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‘It was my favourite game of the year’: Jesperi Kotkaniemi talks about his new reality in the AHL – Habs Eyes on the Prize

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Jesperi Kotkaniemi came back to his stall at Place Bell to talk to the waiting media. The Laval Rocket lost the game to the Belleville Senators 5-4 in overtime, after holding a 4-1 lead in the second half of the third period. It was a game that no one in the Rocket room was happy to be a part of.

There are some things more important than the result of the game, and for Kotkaniemi, he showed the ability to see the bigger picture.

“It was my favourite game of the year,” Kotkaniemi said.

He didn’t smile when he said this, the loss still weighing hard on him. But while the loss weighed him down, there was also the sense that another weight had lifted.

No player is happy to play in the AHL, or to be sent to the AHL. Rocket head coach Joël Bouchard often mentions that no one dreams to play in that league. Disappointment is normal, if not expected when a player is sent down. But there are positives, and for Kotkaniemi, that includes getting time on the ice and the ability to learn at a different pace than in Montreal.

Kotkaniemi, according to Bouchard, played over 16 minutes in the overtime loss and that was despite not killing penalties in a game Laval took six penalties. The third overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft will eventually take that role on, and will get more ice time as a result.

“He has to fill every role,” said Bouchard. “We want him to be a 200 foot player. We have to get him to kill penalties. He’s a smart player.”

Bouchard said that being in the AHL will allow him to teach him and prepare him for different roles and try new things where the pressure of winning at all costs is not as high as it is in the NHL.

“He needs to play,” Bouchard said. “There are things that I can work on him with that are harder to do at the NHL level.”

Kotkaniemi’s sense of humour didn’t leave him, either perhaps another indicator of where his head is at. When asked what he wanted to improve personally in order to get back to the top level, he gave an answer no one was expecting.

“Just trying to stay alive here,” he said. “There are a few guys who can kill me on every shift, so that’s one thing.”

He did bring it back serious.

“Getting confidence back and playing with the puck a little more I think that will help me,” he said.

The adjustment period surely won’t be easy, but the one thing that may be afforded to Bouchard and Kotkaniemi is time. And both parties know that no matter how long Kotkaniemi is in Laval, there will be opportunities to work.

“There were a few plays he made today where I went to him and said ‘you can’t do that. You do that in the NHL, and Claude [Julien] won’t play you,” Bouchard said. “What I like about Kotkaniemi is that he’s invested. He seemed happy to be here. He understands he needs to play. The reality of the NHL is that it doesn’t forgive you. If you have trouble playing in Laval, you’re not going to get better when you drive 15 minutes south. This is real life. It’s not easier in the NHL.”


While the media and fans have been debating where Kotkaniemi should be playing, the Finnish forward said he wasn’t necessarily expecting to get the news he got on Saturday morning. He showed up to the Bell Centre before the Canadiens game against the Florida Panthers, and that was when he was told he would be sent down.

He then went to Laval, and had a short meeting with Bouchard. Even though Kotkaniemi was making his AHL debut, he does have previous experience with the Rocket bench boss, as he was the coach at Kotkaniemi’s first development and rookie camp at the start of last season.

“We had a relationship and it built fast. For me it wasn’t unchartered territory,” Bouchard said.

There’s a lot of changeover in the Rocket locker room, but it’s hard not to notice that Kotkaniemi’s locker was immediately next to Cale Fleury’s. Both young players took different paths to the NHL, but are going through something very similar this year. Both players were healthy scratches recently in the NHL and both were sent down within 24 hours of one another.

A significant part of the Montreal Canadiens future is in Laval, and while a lot of people involved from fans to the players themselves wish they were the present, sometimes a step backwards is necessary to then move forward.

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Whitecaps, Timbers to face off in play-in match in Portland

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VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps will begin their post-season campaign with a play-in game against the Timbers in Portland on Wednesday.

The ‘Caps (13-13-8) ended the regular season with a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake on Saturday and finished eighth in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference standings.

The eighth and ninth spots from each conference meet in a play-in game this week, with the winner going on to face the No. 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs.

Each eighth-place team was set to host the play-in game, but Vancouver announced Friday that its home stadium, B.C. Place, is not available, so the club will cede home-field advantage to Portland (12-11-11), the ninth-place team.

The ‘Caps and Timbers split their three-game series during regular-season play, with each side taking a win, a loss and a draw.

The first round of the MLS playoffs is set to begin next weekend.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Real Salt Lake beats visiting Whitecaps 2-1 to set single-season club record for points

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SANDY, Utah (AP) — Diego Luna scored a tying goal in the 73rd minute and Real Salt Lake added another on an own goal for a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night to set a single-season club record for points.

Real Salt Lake (16-7-11) secured the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference and will face Minnesota in the first round of the Major League Soccer playoffs. RSL reached 59 points this season, topping the 2012 team with 57.

Vancouver (13-13-8) will play the Portland Timbers on Wednesday in a wild-card game for a chance to play top-seeded LAFC.

Luna settled a long cross from Braian Ojeda before taking four touches to slot home a shot inside the far post for his eighth goal of the season.

RSL went ahead in the 83rd when Vancouver goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer misplayed a lofted ball that rolled into the back of the net.

Vancouver midfielder Ryan Gauld opened the scoring in the 58th to become the first player in club history to produce multiple seasons with at least 10 goals and 10 assists.

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Juan Soto’s 3-run homer in 10th sends Yankees past Guardians 5-2 and into World Series for 41st time

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CLEVELAND (AP) — Juan Soto’s arrival last winter was supposed to be that move that pushed the New York Yankees back to the top.

They’re one step away.

Soto hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning and the Yankees advanced to their 41st World Series — and first in 15 years — by beating the Cleveland Guardians 5-2 in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series on Saturday night.

Baseball’s biggest brand is going back to October’s main stage.

Soto, who was acquired in a seven-player trade from San Diego in December, pushed the Bronx Bombers into position with one big swing.

This was why he came, for this moment and for so many more.

“We’re right where we belong,” said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who pulled off the deal for Soto.

The Yankees will try to win their 28th title against either the New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers. Game 6 of the NL Championship Series is on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

In the third consecutive tight game in three nights at Progressive Field, Austin Wells walked with one out in the 10th and Alex Verdugo followed with a grounder to Guardians second baseman Andrés Giménez, whose soft toss to the bag was dropped by rookie shortstop Brayan Rocchio for an error.

Hunter Gaddis struck out Gleyber Torres and had Soto in a 1-2 count before New York’s stylish outfielder sent a shot over the wall in center. Soto danced down the first-base line and paused to celebrate with his teammates before circling the bases.

“I was just saying to myself, `You’re all over that guy. You’re all over that guy. He ain’t got anything,’” said Soto, who moved alongside his manager, Aaron Boone, as the only New York players to homer in an extra-inning, series-clinching win.

Luke Weaver got the final three outs with Lane Thomas flying out for the last one, which was caught by Soto.

“We get to play for a world championship,” Boone said. “That’s pretty sweet.”

The 25-year-old Soto is eligible for free agency this winter, and Yankees fans chanted “Re-sign Soto!” during the postgame festivities. He’s expected to get a contract upwards of $600 million, and his heroics in Game 5 may have raised his price.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run homer and was named ALCS MVP as the Yankees took care of the Guardians in five games. It wasn’t easy.

New York won the first two at Yankee Stadium without much fanfare or any major drama. However, it was a different story in Cleveland as all three games at Progressive Field were nail-biters.

The Guardians rallied to win Game 3 on two, two-run homers in their last two at-bats, and the Yankees held on to win Game 4 after blowing a four-run lead.

“This was a rollercoaster and we were able to just keep punching back,” Stanton said. “We know there’s much more work to do and it’s only uphill from here and we got to get it done.”

Cleveland just didn’t have enough and a surprising season under first-year manager Stephen Vogt ended just short of a World Series. The franchise remains without a title since 1948, baseball’s current longest drought.

“There’s only one team that gets to win the last game of the year, and unfortunately it’s not going to be us,” Vogt said. “But we accomplished a lot as a group. We got better. We worked extremely hard. I couldn’t be more proud of this group. We just didn’t get quite as far as we wanted to.”

The Yankees are back in the World Series, back where their fans expect them to be every year.

The club’s 82-80, fourth-place finish in the AL East last season led to some “soul searching as an organization” during the winter, according to Boone, who has been widely criticized but is one of just three managers to take New York to playoffs in six of his first seven seasons.

While the team’s core stayed mostly intact, getting Soto in a blockbuster trade on Dec. 7 — New York sent five players to San Diego for the three-time All-Star — accelerated the team returning to title contender.

“That was a good day,” Boone said with a laugh before the game.

Stanton’s 446-foot rocket into the left-field bleachers tied it at 2 in the sixth and chased Tanner Bibee, who had struck out New York’s dangerous DH in his first two at-bats and held the Yankees scoreless for the first five innings.

It was Stanton’s fourth homer in this series — his third in three days — and his 16th in the postseason, moving him into fourth place on the club’s career list behind Bernie Williams (22), Derek Jeter (20) and Mickey Mantle (18).

Before the game, Boone was asked what makes Stanton so good.

“He can hit it harder than anyone, first of all,” Boone said. “So there’s the physical nature of what he does that’s different than just about everyone in the world.”

But Boone went on to compliment Stanton’s discipline at the plate, “his approach, his process, how he studies guys.”

“There’s something that he does when he gets familiarity with people on top of being very physically gifted,” Boone said.

The Guardians took a 2-0 lead in the fifth off Carlos Rodón on Steven Kwan’s RBI single with two outs. But Cleveland missed a big chance for more, leaving the bases loaded when Lane Thomas grounded out on the first pitch to him from Mark Leiter Jr.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes (elbow strain) had another successful live batting practice session. The reliever remains on track to join the Yankees on their World Series roster. Boone said Cortes would throw again early next week. Cortes went 9-10 with a 3.77 ERA in 30 starts.

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