo us all...

This is all assuming Janne continues this charade of not being the greatest hockey player ever born...

Will Janne will be eligible for ROY honors?

In the NHL, a player can be no older than 26 to win the rookie award, a limit established to avoid a repeat of 1990. That year, 31-year-old Sergei Makarov won the NHL's award over 19-year-old Mike Modano. Makarov had played professionally for years in the Soviet Union.Some have suggested a similar age limit for baseball's rookie award.(excerpt from an SI article)

Janne doesn't turn 27 until May 11 2009, but will he considered a professional with his playing in the Finnish Elte league

Janne Pesonen Picture of the week 8/3

Bling Bling bitch

Nhl's take on Pesonen

Janne Pesonen (LW), Pittsburgh
Age: 26; Nationality: Finnish; Height: 5-11; Weight: 180
2007-08 stats: 56 games, 34-44-78, 58 PIM (Karpat Oulu)
Acquired: Signed as a free agent on July 7, 2008.
Contract: One-year contract.

Notes -- Pesonen has won four league championships with Karpat and scored 16 points (7-9) in the 2008 playoffs. In 2007, he was the playoff MVP with 7 points (4-3) in 9 games. Pesonen was named Rookie of the Year in 2003-04, notching 30 points (17-13) in 56 contests. He has played in 285 career games in the Finnish Elite League, collecting 216 points (94-122), along with 200 penalty minutes. Pesonen has also appeared in 62 playoff games, registering 31 points (18-13) and 32 penalty minutes.

“Pesonen is a quick, skilled player that has had much success in the Finnish Elite League,” Penguins GM Fred Shero told PittsburghPenguins.com. “We look forward to watching him perform at his first NHL training camp.”

He was originally selected by Anaheim in the ninth round, No. 269, in the 2004 Entry Draft.

Risto’s take: Pesonen is fast and quick. Sometimes too fast for the defensemen, and sometimes too fast for the referee which is why he has earned himself a reputation as a diver, but he doesn’t do that as often as he’s accused of it. Pesonen won the scoring title in the Finnish Elite League last season thanks to his creative play, and his ability to always find a way to get past the defenseman. He’s a good hockey player, and he was a great player in the Finnish league, although he did fade in the finals. I’d be surprised if he manages to play a regular shift in Pittsburgh. He’s got speed, but not Sami Kapanen (1990s) speed. He’s skilled, but no Malkin or Datsyuk. So, probably first to the AHL.

Risto’s comparable NHL player: Martin St. Louis

NO???? WTF and Janne Watch 2008

First of all, i noticed two people voted No to the is Janne jesus poll... You people who voted here is all the evidence you need...



Yeah, change your votes dumb asses.

Also, I would like to officially announce the start of the Janne watch 2008.



So i'm asking everybody to keep your eyes open and your cameras ready. If anybody happens to be at an open practice where janne is (which i assume is the most likely place to see Janne, but photos of janne in the wild would also be appreciated) snap some photos and send them over and i'll post them and give you credit, please email them to me at vfm+janne@andrew.cmu.edu.

And i noticed we got somebody from finland to visit...So if this is you, could you please post me some sort of translation to that awesome Janne song, which is called Pelimies, the one notable lyric I got from an online translator was "Meat is robust while meat is dull" which unless finish music is really odd, i'm betting that is wrong.

Finally, here is the real music video for the song in the jesus video, it's crazy hilarious...


I officially love Finnish people...

Check back tomorrow or monday for the Janne quote and pictures of the week

What to expect from Janne Pesonen

Assuming Janne continues his streak of letting other hockey players have a chance at winning, the guys at Bleacher Report wrote a nice article on what to expect from Janne. Here is a link to the original article and below i'll just separate out some key points.

Janne Pesonen: What Pittsburgh Penguins Fans Should Expect

Some excerpts:

"As far as his size, I don't think it would be too much of an issue. Pesonen seems to be a fast, shifty skater. Most of the goals I've seen of his from you tube come from in front of the net—and not a Ryan Malone "Stand In Front and Get Beat to Hell" way. He will appear in the slot at the last second, somehow in position to put the puck in the net"

Well thats good... Fast and shifty, and although I understand the need for a power forward to terrorize the goalie in front of the net and pick up borderline garbage goals, I personally would rather have a player who can score from around the net and then we can train him to stand there every once in a while.

"So what can we expect from Janne Pesonen? Well, you can't expect Olli Jokinen, Teemu Selanne, or Saku Koivu. I will tell you that right now. Otherwise he would already be over here"

So this is where I have to disagree. When Janne was drafted he was a pretty good prospect, nothing amazing, so like a good deal of players he stayed in his current situation, which meant he didn't have to play in a lesser league and didn't have to get paid little money. Janne had some mediocre seasons, then all of the sudden he really exploded into an all star player in SM-Liiga. So honestly, saying he would already be here is not really valid considering he really just started to peak last year...hence why he is coming here.

"Worst-case is he is never called up and he goes back to Finland at the end of the season. No harm, no foul. It was worth a shot.

The best case scenario? To me, at least, it seems that Pesonen's best upside is Pascal Dupuis—with better hands and finishing abilities."

Considering if Dupuis would have scored on all those chances he botched in the finals...yeah that seems pretty good to me.

"He is, essentially, a more offensive Dupuis. Perhaps the perfect compliment to Sid's left side, in that he can play a two-way game, has above-average hands and shot, has that fine muscle twitch reaction that is needed when playing with Sid, and will jump into the play."

woot!

Janne Pesonen fact of the week

Janne intentionally plays at a lower skill level so he can make the game more fair for the other players. This not only shines high upon his ability as a hockey player, but his sportsmanship and kindness.

Janne Pesonen Stats

Here are some stats of Janne from his 6 years in the Finnish Elite league, so you can get an idea of his performances.

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2001-02	Karpat	FNL	9	2	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0
2003-04	Karpat	FNL	56	17	13	30	28	15	1	1	2	4
2004-05	Karpat	FNL	55	11	18	29	42	12	2	0	2	0
2005-06	Karpat	FNL	53	8	14	22	34	11	4	0	4	8
2006-07	Karpat	FNL	56	22	33	55	38	9	4	3	7	10
2007-08	Karpat	FNL	56	34	44	78	58

Speculators feel that Janne is capable of being a 20 goal scorer in the NHL, but based on the first video in the Meet Janne Pesonen post I think we may be in for a record breaking season

Janne Pesonen Picture of the Week

The look of a champion...

Meet Janne Pesonen

Meet Janne Pesonen Pittsburgh...