THE FINNISH CONNECTION BY: DAVE UHRMACHER
When Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta found out he would be playing in the team’s regular-season opener on Oct. 3, like any 19-year old rookie making his NHL debut, nerves began to set in. Luckily for Finland native Maatta, teammate and countryman Jussi Jokinen was there to calm his nerves. “Before [that] night’s game, he told me to enjoy it because you don’t have another first game,” Maatta said. Those words of wisdom from Jokinen, 30, are just a small glimpse into the mentoring the veteran Finnish winger has done for the teenaged Maatta to help him acclimate to life as a professional in both the NHL and Pittsburgh. “First of all you need to remember he is 19-years-old,” Jokinen said. “It is pretty remarkable how good he is by 19, how mature he is. Obviously when I got to camp I wanted to make sure I got him to be as comfortable as possible. I watched him the first couple of weeks, and he didn’t need much advice. I just told him to enjoying playing your game and that is going to be good in this league.”
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