Finnish defenceman Kristian Näkyvä seems to have had no trouble adjusting to the style of play in Sweden, recording nine points in 14 competitive games since joining Luleå. His first game back in Finland was less than memorable, however, losing to Lukko Rauma. Nonetheless, Luleå is on to the next round.

by Miro Perhe and Derek O'Brien

RAUMA – After both teams took the maximum 12 points from their first four Champions Hockey League games, Luleå Hockey and Lukko Rauma met in two big games in the last two rounds to decide Group K, with one game in each city.

The games were especially interesting for Luleå's Kristian Näkyvä, a 23-year-old defenceman who is playing his first season outside of his native Finland. For the past three seasons, he patrolled the blueline of another CHL club, JYP Jyväskylä, and so he was familiar with most of the Lukko players he was facing.

“When I moved to Luleå, I wanted a new challenge and a fresh start," he said of his decision to venture outside of his homeland. "When I got a chance to go, I didn’t think twice. It was a good three-year period with JYP but I got the feeling that I wanted something new.”

His Lulea team won the first game at home to secure a CHL playoff berth, but lost the return game in Rauma by a 2-0 score.

“It was a little bit of a sticky game for us. We were weaker on power play and penalty kill and Lukko made us pay for that,” Näkyvä said of the fact both of Lukko's goals came with the man advantage, while Luleå's power play went 0-for-4.

Of course, secure in the knowledge that they would play in the next round regardless, the game was not as important to Luleå as it was to Lukko, who with the three points created a first-place tie; Lukko won the tie-breaker by virtue of finishing higher in their domestic league last season.

"I don’t think that really mattered to us," he said, shooting down the notion that they didn't take the game seriously because the outcome wasn't critical to them. "We always want to win when we step onto the ice. It’s a little bit disappointing that we had a chance to win the whole group and we let them have it. I’m disappointed about that."

This was Näkyvä's first game back in Finland since joining a Swedish club, and of course he's no stranger to Rauma's Kivikylän Areena. He does notice a difference between the rinks back home though and those in his new league, and it affects the style of play.

“The rinks are bigger in Sweden than here in Finland. It creates space for playing and in Sweden we try more to play with the puck. There isn't so much dump-and-chase.

“Of course this suits me very well. That is one reason why it's been so good to play for Luleå,” he continued. A quick check of the statistics confirms that, while the sample size is very small, he seems to be more productive in Sweden. Whereas he had 80 points in 200 Liiga games, a very respectable total for a defenceman, Näkyvä has five points in eight SHL games so far, and four points in six CHL games to lead Lulea blueliners.

His team will play at least two more CHL games this season, though he hopes for more.

“This is a really good experience," he said of playing in Europe's top club competition. "I hope that this concept can be improved over the years and it will stay. It's easy to get self-motivated to play international games.”

And with seven Finnish clubs advancing to the Round of 16, there's a good chance Näkyvä will get a chance to play in Finland again. Possibly even against JYP, who are one of the teams remaining. Friday's Playoff Draw will tell.