Olli Jokinen
Olli Jokinen
Olli Veli Pekka Jokinenis a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is currently a free agent, having last played for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings third overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, with whom he made his NHL debut. He has also played for the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes, Calgary Flames, New York Rangers, Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators and Toronto Maple Leafs. He began...
ProfessionHockey Player
Date of Birth5 December 1978
both build coaching confident franchise pieces playoff sides staff team
Both sides are happy. I feel confident this franchise is going in the right direction, and we can build a playoff team with the coaching staff and all the pieces that we've got.
fun hunt playoff points time year
It's a lot more fun to be in the playoff hunt than out of it. This time of year we've usually been 10-12 points out.
mentally playoffs summer tough
It's really tough mentally being out of the playoffs again. It's going to be a long summer again.
both eight four front games goes outside playoffs points teams thinking tied win
They're thinking the same way. It's a big two games for them, too. There's four points available, and they're like four-point games. If we win both we'll be tied with them, and if it goes the other way they're eight points in front of us. Both teams are outside the playoffs now, so it's huge.
asked chance good playoff reason somewhere team win
I am asked a lot why I don't go somewhere else where the team is in the playoffs, but I feel that we have a chance to be a playoff team. We have a chance to get something good going and win over here. I want to win with the Panthers and that's the reason that I wanted to stay.
choice deal easy happy playoff saying stay team year
I'm really happy to get the deal done. All year I've been saying I wanted to stay here. This team can be a playoff team, even this year. It was an easy choice for me.
enjoy feeling few games good medal next olympics playing time
We have to enjoy our time right now. The next Olympics are going to be 2010. We've got a few more games left, and it's a good feeling to be playing for a medal and be in the semifinals.
decision help hopefully signing understand
I understand his side, you want to see a commitment. Hopefully my signing will help his decision a little bit, too.
marty obviously win
It was working pretty well with Marty and Stumpy. But obviously when you don't win some games, there are going to be some changes.
goal huge
It was a huge goal by Horton, to get it back right away.
change guys older six
I've been here six years and Roberto and I are the only two guys left. Scott Mellanby, Pavel Bure, older guys were here then. All gone. We're the older guys now. It's been a little tough. That's a lot of change over the years.
few games gary last playing
I've been playing with Gary the last 20 games and things have been clicking. Gratton has been there a few games and it's been working really well.
believed couple enjoying far feeling guys locker outside room single smiling time
And there were a couple of guys that were smiling over there a little bit. But we're this far and we're enjoying our time right now. It's an unbelievable feeling being in the gold-medal game. I don't think there's been a single person outside our locker room who believed we could go this far.
early extra huge lose point year
Early in the year we find a way to lose those (one-goal) games. Lately, we've been able to get that extra point. Every point is huge for us. It was a big win.