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Montreal Canadiens: Jesperi Kotkaniemi gets things started in Liiga

By Omar L

DALLAS, TX - JUNE 22: Jesperi Kotkaniemi poses for a portrait after being selected third overall by the Montreal Canadiens during the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 22, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - JUNE 22: Jesperi Kotkaniemi poses for a portrait after being selected third overall by the Montreal Canadiens during the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 22, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens first-round pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi got his season in Liiga with Assat started taking part in the one-day Pitsiturnaus tournament.

There’s about a little over a month before NHL preseasons begin, but Jesperi Kotkaniemi has started his in Liiga. The Montreal Canadiens third-overall pick was confirmed by his Assat head coach that he would play a few games before heading to Montreal, and it started on Friday as he took part in the one-day Pitsiturnaus tournament.

The tournament is an annual event among Finnish teams beginning at 9:00 AM and lasting the entirety of the day. Each game only features two 15-minute periods to fit everything into the 11-hour window except for the final which are two 20-minute periods. Eight teams took part in it including Kotkaniemi’s Assat. The Pelicans participated as well, but unfortunately, Jesse Ylonen is among the long list of the injured on the roster.

Kotkaniemi’s first game of the day came against Lukko losing 2-1. He was also centring the first line in between Aleksi Rekonen and Otto Kivenmäki.

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Assat went down 1-0 in the first five minutes but managed to tie things up later on, and Kotkaniemi played a role in that after sending a beauty behind the net feed to Aleksi Rekonen in front. However, Lukko came back to get the go-ahead goal close to the halfway mark of the game which eventually became the winner.

The 18-year-old finished the game playing 9:30 of ice time with that nice assist, four shots on goal as well as a 50% faceoff percentage.

Game two saw another loss for Assat. Kotkaniemi had an even better performance in the faceoff dot (75%) but only managed one shot on goal and was on the ice for the 3-1 tally against. However, it doesn’t change how well he played. Kotkaniemi’s tendencies to make plays and see his linemates haven’t faltered, and that’s one of the main things that will be interesting to track in wherever he plays for the 2018-19 season.

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Assat’s next preseason game is next Friday (August 10th), and it’ll be interesting to see how he progresses in a full 60-minute game at centre.

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