Olli Maatta won't be fulfilling his Finnish military obligation this summer, after all.
The Penguins' defenseman told MTV.fi, a news outlet in his homeland, that he'll postpone the obligation for two years upon the advice of a doctor in the Finnish army. In the past two years, he had to overcome cancer, two surgeries on the same shoulder and a hip injury on the way to playing a pivotal role in his team's Stanley Cup championship.
"The past two seasons have weighed very heavily on me, mentally but especially physically. The heaviest of my career," Maatta told the outlet in his native language. "A number of injuries and other health problems in rehabilitation requires a surprising amount of time. The garrison doctor came to the conclusion that it is not advisable to start with the army this summer, but to recuperate properly."
The last time Maatta and I had discussed the matter, about a month into the playoffs, he told me he wasn't worried about the military obligation because other NHL players had gone through it without incident and that the Finnish army was accommodating to their schedules and training regimens. At the same time, judging from the above quote, he doesn't exactly come across as devastated by the army's decision.
He's still expected to represent Finland in the upcoming World Cup, and he would have been back in Pittsburgh for the mid-September start of training camp regardless.
Jim Rutherford said he hadn't yet gotten word of this and, thus, couldn't comment.