Player Discussion Jesse Puljujarvi Part 10: Connor's RW

[TheNumber4]

Curious how the media coverage of Jesse’s success in the NHL is going in Finland. Is his play making some noise over there? Finnish posters want to chime in?

 

[Laodongxi]

Good point. I would say that there's maybe plenty of 10-25% pieces that all played a part. One of the biggest is the hip issue, another big one is how his FEL team prepared him. They used him in many different roles/situations, made him work with juniors, made him an assistant captain, placed him between English speaking players in the locker room, they said they were even tough to him to prepare him for the 2nd NHL stint.

Then there's Pulju's increased confidence and him feeling he can be himself in the team (remember when he pulled back the spontaneous smile earlier in his career) and of course him beging more mature. Then there's a coach who talks to him and who knows what to expect from him, a more relaxed fan base due to better success and older and inevitably more mature leading players who've really taken him under their wings.

I also think he's realised that in order to be effective he needs to push 100% in every game. He also used to make occasional bad looking mistakes (like missing the puck when he shot) or lose his balance too easily. I also believe some time in Finland made him appreciate the chance in the NHL more. After labelled a bust he also wanted to show to everyone that he can play at a high level in the NHL. Many things really, but all together they make a huge difference.

Those are all great points! So many positives are coming together this time around. Thanks for your insight!

 

[ThePhoenixx]

Do we actually know this? Just because he isn't publicly saying things doesn't mean it wasn't happening.

A lot of reports were JP wasn't listening and it was frustrating others on the team. Maybe McLellan just gave up on the guy and I wouldn't blame him. He was here to win not try develop rookies. I sooner blame the GM for forcing the coach to have to play a guy that clearly had issues

We do know McLellan preferred to communicate through his assistant coaches.

 

[Asiaoil]

Strange to say for a guy picked #4 in his draft year, but JP is a late bloomer, that much is obvious. The kid was nowhere near mentally and emotionally ready for the NHL and they needed to leave him in Finland for another year (probably two). Fortunately we now have a a guy with a clue in the GM chair as the treatment of Broburg shows (he has the same amazing toolkit as JP but will need time and patience). We have not even seen the half of what JP is capable of and his skating, passing, shooting, hitting and defense makes me think he will eventually be a jumbo-sized Marian Hossa. That's one hell of a player.

 

[Lempo]

Curious how the media coverage of Jesse’s success in the NHL is going in Finland. Is his play making some noise over there? Finnish posters want to chime in?

Yes. The press kind of picked up where they left when he was supposed to blow up the dollar league in 2016 in the wake of that WJC line. There's some subdued hopeful hype of him maybe possibly becoming to McDavid what Kurri was to Gretzky... with Jesse-kind of spin to it as for some reason other teams' guys seem to want to punch him in the nose to Jesse's horrific surprise.

 

[Whyme]

Curious how the media coverage of Jesse’s success in the NHL is going in Finland. Is his play making some noise over there? Finnish posters want to chime in?

Definitely a very different tone. During the last few days there's been headlines like:

- Pulju getting lots of praise from the coach
- sweet little revenge to Roussell (the PP goal)
- Puljujarvi playing an important part: a surpising fact about the Oilers shining - seen last at the times of Kurri and Gretzky
- a goal again, Puljujarvi has scored all his goals within the last 10 games
- hot like fire
- hot, hotter, hottest Jesse Puljujarvi
- Puljujarvi keeps scoring goals in the NHL, "it's all about maturity/being more ready"

 

[CupofOil]

This wasn't the only time Drai has been mentoring Pulju and caught on cam. It's very pleasant to see

It's always nice to see when the boys communicate (especially since this team has been so robotic for years) but especially when they include Pulju in the conversations. I noticed that Drai was one of the players who really gushed about him in Training Camp along with Nurse and Nuge who also seems to be really taking to Jesse, not to mention Tippett who is in love with the young man haha. It's really nice to see.

Also, I noticed that the team is really starting to enjoy playing more the last week especially. The goal celebrations are more colorful and the post game fist bumps and hugs are becoming more joyous, even Drai is coming out of his shell a bit. You always love to see that as a fan.

 

[Fourier]

Yes. The press kind of picked up where they left when he was supposed to blow up the dollar league in 2016 in the wake of that WJC line. There's some subdued hopeful hype of him maybe possibly becoming to McDavid what Kurri was to Gretzky... with Jesse-kind of spin to it as for some reason other teams' guys seem to want to punch him in the nose to Jesse's horrific surprise.

I love what I am seeing out of Puljujarvi. But that expectaion is too much to ask for. Kurri was a sublime complement to Gretzky. He had a perfect blend of skills but just as importantly he could read off Gretzky incredibly well. On this team, the closest thing we have seen is McDavid-Draisailt. The last thing that JP would need is that kind of pressure coming from back home.

 

[Fourier]

It's always nice to see when the boys communicate (especially since this team has been so robotic for years) but especially when they include Pulju in the conversations. I noticed that Drai was one of the players who really gushed about him in Training Camp along with Nurse and Nuge who also seems to be really taking to Jesse, not to mention Tippett who is in love with the young man haha. It's really nice to see.

Two games in a row Nuge was the first guy in when Puljujarvi was involved in a scrum. Good to see.

 

[PulYou]

How could McLellan appreciate him.? He couldn't understand or speak. Even his own teammates threw him under the bus...and JP admitted it was his own fault he didn't feel "comfortable "

No point throwing Tmac under the bus for no reason on this. Tmac actually praised him several times in the media...just like Tipp. Only difference is, he couldn't keep it up. It was square peg in a round hole at that time.

It's crazy with all the info that has come out ppl still think coaching is the reason it didn't work out the first time

There is plenty to blame on coaching why Pulju’s first stint with the Oilers was unsuccesful. Unlike Tippett McLellan just didn’t understand what kind of a player Pulju is.
McLellan did everything to ruin Pulju’s confidence. According to Leavins he spend hours trying to unlock Puljujärvi. He tried to convert him to a different player and saw Pulju stubborn when he was unsuccesful converting him. Leavins also told that McLellan told Pylju time and time again (who knows what), but Pulju stayed stubborn. Tippett’s almost only advise to Pulju was to keep on smiling.
Tippett understands that Pulju is an instinctual player and too much guidance hinders the talent. This was something McLellan never understood.
And there was no consistency how McLellan managed Pulju. He was healthy scratched numerous times and benched almost immediately if he made a mistake. And the lines he played in were constantly suffled.
On media avails McLellan told Pulju was a happy-go-lucky type and he was not professional enough. He mocked Pulju’s eating habits and his constantly wagging tongue. I am guessing it was him who told in confidence to media that the top guys didn’t want to play with Pulju after receiving so much scrutiny from the fans not playing Pulju in the top lines. If You remember he was almost angry at the end of his employment when he was asked about Pulju at the media avails.
This was textbook management on how to ruin a player’s confidence (and development). Thankfully Pulju has bounced and maybe facing some adversity has made him mentally stronger. So maybe the mismanagement benefitted him, but to me Tippett is light years better of a coach than McLellan.

 

[CupofOil]

Two games in a row Nuge was the first guy in when Puljujarvi was involved in a scrum. Good to see.

It seemed that Nuge really took to him pretty quickly, you can just see it the way he talked about him in Training Camp.

Nuge is a real understated leader of this team, starting to see some real leadership qualities coming from him the last few seasons.
I still don't think they should overpay him (north of $7M) but he's a real important part of this leadership group, not to mention the utility he brings to the lineup.

 

[Lempo]

I love what I am seeing out of Puljujarvi. But that expectaion is too much to ask for. Kurri was a sublime complement to Gretzky. He had a perfect blend of skills but just as importantly he could read off Gretzky incredibly well. On this team, the closest thing we have seen is McDavid-Draisailt. The last thing that JP would need is that kind of pressure coming from back home.

I think no one actually believes that to be in any way a realistic scenario, what with Jesse already having once returned home on the milk train and all, but they got papers to sell and headlines to make. The allusion to generational Canadian center/his Finnish winger is just too juicy to not make, realism be damned. It's a nationally shared daydream that is understood to be just that and not much more.

 

[joestevens29]

We do know McLellan preferred to communicate through his assistant coaches.

Which is fine, no?

 

[Fourier]

I think no one actually believes that to be in any way a realistic scenario, what with Jesse already having once returned home on the milk train and all, but they got papers to sell and headlines to make. The allusion to generational Canadian center/his Finnish winger is just too juicy to not make, realism be damned. It's a nationally shared daydream that is understood to be just that and not much more.

That's fine. So long as people are realistic. Kurri was one of the best players of his generation aside from what he was with/to Gretzky. I'd be thrilled if JP can become a legitimate first line winger. The gap between those two expectations is immense.

 

[Whyme]

That's fine. So long as people are realistic. Kurri was one of the best players of his generation aside from what he was with/to Gretzky. I'd be thrilled if JP can become a legitimate first line winger. The gap between those two expectations is immense.

I agree it's a nice story but there's no need to make that kind of expectations. However, I do remain the door open to the possibility McDavid and Pulju will form something exceptional together. Pulju is still just 22, scoring goals at a terrific rate lately and there's a good chance what we see is far from the final product. McDavid on the other hand is already a world class star, but still young and keeps developing each year.

Another reason why I don't know about the Gretzky Kurri thing is because there is Draisaitl in the team. It's totally possible at some stage Pulju will end up playing with Drai and I wouldn't be surprised if they also build a great connection. But like @Lempo said it's too good of a story to miss if newspapers want to maximize their profits.

 

[Fourier]

I agree it's a nice story but there's no need to make that kind of expectations. However, I do remain the door open to the possibility McDavid and Pulju will form something exceptional together. Pulju is still just 22, scoring goals at a terrific rate lately and there's a good chance what we see is far from the final product. McDavid on the other hand is already a world class star, but still young and keeps developing each year.

Another reason why I don't know about the Gretzky Kurri thing is because there is Draisaitl in the team. It's totally possible at some stage Pulju will end up playing with Drai and I wouldn't be surprised if they also build a great connection. But like @Lempo said it's too good of a story to miss if newspapers want to maximize their profits.

I'd be thrilled if Puljujarvi develops great chemistry with either McDavid or Leon. Preferably both. But I am curious how many people in Finland actually saw much of the Gretzky/Kurri pairing given that it would have been so much more difficult to do so back then. The reason I mention McDavid-Draisailt is that Draisaitl was able to significantly transition his game to play with McDavid. Leon's natural instinct is to slow the game down, he had a pass first mentality and he is a guy who you can tell wants the puck. It is actually a real tribute to Draisaitl that he was able to adapt to McDavid in a manner that significantly elevated both of their games. Kurri did that with Gretzky as well. But it takes a really special player to be able to do that with guys at teh level of Gretzky or McDavid. I think JP needs to find out who he is as a hockey player before he worries about having to elevate the best player in the game.

 

[backwards motion]

Curious how the media coverage of Jesse’s success in the NHL is going in Finland. Is his play making some noise over there? Finnish posters want to chime in?

Not at the point of the night that I'm willing to read all the posters that may have posted before. But... it's weird, while I do read my daily hockey news from other sites and then Finnish tabloids, there hasn't really been that much things about Jesse. I kinda find it weird since, when... like Laine is scoring, there is like a whole lot of posts on it. I mean, I'm bias, I do like everything from Barkov to Puljujärvi, but.. I really haven't seen that much about JP. And I'm very glad he's doing good, and have been very interested about Oilers in general. I guess you can't have it all? Well I'm at least going on full support of this reborn Poolparty. Good for the team and for the fans. And as grown up man, I wish I would be so happy when performs, wheater it's a goal or assist. Lights up the room.

 

[Whyme]

I'd be thrilled if Puljujarvi develops great chemistry with either McDavid or Leon. Preferably both. But I am curious how many people in Finland actually saw much of the Gretzky/Kurri pairing given that it would have been so much more difficult to do so back then. The reason I mention McDavid-Draisailt is that Draisaitl was able to significantly transition his game to play with McDavid. Leon's natural instinct is to slow the game down, he had a pass first mentality and he is a guy who you can tell wants the puck. It is actually a real tribute to Draisaitl that he was able to adapt to McDavid in a manner that significantly elevated both of their games. Kurri did that with Gretzky as well. But it takes a really special player to be able to do that with guys at teh level of Gretzky or McDavid. I think JP needs to find out who he is as a hockey player before he worries about having to elevate the best player in the game.

Of course, we shouldn't take those articles or comments too seriously. I think quite many Finns have seen those Gretzky/Kurri times, but it's different with the new generation.

McDavid and Draisaitl are incredible players, quite possibly the two best in the league and they work great together. However, it's worth noting they are probably better to the team in separate lines as they also let in a lot of goals. Could be different now of course. But it's great the team can use them together on the PP and when the team really needs a goal. In fact I believe McD, Drai and Pulju could form a pretty unstoppable line together.

 

[McAsuno]

 

[Fourier]

Of course, we shouldn't take those articles or comments too seriously. I think quite many Finns have seen those Gretzky/Kurri times, but it's different with the new generation.

McDavid and Draisaitl are incredible players, quite possibly the two best in the league and they work great together. However, it's worth noting they are probably better to the team in separate lines as they also let in a lot of goals. Could be different now of course. But it's great the team can use them together on the PP and when the team really needs a goal. In fact I believe McD, Drai and Pulju could form a pretty unstoppable line together.

I was mostly curious to know how many Finns really did get to see much of Gretzky and Kurri together other than highlights. I ask because in the 80's the Oilers were not on national TV all that much outside of the playoffs and the local stations would have been completely inaccessible outside of a small part of Western Canada. So even Eastern Canadians did not get to actually see them all that much. I know that the legend would be well known. But to really appreciate what they could do together you almost had to have seen them live. They were something else. Throw in Coffey and you had hockey at its absolute best.

A cupel of years back I argued that the Oilers were better with the two together than apart. But since then Draisaitl's game has matured so much that the way they play now is the best option. They still get to lay together 5 vs 5 here and theire and their numbers are superb. In 41 minutes together 5 vs 5 this year the team has 6 GF and 0 GA. That is an insane result.

I actually agree that Puljujarvi together with McDavid and Leon would be interesting to see when the team needed a spark.

 

[Whyme]

I was mostly curious to know how many Finns really did get to see much of Gretzky and Kurri together other than highlights. I ask because in the 80's the Oilers were not on national TV all that much outside of the playoffs and the local stations would have been completely inaccessible outside of a small part of Western Canada. So even Eastern Canadians did not get to actually see them all that much. I know that the legend would be well known. But to really appreciate what they could do together you almost had to have seen them live. They were something else. Throw in Coffey and you had hockey at its absolute best.

A cupel of years back I argued that the Oilers were better with the two together than apart. But since then Draisaitl's game has matured so much that the way they play now is the best option. They still get to lay together 5 vs 5 here and theire and their numbers are superb. In 41 minutes together 5 vs 5 this year the team has 6 GF and 0 GA. That is an insane result.

I actually agree that Puljujarvi together with McDavid and Leon would be interesting to see when the team needed a spark.

I can't answer your question, but you're probably right, not many saw complete games and especially not live. I only remember highlights myself.

Okay, this year their GF% is insane. Before this season it hasn't been that special, but both players have clearly kept developing all the time, which is also seen on the defensive side of the game.

 

[McDNicks17]

Someone asked Nurse a question about Pulju today and you could just see his face light up.

The boys are loving Pulju too it seems. Pretty fun to see.

 

[nabob]

There is plenty to blame on coaching why Pulju’s first stint with the Oilers was unsuccesful. Unlike Tippett McLellan just didn’t understand what kind of a player Pulju is.
McLellan did everything to ruin Pulju’s confidence. According to Leavins he spend hours trying to unlock Puljujärvi. He tried to convert him to a different player and saw Pulju stubborn when he was unsuccesful converting him. Leavins also told that McLellan told Pylju time and time again (who knows what), but Pulju stayed stubborn. Tippett’s almost only advise to Pulju was to keep on smiling.
Tippett understands that Pulju is an instinctual player and too much guidance hinders the talent. This was something McLellan never understood.
And there was no consistency how McLellan managed Pulju. He was healthy scratched numerous times and benched almost immediately if he made a mistake. And the lines he played in were constantly suffled.
On media avails McLellan told Pulju was a happy-go-lucky type and he was not professional enough. He mocked Pulju’s eating habits and his constantly wagging tongue. I am guessing it was him who told in confidence to media that the top guys didn’t want to play with Pulju after receiving so much scrutiny from the fans not playing Pulju in the top lines. If You remember he was almost angry at the end of his employment when he was asked about Pulju at the media avails.
This was textbook management on how to ruin a player’s confidence (and development). Thankfully Pulju has bounced and maybe facing some adversity has made him mentally stronger. So maybe the mismanagement benefitted him, but to me Tippett is light years better of a coach than McLellan.

You’re wasting your words. Bobby to this day hopes Jesse’s next NHL game is his last. It’s sad to see people like him who claim to be fans of the team have so much deep rooted hate for a player simply because they have been so wrong about the player.

 

[snipes]

It's always nice to see when the boys communicate (especially since this team has been so robotic for years) but especially when they include Pulju in the conversations. I noticed that Drai was one of the players who really gushed about him in Training Camp along with Nurse and Nuge who also seems to be really taking to Jesse, not to mention Tippett who is in love with the young man haha. It's really nice to see.

Also, I noticed that the team is really starting to enjoy playing more the last week especially. The goal celebrations are more colorful and the post game fist bumps and hugs are becoming more joyous, even Drai is coming out of his shell a bit. You always love to see that as a fan.

Pulju plays hard at both ends of the ice and hounds the puck.

He’s a strong two way player and it’s why his analytics bear that out as well, he commits to hounding the puck and creating turnovers as well as space for McDavid.

Not surprising why Tippett likes him.

So happy for him. He’s a big part of this teams success.

 

[Dorian2]

As a thought aside... Wonder if Tikki got in his ear? I'm guessing that JP is at the point that he can use a fair number of intelligible words while mixing in a few choice Finnish verbs and such.

I was honestly impressed with his English in the interview. First one I've seen in a while.