Ht: 5-foot-11 Wt: 188
DOB: March 23, 1991 In: Pori, Finland
First Hockey Memory: “My parents taking me out to outdoor rinks and learning how to skate and pushing little things to help my balance.”
Hockey Inspirations: “I never had a big brother or anything. I was around sports when I was younger and hockey was just sort of the thing for me. I obviously looked up to some people but from my dad and to my mom’s side, just the support that I’ve gotten has been huge.”
Last Book Read: “I don’t read books to be quite honest.”
Current Car: “I drive a Ford Explorer Sport (black).”
Greatest Sports Moment: “Scoring my first goal in the NHL. At home against Dallas.”
Most Painful Moment: “I kinda have two equal ones. Last year of college when we lost in overtime to Yale was a huge heartbreaker. Then last year, losing to Chicago. They’re pretty much equal.”
Favorite NHL Uniforms: “Ours. (Number two?) I’ll pick another sport. University of Oregon football. And I think the Carolina Panthers full back is cool.”
Most Memorable Goal: “First one.”
Embarrassing Hockey Memory: “I remember I was in a huge drought when I was with the Gophers (University of Minnesota). And after I finally scored I did a huge celebration, that was kind of embarrassing…”
Favorite Arenas To Play: “I think our rink the Xcel Energy Center is one of them. And…I really enjoy Chicago. North Dakota would be one of them.”
Strangest Game: “Grand Forks, we were up with like fifteen seconds left. And they started throwing like frozen pop bottles out on the ice. One almost landed on my head. So that was memorable I guess.”
First Famous Player You Met Or Encountered: “I’m trying to think…maybe Luc Robitaille. It was in Omaha. He’s part owner.”
Funniest Player(s) Encountered: “Can’t think of one.”
Fiercest Competitors Encountered: “I think we have a lot on the team, actually. I think Mikko (Koivu) is one of them. I think Matt Cooke is one of them. Zach (Parise). Zach is one of them for sure.”
Funny Hockey Memory: “Breaking two glasses in warm-ups. It happened in college. It was something like back-to-back nights or something like that. I thought it was hilarious.”
Favorite Sport Outside Hockey: “Football, American football.”
Why Do You Love Playing Hockey: “It’s just something about it. It’s obviously a roller coaster of emotions. It’s something that I always have fun with no matter what. I always find a way to have fun with it. Just the people around. And all the lessons that you get from outside of hockey with it, that comes with it, is something that is hard to describe.”
People/Personality Qualities Most Admired: “Honesty. Hard working.”
Mark “Scoop” Malinowski is the author of two new tennis books: “Facing Federer” and “Facing Hewitt” He’s currently working on “Facing Probert.”