Penguins 21-year-old defense prospect Niclas Almari said that "everyone has been telling me since forever" that the difference in international rink sizes and North American rink sizes was going to be a big adjustment when he made the jump from Finland.
Almari, now 45 games into his first professional season in North America with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, quickly took notice of the increased speed that comes with the smaller ice surface.
"You have to be so alert of everything," Almari told me of what he's learned. "That's the biggest difference from the European game style."
When people talk about the speed of the North American game compared to games on international ice, it's less about increased foot speed and more so about the pace at which plays happen. There's less time to hold onto the puck, so players have to make decisions fast. And if a bad decision is made, an opponent can make a play off of that much faster.
"If you make one mistake back home, it doesn't come back and bite you in the ass," he said.
Yeah. Sort of like this, a defensive zone turnover last week that ended up in the back of Casey DeSmith's net in no time:
As part of the development process, Almari was a healthy scratch two weeks ago, something that he didn't see as a punishment, but more of a learning opportunity.
"We talked with JD (Forrest), the defensive coach about it," he said. "It wasn't anything about my performance or how I have played. It was nothing to do with that, I guess. But it helps to see games differently from the stands, that helped me. You can almost imagine yourself out there, how you'd make the plays."
Another thing the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Almari said has been helpful in the development process is the film study the defensemen do with Forrest -- not only to watch their own games, but to watch Pittsburgh's games.
"We look at clips from NHL games with JD, how they use their stick, how they position themselves, that helps a lot," Almari said. "You see how the big guys do their stuff, you try to do the same things. That helps."
Almari said that in those reviews of Pittsburgh games, he'd consider Brian Dumoulin and Marcus Pettersson to be "role models," which makes sense. All three are left-handed, puck-moving defensemen who aren't exactly point producers themselves, but are the type of defenseman who you would want paired with the point producer.
Through 45 games, Almari has recorded six assists and one goal:
Wilkes-Barre's blue line has taken its hits this season. Zach Trotman, David Warsofsky, and now Kevin Czuczman have suffered significant injuries, in addition to Czuczman's extended time in Pittsburgh. There was a period where all three were out of the lineup, and the younger defensemen like Almari and Pierre-Olivier Joseph had to step up.
"That's something you need to be prepared for," Almari said. "You never know. There's lots of guys who get injured and stuff like that. Us young guys, we stepped up and we got some different situations in games because we played a lot more when the guys are healthy. It was hugely helpful for us."
When those veteran guys are healthy though, they've been instrumental in helping the young players adjust to their roles here.
"Czuczman, Trotman, when we skate they demand a lot," Almari said. "They don't let us off the hook easily. That's helpful."
Almari actually got his first taste of the North American pro game two years ago, when he joined Wilkes-Barre on a tryout contract at the end of the 2017-18 season. During that stint he appeared in two regular season games, and played well enough that Clark Donatelli dressed him in a playoff game, too.
Almari said that short stint was "huge" in letting him know what to expect as far as the speed of the game once he made the move to the AHL ... and that playoff game from that season let him know that it's only going to get faster.
"Playoff hockey here is going to be even faster than it is here in the regular season."
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THE INJURIES
• Forward Ben Sexton has been dealing with an upper-body injury since training camp.
• Forward Kasper Bjorkqvist is out until May after undergoing knee surgery, effectively ending his season. He last played on Oct. 19.
• Defenseman Kevin Czuczman is week-to-week after colliding with Thomas Di Pauli on Feb.8.
• Forward Chase Berger is week-to-week with a shoulder injury.
• Goaltender Dustin Tokarski is out week-to-week with a hand injury.
THE LEADERS
• Goals: Angello, 16 in 45 games
• Assists: Warsofsky, 21 in 42 games; Miletic, 21 in 52 games
• Points: Agozzino, 33 in 37 games
• Save percentage: Tokarski, .932 in 13 games
• Goals-against average: Tokarski, 1.76 in 13 games
THE COMBINATIONS
Sam Miletic — Cole Cassels — Adam Johnson
Thomas Di Pauli — Joseph Blandisi — Kevin Roy
Jake Lucchini — Myles Powell — Jan Drozg
Jamie Devane — Jordy Bellerive — Christopher Brown
Pierre-Olivier Joseph — Jon Lizotte
John Nyberg — David Warsofsky
Niclas Almari — Zach Trotman
THE STANDINGS
• After this week, the Penguins’ record is 25-20-3-5, tied for fifth in the eight-team Atlantic Division.
• The power play sits at 18.8 percent, 12th in the 31-team league. The penalty kill is operating at 81.6 percent, 16th in the league.
THE SCHEDULE
• The Penguins will have three games in three days against the top three teams in their division. They'll host the Hershey Bears (32-16-3-3) on Friday, visit the Hartford Wolf Pack (29-13-5-5) on Saturday, and visit the Providence Bruins (29-18-3-3) on Sunday.
WILKES-BARRE FUN THING
The Penguins had their dads trip:
The dads/mentors are assembled and ready to root on the #wbspens against the @TheSoundTigers pic.twitter.com/sP1MnY4yAh
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 15, 2020
