Pekka Rinne Joins Ville Nieminen for High-Intensity Skill Sessions at Tappara

YLE reports that Pekka Rinne and former NHL forward Ville Nieminen are working with Tappara’s top young skaters in extra skill-ice sessions at Tampere Arena this season.

Players such as Benjamin Rautiainen, Oiva Keskinen, Juho Piiparinen and Oliver Suvanto meet for focused drills and goalie challenges. Rautiainen won the Liiga regular-season scoring title with 77 points and was drafted last summer, while Keskinen already holds an NHL contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets and is playing at Tappara on loan.

Tappara’s skill coach, Nieminen — a Stanley Cup winner with Colorado in 2001 — says the presence of an elite goalie raises the intensity in practice. “When 'Peksi' is in goal, the puck doesn't go in easily,” Suvanto says. Rinne jokes he feels “like a little boy” getting back on the ice and describes his role as a kind of rent-a-goalie who helps when Nieminen asks.

Coaches and players say the extra ice gives repetitions and individual work that game minutes often do not — a crucial boost for youngsters with NHL potential. Piiparinen and Suvanto played for Finland’s U20 team in Minnesota this year and have been projected as possible first-round picks next summer; Tappara’s U20 group also includes other 2008-born prospects such as Vilho Vanhatalo and Šimon Katolický.

Both emphasise that progress ultimately comes from the players' own drive and the competitive, supportive atmosphere these sessions create. YLE reported the sessions.