When Jonathan Toews returned to Bratislava for the first time after deciding to leave his team of 11 seasons, he was greeted to boos … but not full-throated booing. It seemed half of stands was angry that he left while the other half was grateful for his great service to the franchise.
It was probably a little difficult for him to really know what his former community was thinking. But there was no mistaking what Toews was thinking. The goal he scored just 1:54 into the contest left no doubt what was on his mind. Toews was thinking “win.”
That’s why Toews went to Helsinki in the first place. His new team looks unbeatable. In fact, through the first 8 games of the season, the Jokerit have won all 8. They are third in the league in goals per game (4.25) and first in defense, allowing just 1.50 goals per game. Even more impressive is the fact they are leaders in both shots per game and shots given up per game. That’s a sure sign Head Coach Brent Sutter has them working on the right things in practice. Coincidentally, Sutter was Toews’ coach in Seasons 4,5 and 6 in Bratislava.
Helsinki now has the one-two punch at center they seemed to be missing last season, even though they were regular season champions. Anze Kopitar currently leads the team in scoring with 15 points in 8 games, and he centers the second line with Brock Boeser and Kyle Connor on his wings. Toews gets to work with Brendan Gallagher and Taylor Hall on his flanks. It’s very likely we’ll see several of those names fighting for the EURO’s individual scoring lead 70 games from now.
Toews and Kopitar have the added incentive of trying to catch Steven Stamkos and John Tavares, both of Lisbon, for the career scoring lead. Toews currently sits 5th overall (1,026 points) and Kopitar 7th (946 points), but a few seasons on the powerhouse Jokerit gives them a real shot at moving up the list.
Helsinki is stacked from top to bottom, and while free agent newcomers Toews and Kopitar are expected to grab most of the headlines this season, the addition of Zach Bogosian and Jack Johnson should not be overlooked. Team play is probably the biggest reason Helsinki has the tightest defense in the league right now, but the two defensemen know how to clean up in their own end. They are ranked 3rd and 4th among league defensemen in plus/minus, and teammate Nerius Alisauskas is 5th. Belfast’s Jaccob Slavin and Jakob Chychrun are ahead of everyone.
And Kari Ramo, who played with Tavares and Stamkos in Lisbon the last several seasons, came over in a trade for Cary Price and Ramo is in the process of making General Manager Jukka Tuominen look like even more of a genius. The 30-year-old Finnish goalie is 7-0 with a 1.14 goals against average and spectacular 93.9 save percentage.
To see how powerful the Jokerit are, just look at Wednesday’s box score. The outscored what was a Top 5 team 4-0, outshot them 33-17, and for Helsinki, it was a road game.
