Although it has been an inconsistent season so far, Karpat Oulu's Jesse Puljujarvi is off to a good start in the IIHF World Junior Championship. He recorded 3 points in Finland's opening game against Belarus.

by Leo Runsas

HELSINKI – The 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship started this Saturday on Boxing Day, with host Finland beating Belarus 6–0. The biggest Finnish star on Saturday was a familiar sight to CHL fans: 17-year-old Karpat Oulu forward Jesse Puljujarvi. The youngster scored two goals and assisted one and formed Finland’s second line with Karpat teammate Sebastian Aho and Tappara Tampere's Patrik Laine.

Even though Finland was clearly the better team they had their difficulties in the game. Belarus fought hard and kept it close for two periods, but the goals came in numbers in the third period when the Finns finally got their flow going. Puljujarvi confirmed after the game that it wasn’t an easy one.

“We had a pretty rough game at times. Thankfully we were able to push on and be patient so we were able to get the result in the end.”

Belarus were able to keep Finland goalless for over 37 minutes. Puljujarvi spoke about how it affected the team.

“It was becoming to be quite frustrating. The game was 0–0 for a long time even though we controlled the game. The counter-attacks of either team weren’t working either. But after we got a couple of goals the play opened up and our chances grew.” 

Puljujarvi’s season has seen its ups and downs so far. In the Finnish Liiga he has 12 points in 31 games and in the CHL just one point in 10 games. Now the youngster has started the tournament with two goals and an assist and that is definitely a load off his mind.

“I have had a rough time and I haven’t been playing that well. Now I was able to score a couple of goals and that's always a good thing.”

Finland’s next game is on Monday against the always formidable Russia. Puljujarvi is looking forward to going head-to-head with the eastern neighbour.

“Our places have been opened. Russia is a bit of a similar team compared to Belarus, so we know how we must play. It is a good thing.”

As usual, when the medals are represented, Finland is one of the biggest favourites to win one of them. Puljujarvi thinks that this year’s team has quality which enables it to go very far in the tournament.

“We have created a good team and we can do many things. I think that we can accomplish whatever we want,” Puljujarvi concluded.