No joking around this panther is on the prowl - Rising star: Olli Jokinen - Interview

Hockey Digest, April, 2003 by Tom Worgo

AFTER THREE TEAMS IN FIVE seasons and only 35 goals to his credit, Olli Jokinen figured he would be headed back home to Finland soon to continue his professional hockey career. No one had to tell Jokinen, the No. 3 overall pick of the 1997 draft, that he looked like one of the biggest, er, jokes in draft history.

"I was thinking last year I was going back home," Jokinen says. "I was on the fourth line playing four or five minutes a game or being a healthy scratch. I wasn't getting any better. When you don't play you don't want to stick around."

Enter Mike Keenan.

Keenan has done a tremendous job getting the most out of players considered projects, vastly improving the play of everyone from St Louis Blues defenseman Chris Pronger to Boston Bruins winger Joe Thornton.

And it looks like Keenan's done it again with Jokinen, helping the 24-year-old develop into a solid two-way center.

In Jokinen's first 102 games with Florida before Keenan arrived, the 6'3", 205-pound center mustered just 17 points (six goals and 11 assists). In his first 103 games under Keenan, Jokinen notched 69 points (32 and 37). You don't need the folks at Stats, Inc. to analyze those numbers. This season Jokinen has a good shot at matching the goal total of his first five years in the league, as he led all Eastern Conference centers in goals as January drew to a close.

"I think it comes down to confidence," Keenan says. "I believe everybody needs a second and third opportunity. If they are given that opportunity and work toward improving, you see they can work things out for them that are very positive."

A big reason for his turnaround? Jokinen now gets plenty of ice time, aver. aging more than 20 minutes per game. "He worked really hard in training camp and he earned the ice time," Keenan says.

Jokinen, now Florida's No. I center on a line with Kristian Huselius and Jaroslav Bednar, gives Keenan absolute credit for saving his NHL career.

"He's the best thing to happen to me in my career," Jokinen says. "I was playing a couple of minutes per game before he came here. The biggest help to me was getting ice time and my confidence back.

"He pushes you to be better. He is very tough but he is honest. He gives you credit if you play well and he lets you know if you make mistakes."

If the NHL gave out an award for the most improved player, Jokinen would be a lock.

"I don't look at him and say this is the eventual scoring champion," Florida GM Rick Dudley says. "But he is going to be a very complete player. He plays with a lot of heart and has a lot of character. He'll get in there and defend teammates and bang people.

"He will do all the little things you expect from a complete player. And he doesn't mind taking a hit to make a play if it's going to lead to a goal."

Jokinen trained last summer like never before, losing five pounds and lowering his body fat from 11,5% to 8.5%.

"It was a mindset, and I decided last summer that I wanted to be the best player in the league," Jokinen says. "I practiced hard at home and I wanted to get better every day."

Jokinen carried his new attitude and confidence into the season. "I try to play every game like it is my last game in the league," he says. "It's one of the reason why I am having success. I didn't play like that earlier in my career."

Indeed. Previous coaches Larry Robinson (Los Angeles), Butch Goring (New York Islanders), and Terry Murray and Duane Sutter (both Florida) couldn't get Jokinen to play up to his potential. The Finn wore an underachieving label like a tattoo.

Los Angeles gave up on Jokinen after only 72 games. He spent one season with the Islanders before being traded to Florida along with goalie Roberto Luongo for forwards Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha during the summer of 2000.

Now, after paying his dues--and then some--Jokinen finally looks like a mainstay in the league.

"He sat in the stands and on the bench. He was sent to the minors. He was traded," Dudley says of Jokinen's circuitous route to stardom. "He came here to a team that desperately needed him and he started to play regularly. Now Mike has played him a ton and he has responded well."