Was the on screen translation accurate? He came across as rude to me, although I don't speak Finnish and am basing this off his body language, tone, and this translation
Maybe that's just his relationship with his father. I didn't see a father trying to calm or settle his 18 year old son down on the biggest day of his life on the biggest stage he's ever been on, did you? In fact if you watch his father, he seems stand offish and tbh a bit of an a-hole before they cut to the scene you're refering to. If your kid was nervous would you act cold like that? The coach was warmer, or whoever that dude was.
I don't know. I see a kid that is analyzing the situation to make sure he doesn't look like an ass. One that comes from a different culture trying to figure out what to do. Then contrast that with Jack Hughes laid back attitude and he looks high strung.
He seemed like a dick honestly. Seems to be a thing you hear about him from time to time.
I have to say I had a bit of a laugh reading all these posts. Kakko's mannerisms and talking in that video are like text-book stereotypical for an 18-year old Finnish boy there. Yes a boy. Maybe he is showing a little bit of an immature teenager side still but you can tell he is nervous so it's coming through. Also his dad's mannerisms are also pretty stereotypical, but he is supporting Kakko there.
It's joked about a lot but Finns can really be a very introverted, and Kakko's mannerism definitely support that stereotype. It's a very different culture to US, although it's slowly changing here too (maybe because of social media?). I'm not saying it's a good thing but presenting yourself is really not taught here, it's not in the culture. To make a number of yourself, so to say, is not encouraged. You're supposed to downplay everything and just do your work. As a result people can come across awkward. Presenting yourself in front of thousands of people makes it 1000-times worse.
People suggesting therapy to "fix" the character are so far off it's not even funny. For Finns it's not uncommon to mature much later than people over in US, or elsewhere in Europe for that matter. For Puljujärvi it took a trip back to Finland to mature. Kakko will get there and figure it out too, hopefully with the Rangers in the near future and not requiring a trip back to Finland.
e. I'm not suggesting Puljujärvi comes across mature now
but he did mature in the sense that he seems better with himself and his surroundings now.