When Utah Hockey Club traded for Olli Määttä, the team was excited.
The veteran defenseman adds stability to Utah’s backend which has been skating short-handed due to injuries. Teammate Juuso Välimäki, however, was particularly pleased with the Hockey Club’s new acquisition for off-the-ice reasons.
Välimäki not only welcomed the defensive support, but a fellow countryman.
“Obviously I think we needed more Finns. I’m very happy about that,” Välimäki said with a smile. “I think three is a good number. ... I’m probably personally one of the happiest guys to have him. Joking about it, but it is nice to have other people from Finland on your team.”
Määttä joins Välimäki and Matias Maccelli as Utah’s three Finnish players. The Hockey Club is now one player behind the Florida Panthers for most Finnish players in the NHL this season, and is tied with the Dallas Stars — who also have three — for second-most in the league. Finns currently make up 5.2% of the NHL with 37 active players.
Määttä has had to get acclimated to his new teammates and new system rather quickly. After making his Utah debut Wednesday night at the Delta Center, Määttä headed out for the Hockey Club’s four-game road trip. In some sense, it has made the adjustment easier.
“I think being around the guys the whole time [on the road], getting to know them, it’s awesome,” Määttä said. “I think it was easier to get in here than I thought it would be. I feel like a part of the team now, so that’s a positive.”
While Määttä said he tries to “keep it English” in the locker room with the whole team, he admitted he enjoys having Välimäki and Maccelli around to sharpen his Finnish after playing in the United States for more than 10 years.
“Sometimes I feel like I keep talking to Juuso and Maccelli in English instead of Finnish which is kind of weird — sometimes you catch yourself like, ‘What am I doing?’” Määttä said.
“It’s nice to have a couple Finns. When you have time outside of hockey to just talk about things and talk in Finnish because you sometimes feel like you lose a little bit when you don’t use it much.”
United States' Josh Norris, right, battles for the puck with Finland's Juuso Valimaki during the first period of an IIHF world junior hockey championships game in Buffalo, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017. (Mark Blinch/The Canadian Press via AP)
Määttä, Välimäki and Maccelli — albeit in different years — all represented Finland in the IIHF World Junior Championship. Määttä was an assistant captain on Finland’s U18 team in 2010-11, while Välimäki captained that team in 2015-16 when it won the gold medal. Maccelli was an assistant captain on Finland’s U20 team in 2019-20.
The NHL was recently brought to Finland for the 2024 Global Series in which the Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars played two games at Nokia Arena last week.
“Hockey is the number one sport, that’s pretty much what people care about in Finland,” Maccelli said. “It would be really exciting to play there again.”
Beyond the hockey culture, Maccelli said the thing he misses most about home is the food, specifically, “a barbeque on a nice summer day.”
Määttä, on the other hand, was stumped when thinking of his favorite Finnish delicacy.
“I feel like I’m so American now, I’ve been here for so long,” Määttä said. “I like steak and baked potatoes.”
Määttä has made an immediate impact for Utah in terms of load management. The team has skated with 11 forwards and seven defensemen the past two games, lightening some of the responsibility for defensemen like Mihail Sergachev.
Utah Hockey Club left wing Matias Maccelli (63) shoots against the San Jose Sharks during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Oct 28, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
In two games with the Hockey Club, Määttä has averaged just above 21 minutes of ice time a night. In Wednesday’s 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames, Sergachev was able to keep his time on ice under 23 minutes for the first time this season thanks to the newly-found defensive depth.
Määttä has rotated through the defensive pairs and has logged time with nearly every Utah defenseman, including Välimäki who is working to be more dependable.
Välimäki was a healthy scratch for Utah against the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings at the end of October. The 26-year-old said head coach André Tourigny wants him to improve his pace in all three zones.
“I think it’s good because it’s something you can fix and something you can focus on,” Välimäki said. “It’s never really easy to be in and out, so I think mentally just trying to do everything to stay positive and go to work and not think too much.”
Utah Hockey Club will need every player – Finnish or not – at its best Tuesday as it takes on the first-place Winnipeg Jets who have had a commanding 11-1-0 start to the season. That is a message the lineup seems to understand.
“The teams that win every year, that’s what they are, they’re consistent,” Välimäki said. “I don’t think the difference is within skills and players that you have, I think the biggest difference is if you can play at your best as many nights as you possibly can.”
