When 19-year-old Juuso Ikonen of JYP Jyvaskyla scored on a beautiful end-to-end rush last Tuesday against Skelleftea AIK, he drew attention. This past weekend, he joined the Finnish U20 national team, with whom he hopes to bring even more attention to as they attempt to repeat as World Junior Champions.

by David Jahoda

PREROV, Czech Rep. – Just 19 years old, Juuso Ikonen is already playing his second professional season for JYP Jyvaskyla. Despite his young age, he's already showing that he can compete against the best players in Europe with three points in the CHL so far. He gained considerable attention in JYP’s playoff win over Skelleftea AIK when he scored a goal on a beautiful individual effort that was voted No. 2 in the Cramo TOP 5 Goals of the first leg of the eighth-finals. 

JYP beat Skelleftea 5-4 at home, and the two teams meet again in northern Sweden this Tuesday. In the meantime, the talented young forward spent this past weekend with the Finnish national U20 team in Prerov, Czech Republic. The Finns lost all three games, and Ikonen knowns the team has to be a lot better at the World Junior Championship in Montreal and Toronto in late December and early January if they hope to repeat last year's gold medal victory. 

Juuso, your team took just one point from three games here in Prerov. Am I correct in assuming that you’re not satisfied with that? 

Yes. Obviously, one point isn’t very good. We didn’t play our best in this tournament. Hopefully, we’ll be better at the World Juniors.

What was the biggest problem this weekend?

I think we had a lot of scoring chances, enough of them, but we just couldn’t score the goals. Other teams did it on us. That was the key reason why we lost all three games.

You personally recorded two points, a goal and an assist, at the tournament. One of them was for an assist on Finland’s second goal. You also had a great chance to score against the Czechs, but goaltender Vit Vanecek denied you.

That was one of those game-changing moments. I should have scored, but I didn’t in that situation. 

What do you think you have to improve before the WJC?

Almost everything. But the main problem affecting us us is scoring – we have to do it better next time. When we get those chances we have to take advantage. We’ve got great goaltending, that’s not a problem. We just have to be patient. 

Switching to JYP and the Champions Hockey League, your goal against Skelleftea last Tuesday was chosen among the top five goals of the round. Did you know that?

No, I didn’t see the the rankings, but it’s nice to hear it. It feels good.

Could you describe that amazing goal?

We had a face-off in our defense zone, the puck came to me and after that I just tried to skate to the other end and shoot it. Luckily it went in.

Watch the game highlights here and see Ikonen's goal starting at 1:27.

Your team JYP won the first game 5–4. What do you expect of the second one?

Well, it’s going to be really tough game. You know, we had a 5–1 lead on home ice, but the final score was 5–4. So we’ve only got a one-goal advantage now. We’ve gotta go there and try to do our best. I hope we get the win.