Player Discussion Jesse Puljujärvi 4th Overall 2016 Draft. Part III On Loan To Finnish WHC Team

[snipes]

Jesse just gave an interview in finnish where he basically said that he hasnt had the feeling to play & that he has no idea what the Oilers plan is for him.

Poor guy. Oilers managed to kill his joy.

What were his actual words?

 

[snipes]

Based on this article I put into google translate -- https://svenska.yle.fi/artikel/2017...g-kommer-att-gora-allt-att-atervanda-till-nhl

He basically says he reacted positively to the news that he's playing in the AHL now because he gets to play and has more responsibility.

I know google translate isn't always the best so if any Finns can translate that would be great. I don't see him mentioning he doesn't want to play. He talks about his confidence being lost a bit and not playing that much.

Well, he's not the first 18 year old to have a reality check playing in the NHL. He'll be fine.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

What were his actual words?

"Im not at my best right now. I haven't really felt good about playing, yet. Its been a little bit difficult".


http://yle.fi/urheilu/3-9399275

I will translate the rest once i get home from work.

 

[snipes]

"Im not at my best right now. I haven't really felt good about playing, yet. Its been a little bit difficult".


http://yle.fi/urheilu/3-9399275

I will translate the rest once i get home from work.

This seems like a good cultural sharing point, let's see how he handles adversity. Seems like he played well his first game in the AHL

Pulju is in western Canada now, we value mental toughness and fighting through tough times. Does he sulk and feel sorry for himself? Or does this motivate him to be better and realize the NHL is a tough league? We want to see him learn from this and get stronger.

He's an 18 year old kid from Lapland who likely wasn't as prepared as Laine was to come to Canada. Nothing wrong with that, we've got lots of time to be patient with him. The Finnish media have been hard on him and it's probably been a confidence hit along with not playing big minutes.

This could be the best thing that ever happened to him. Turn it into a positive, play well and get 20 minutes/game and some PP time. Put up some good numbers and get his confidence back. He'll be back up with the Oilers eventually. I hope he makes the most of this.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Pulju was 13 when he moved away from home to Oulu, to play hockey. He played with his hand broken and puking in the u18 finals. He is a tough kid

 

[snipes]

Pulju was 13 when he moved away from home to Oulu, to play hockey. He played with his hand broken and puking in the u18 finals. He is a tough kid

This is exactly why this is a perfect opportunity. He'll come back stronger, he's got the mental toughness and internal strength to maximize this. Besides, sisu is built into his soul as a Finn from the forests of Lapland .

He's McDavid's future RWer, he's just not being given that spot right away or rushed into big minutes.

Believe it or not, the Oilers and our fans love Pulju and want the best for him. We're not "screwing" him around or treating him poorly. He's paying his rookie dues on a playoff calibre team.

He has a long and bright future flying up the ice with 97 in the years to come. Earning his spot won't hurt him in the slightest when we look back 20-25 years from now, in fact this moment will be looked back on as being the best thing that could happen to him.

 

[BleedingOil]

Poor guy. Oilers managed to kill his joy.

Poor guy hes 18 and he has to put in some work in the minors. He'll be fine

 

[StiffSquid]

Poor guy hes 18 and he has to put in some work in the minors. He'll be fine

Yeah and that's pretty much what Pulju Said in the interview. Nowhere in that interview he feels sorry for himself or entitled , he just said that he is somewhat "frustrated and not playing on the level I can play"

Pretty much saying that his humor was tested up in Edmonton at times.

But. He also said that consistency had been an issue for him , that he had some OK games and some really crappy games too. He also said that in NHL he needs to put the puck into the net when he gets a chance and he needs to be playing 100% every single night.
He also said that he needs to get stronger physically.

I'm 100% sure he will be a great player once he figures it all out

 

[GameChanger]

We're not "screwing" him around or treating him poorly. He's paying his rookie dues on a playoff calibre team.

While I like your positive approach and agree with almost everything you said, I do think Oilers has treated him if not poorly at least quite questionably at times. I'm sure there are possible explanations for some of the things, but some veteran players have been allowed to make pretty continuous mistakes, while Jesse has been punished harshly on almost each of them. I don't think Oilers being a likely playoff team makes a huge difference in that. Winnipeg have used the opposite approach with Laine and it's turned into the team's advantage already now. These guys need to have fun on the ice, of course still playing responsively, and not go to the ice just to avoid mistakes.

I haven't seen the latest games where Jesse played 3-8 minutes, but I've seen many of the over 10 minute games, and read comments after every single game. He started the season slowly (still not too badly), but after that I don't know if there's any game with over 10 minutes of ice time where he wasn't at least pretty good. You may freely correct me if I'm wrong and haven't noticed something. He had it going well in the 1st line, and I think since that he's been put into a situation where it's very difficult to succeed. I don't know if there is an 18-year-old player in the world who would've done that playing only some minutes every third game or so, and being punished harshly for each mistake.

I'm calm about the situation and trust that Pulju will be a great player for Oilers. I just feel that Oilers didn't chose the optimal approach with him. However, it's time to look forward now.

 

[BB88]

He doesn't cry in that interview.

He just says like we everyone think already. His game isn't at peak level right now.

About the press box duties he,
said "it's was a bit frustrating, you start to think what you have to do and it was a new situation, but it belongs to the sport and I guess there's a process going".

About going to AHL he sounds happy, "now I get to play and that's what I want, it was nice to play bigger minutes in tuesdays game. Now I will get everything I can out of this trip and will do whatever it takes to get called up again", promises Pulju.

"NHL is a tough league, you have to be at your 100% every night. There were times were I was playing well and times where I wasn't. I have to find consistency and score when I have the chance. Need to gain more strenght as well."

Writer then talks about how AHL has less games and Pulju will have more practise time while in games he gets to play more and that's what Puljus game now need.

"Tuesdays game seemed to have a huge difference compared to NHL, lots of speed and hits, seemed like there was more speed than thinking. Playing felt good but there is work to do."


I've said this many times before, confidence is everything for rookies and skill players need to play to be in the game and be confident.
Now Pulju has the chance to build his confidence.

 

[urho]

He doesn't cry in that interview.

Pulju said those things you already translated. The writer himself questions Oilers actions towards Puljujärvi. And not in the way that he should have been playing more minutes in the NHL but how keeping Puljujärvi up with the big club was a very bad decision and did some real harm for usually very optimistic kid who loves to play the game. He also says that "usually NHL clubs send their quality prospects in their junior club or in the AHL because they don't want to mess up their game and confidence by putting them into a kind of situation where they can't be succesful". And with that statement, I fully agree.

Pulju was handled poorly. While it may not ruin him (he has too much talent to be ruined very easily), it certainly wasn't good for him either. He should've been in the AHL two months ago and he'd have his game going much better right now. Might've been useful to the big club as well come spring time...

 

[oobga]

I love google translate:
"Of course it was the frustration between. It begins to think that what this all have to do. However, oneself has never been such a situation. But I guess it belongs to this species"

"In the first AHL match on Tuesday against San Antonio Puljujärvi registered your account account at one feed point"


I think he's gonna be just fine now that we FINALLY sent him down. He's gonna be damn good in the AHL and get comfortable with the NA game quickly thanks to finally getting to play tonnes of ice time.

 

[nabob]

I love google translate:
"Of course it was the frustration between. It begins to think that what this all have to do. However, oneself has never been such a situation. But I guess it belongs to this species"

"In the first AHL match on Tuesday against San Antonio Puljujärvi registered your account account at one feed point"


I think he's gonna be just fine now that we FINALLY sent him down. He's gonna be damn good in the AHL and get comfortable with the NA game quickly thanks to finally getting to play tonnes of ice time.

My biggest concern is that while he is learning "the NA game" he isn't learning the NHL game. He said it's more skating and less thinking. Good thing he's already a smart positional player. Hoping he can get some confidence and come back up with a bit longer leash.

 

[BB88]

Pulju said those things you already translated. The writer himself questions Oilers actions towards Puljujärvi. And not in the way that he should have been playing more minutes in the NHL but how keeping Puljujärvi up with the big club was a very bad decision and did some real harm for usually very optimistic kid who loves to play the game. He also says that "usually NHL clubs send their quality prospects in their junior club or in the AHL because they don't want to mess up their game and confidence by putting them into a kind of situation where they can't be succesful". And with that statement, I fully agree.

Pulju was handled poorly. While it may not ruin him (he has too much talent to be ruined very easily), it certainly wasn't good for him either. He should've been in the AHL two months ago and he'd have his game going much better right now. Might've been useful to the big club as well come spring time...

If they let him play now and work on his weaknesses this 1st half won't affect his ceiling at all.
But if they kept him up all year continuing like they did then it would have likely affected him.

I was frustrated for weeks but now just happy for Pulju.

My biggest concern is that while he is learning "the NA game" he isn't learning the NHL game. He said it's more skating and less thinking. Good thing he's already a smart positional player. Hoping he can get some confidence and come back up with a bit longer leash.

Puljus biggest weaknesses are puck handling and just confidence. Those should be good issues to work on in the AHL. Those are best fixed with playing a lot and playing with the puck. Like we saw he isn't a mess or liability defensively or too weak. He just needs to see ice in game situations and that wasn't happening in the NHL and his issues are difficult to work on from the press box.

He also realized the opposition in tuesdays game wasn't the top team in the league.

 

[snipes]

He doesn't cry in that interview.

He just says like we everyone think already. His game isn't at peak level right now.

About the press box duties he,
said "it's was a bit frustrating, you start to think what you have to do and it was a new situation, but it belongs to the sport and I guess there's a process going".

About going to AHL he sounds happy, "now I get to play and that's what I want, it was nice to play bigger minutes in tuesdays game. Now I will get everything I can out of this trip and will do whatever it takes to get called up again", promises Pulju.

"NHL is a tough league, you have to be at your 100% every night. There were times were I was playing well and times where I wasn't. I have to find consistency and score when I have the chance. Need to gain more strenght as well."

Writer then talks about how AHL has less games and Pulju will have more practise time while in games he gets to play more and that's what Puljus game now need.

"Tuesdays game seemed to have a huge difference compared to NHL, lots of speed and hits, seemed like there was more speed than thinking. Playing felt good but there is work to do."


I've said this many times before, confidence is everything for rookies and skill players need to play to be in the game and be confident.
Now Pulju has the chance to build his confidence.

Good I'm glad he's this as a chance to turn it into an opportunity rather than sulking or feeling sorry for himself.

This will make him stronger mentally, the NHL is a tough league.

Pulju said those things you already translated. The writer himself questions Oilers actions towards Puljujärvi. And not in the way that he should have been playing more minutes in the NHL but how keeping Puljujärvi up with the big club was a very bad decision and did some real harm for usually very optimistic kid who loves to play the game. He also says that "usually NHL clubs send their quality prospects in their junior club or in the AHL because they don't want to mess up their game and confidence by putting them into a kind of situation where they can't be succesful". And with that statement, I fully agree.

Pulju was handled poorly. While it may not ruin him (he has too much talent to be ruined very easily), it certainly wasn't good for him either. He should've been in the AHL two months ago and he'd have his game going much better right now. Might've been useful to the big club as well come spring time...

If playing minimum minutes and not dressing for a few games caused "real harm" to him, then I'm sorry but that's not our kind of guy in western Canada or the type attitude we want on our team. We're trying to build a team to match our brand of hockey we grew up on here. We're finally starting to slowly see a return to Oiler hockey and a team that battles without quitting when things get tough.

I think you're projecting the "real harm" and you don't know that with any certainty. Come on, riding the bench as a young player or going through the rookie treatment is part of the game. Suck it up and get stronger from it.

If that's enough to break him or destroy him, then he's mentally weak and not the guy we thought he was. I don't think that's the case, he seems like he's taking it in stride and going through adversity and willing to push through it. He'll get through this.

This "real harm" talk I don't buy, unless more Finns are corroborating it. BB's interpretation certainly doesn't suggest that, it seems he's had his confidence rattled. That can be a good thing, reality checks can make us stronger if we face the adversity head on and fight through it learning the lessons.

Sulking about the situation wouldn't elicit much sympathy here, but I'm glad that doesn't seem to be the case. If he makes the most of this, it will be a blessing in disguise. Do I like how that he was benched for doing nothing wrong or not dressing occasionally? No. But that's life, he's the youngest player in the league and he went through some character building times in a foreign land barely speaking our language. I'm happy to see he's happy about the AHL opportunities.

I wouldn't expect a kid from Lapland who shares a similar northern culture to ours to quit when things get tough. As they say, "steel sharpens steel", some adversity early will end up being a good thing.

 

[oobga]

My biggest concern is that while he is learning "the NA game" he isn't learning the NHL game. He said it's more skating and less thinking. Good thing he's already a smart positional player. Hoping he can get some confidence and come back up with a bit longer leash.

I haven't watched too much AHL hockey lately, but don't players bunch up a lot more? For sure he has the talent to beat guys in races, but I still think he should get a lot of situations where he is being crowded by opposing players and needs to find ways to deal with the reduced space, especially if he plays the Gulls (EAKINS SWARM!!!). I think for sure the increase of ice time to work on his game should be much better for him than barely playing in the NHL.

I get if you're saying you would rather him play big minutes in the NHL, but I just don't see it happening now because McLellan just doesn't trust him yet. Right or wrong, that's his situation with the NHL team.

 

[agent082]

- I'm not on my best now. There is no good feeling yet. It's little difficult.

- Of course there was also frustration at times. You start to wonder what you have to do. I haven't have this kind of situation ever. But I guess it's part of this sport. And maybe there is some kind of small project going on.

- I still took good this sending down to AHL. Now I can play and that is what I want to do. It was quite nice to play yesterday (tuesday) more minutes. Now I will take everything out of this assignment and lets see if they will call me up. I will try my best so that I can still play there.

- NHL is a tough league where you have to give 100 procent every night. There was times when I was good, but there was also moments when I wasn't at my best. I must be more steady, I have to stay on a puck and when there is a chance I have to score. I also need more strenght.

- It's a big difference to NHL. I guess last night's team (San Antonio) wasn't that great. There is lot of pace and lot of tackles. It seems that there is more speed than idea. I felt good, but my own doing was also varying.

 

[urho]

If playing minimum minutes and not dressing for a few games caused "real harm" to him, then I'm sorry but that's not our kind of guy in western Canada or the type attitude we want on our team. We're trying to build a team to match our brand of hockey we grew up on here. We're finally starting to slowly see a return to Oiler hockey and a team that battles without quitting when things get tough.

I think you're projecting the "real harm" and you don't know that with any certainty. Come on, riding the bench as a young player or going through the rookie treatment is part of the game. Suck it up and get stronger from it.

I get it. You're tough in western Canada. There's still this thing called "human psychology" and if I'm correct, it exists everywhere with no geological exceptions. "Toughening someone up" by treating him inconsistently because of some random reason just doesn't work. You don't have to flatter someone for anything one does but be honest, be logical. A lots of research exists about these things.

If you really read my post I also said that I highly doubt this will do any permanent damage for a talent like Jesse. What I said was that it may already have done some harm to your NHL club (you don't need a RH scoring winger?) and certainly damaged his self confidence this season. As the YLE reporter wrote, "usually NHL clubs send their quality prospects in their junior club or in the AHL because they don't want to mess up their game and confidence by putting them into a kind of situation where they can't be succesful".

So it's not the end of the world or anything. But if I was an Oilers fan, I would be a little disappointed with my club. Maybe even a little mad

 

[snipes]

I get it. You're tough in western Canada. There's still this thing called "human psychology" and if I'm correct, it exists everywhere with no geological exceptions. "Toughening someone up" by treating him inconsistently because of some random reason just doesn't work. You don't have to flatter someone for anything one does but be honest, be logical. A lots of research exists about these things.

If you really read my post I also said that I highly doubt this will do any permanent damage for a talent like Jesse. What I said was that it may already have done some harm to your NHL club (you don't need a RH scoring winger?) and certainly damaged his self confidence this season. As the YLE reporter wrote, "usually NHL clubs send their quality prospects in their junior club or in the AHL because they don't want to mess up their game and confidence by putting them into a kind of situation where they can't be succesful".

So it's not the end of the world or anything. But if I was an Oilers fan, I would be a little disappointed with my club. Maybe even a little mad

I've wanted Pulju to get PP time and more minutes from the beginning. I'm not overly impressed with how it's went, but I'm also not going to have a meltdown over it.

Here's the reality, the kid is 18 years old and he saw limited minutes. Probably for the first time in his entire life he hasn't played regular minutes. He was scratched for a few games. The Finnish media beat him up and the Oilers all kinds of "ruining him" talk and blah blah blah. It likely didn't help that Laine has been seeing big minutes and doing well in Winnipeg.

Things aren't always given to us in life, oftentimes going through adversity makes us stronger and more motivated to succeed. It appears this is motivating him and he's happy to be in the AHL. These are professional athletes making lots of money, the NHL is a grown man league. I think Pulju becomes stronger from this and this could be a blessing in disguise.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

The Finnish media has not beat up Pulju at all. All they've been reporting is "WTF are the Oilers doing."

They screwed with him. Wasted his time. Now it's fine since they finally put him in the AHL, but don't act like anything they did with him made sense.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

The only reason you guys aren't angrier about this is because the Oilers are doing OK.

 

[snipes]

The Finnish media has not beat up Pulju at all. All they've been reporting is "WTF are the Oilers doing."

They screwed with him. Wasted his time. Now it's fine since they finally put him in the AHL, but don't act like anything they did with him made sense.

I've been getting second hand accounts, so perhaps some things get lost in translation over the months .

I'm not happy about how it's gone, but the notion that Pulju is "ruined" or suffered "real harm" is just over the top and seems unnecessary. He'll be just fine, he's a great young player.

I'm sorry, it's seemed at times you guys are giving up on him or think he's "ruined" and we're destroying him or whatever (not saying you in particular). He's a good player who will be an excellent NHL player, hearing some seem like they're giving up on him thinking he's ruined just seems wrong, the kid will be an excellent NHLer down the road.

He's off to a good start in the AHL, hopefully we see him dominate down in Bakersfield before he comes back up down the road.

 

[urho]

I'm sorry, it's seemed at times you guys are giving up on him or think he's "ruined" and we're destroying him or whatever (not saying you in particular). He's a good player who will be an excellent NHL player, hearing some seem like they're giving up on him thinking he's ruined just seems wrong, the kid will be an excellent NHLer down the road.

I cannot speak for the others and my own writings might have been misleading since there's always something "lost in translation" if you know what I mean. Simply put, I myself weren't worried about Pulju's future (at least if they finally put him to play somewhere and they did). I was simply having a hard time understanding the logic behind the actions of professional sports team. And because I didn't really understand, I got a little frustrated about the whole weird situation.

I think Pulju's one of the biggest talent from Finland in the past 15 years or so and I really want everything to be done right for him since he's going to be a big part of team Finland in the future.

 

[snipes]

I cannot speak for the others and my own writings might have been misleading since there's always something "lost in translation" if you know what I mean. Simply put, I myself weren't worried about Pulju's future (at least if they finally put him to play somewhere and they did). I was simply having a hard time understanding the logic behind the actions of professional sports team. And because I didn't really understand, I got a little frustrated about the whole weird situation.

I think Pulju's one of the biggest talent from Finland in the past 15 years or so and I really want everything to be done right for him since he's going to be a big part of team Finland in the future.

I completely understand the passion when it comes to hockey .

English is obviously your second language, so sometimes things get lost in translation I think. It has just seemed like we've been getting screamed at here for "ruining" Pulju, I believe one accused our organization of treating him like a "dirty dog" and continually bashing our team. The Oilers haven't handled the situation the way I would of, but that doesn't mean he's ruined or anything even close.

Many of us share the frustration for his lack of playing time and not sending him down sooner, but thinking that he's ruined seems unneeded. Along with the media overseas bashing us, I mean the kid is alone in a new world, speculating he's "ruined" and bashing his team doesn't help.

In summary, think about the long-term. Now isn't the time to just quit on him, and I get the frustrations coming from you guys wanting the best for him. He'll come out better having faced some tough times and having to dig deep and push on.

Don't quit on him or give up on him, this will build character and mental strength when he makes the most of his AHL time .

 

[BleedingOil]

The Finnish media has not beat up Pulju at all. All they've been reporting is "WTF are the Oilers doing."

They screwed with him. Wasted his time. Now it's fine since they finally put him in the AHL, but don't act like anything they did with him made sense.

They showed him the ropes and allowed him to learn what it'll take at the NHL level. Going to the WJC would have been a waste of time, hes to good for that level.