Ice hockey | 80 attempts and one perfect hit – for the king of Joker's playing time, inefficiency is a matter of value

Jokers beat Kokkola Hermes 5–4 after extra time in Mestis on Tuesday. One of the guarantors of the victory was Valtteri Jeskanenwho scored his first goal of the season.

After four shots in the Hermes match, Jeskanen has attempted a goal with 80 shots this season. The opening hit freed you, which you could see from the defender's ventilation.

“We have been waiting for that goal for a long time. It came through a couple of bounces, but everything is accepted”, Jeskanen felt after the match.

Jeskanen, profiled in the role of a basic defender, is not a player for whom points would be an important part of evaluating success. Nevertheless, the goals are always good.

“It's always cool to score goals. It feeds confidence. However, I don't stress about whether there will be goals.”

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I'm the kind of basic defender who can play both ways. I also try to lead by example on that field.

Although has only scored a goal and seven assists this season, 23-year-old Jeskanen has been one of the Jokers' most important players. That is shown especially by the playing time statistics, where he is in first place after playing an average of 19.59 minutes per match.

Jeskanen believes that the reason for the first place in the statistics is his reliability.

“I'm the kind of basic defender who can play in both directions. I also try to lead by example on that field, probably through that comes responsibility,” he reflects.

Jeskanen doesn't often make the headlines, and his own successes are rarely shown directly on the scoreboard. How do you keep your motivation high in this role?

“It's just a matter of attitude. At least in my case, the order of values ​​is such that my head comes first, and all the powers of the attacking head are only a plus for that.”

Jeskasen In addition, a few other players from the Jokers managed to score, who have not been seen very often among the scorers this season. Hannes Häkkilä decided the victory in overtime with his first career Mestis hit, Otto Karvinen scored his second goal of the season and Onni Lind his third.

According to Jeskanen, this tells about the extent of the team's player material.

“It was a bit more difficult game, so guys who maybe don't normally show up. It's great to see that there are successes on a wide front,” he enthuses.