Finland has love-in with Winnipeg thanks to Selanne and Laine

PekkaJalonen lives 6,600 kilometres from Winnipeg but everything he does seems to lead him back to Winnipeg.

The Finnish journalist, who coverssome of that country's greatest hockey players, spent time in Winnipeg when Teemu Selannebroke into the NHLwith the Jets in 1992.

Now,Jalonen finds himself back, following the next Finnish superstar to land in the city, Patrik Laine. There is an ferociousappetite in Finland for anythingand everything about the 18-year-old hockey phenom who was takensecond overall in the 2016NHL entry draft.

"Everybody wants to know aboutPatrikandwhat he's doing here and what he's saying," Jalonen said.

In just 10 days, he has written 80 stories. One of those was about Laine'sstunning performance in Wednesday's game against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

It wasthe first NHL showdown of the highly touted rookies Laine andToronto's Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews, who was the first overall pick in the same NHL draft.

Down 4-0 halfway through the game, the Jets stormed back with Lainescoring three times, including the game-tying goal with less than a minute to play and then the overtime winner.

The performanceearned him the first star of the game and a newly-minted nickname: Hattrick Laine.

"It was like a Hollywood story," said Jalonen.

But itwasn't an easy game to cover, he added.

"He made me do a lot of work. I had to rewrite my story all the time," Jalonensaid about Laine.

"But of course I was happy. I get a much better story when he is scoring the goals and winning the games than if he is losing anddoing nothing.

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While that was a performance that gave people in Winnipeg and the NHL a taste of Laine's talents, those in Finalnd have known it for a while.

His popularity started growingwith his team's gold medal victory at the World JuniorHockeyChampionship in January and continues after hisclub team,Tappara, won the gold medalin the Finnish Elite League.

Everybody loved the Winnipeg Jets in Finland.- PekkaJalonen

Lainewas thennamed to Team Finland for the2016IIHFWorld Championship, becoming the youngest ever Finnish player at the tournament.

In his debut game he scoredtwo goals and one assist, becoming the youngest player inthe tournament's history to score three points in a game.He then repeated that performance in the next game.

By the time the tournament was over he had scored seven goals and fiveassists for12 points in 10 games and was named MVP.

Stories about Laine are the most popular stories in Finland now, so Winnipeg is on a lot of people's minds, just as it was back in the 1990s.

When Selanneentered the NHL, "everybody loved the Winnipeg Jets in Finland," Jalonensaid.

"Then he moved to Anaheim soeverybody loved the Anaheim Ducks. Now we have Patrik Laine so everybody lovesthe Winnipeg Jets again."

Jalonen originally came to cover Laine's first few games with the Jets but realized the NHL'sHeritage Classic alumni game pitting the Jets and Edmonton Oilers legends against each otherwas also happening around that time. That meantSelanne and another Finnish hockey star, the Oilers'Jari Kurri, were going to be in the city.

And of course, the greatest NHLer of all, Wayne Gretzky, as well. His bosses decided to keep him in Winnipeg a little longer "and I was happy to stay here for two weeks," Jalonen said, adding it will be nice to see Selanne again.

While Laineis incredibly popular,Selannehas moved to another tier, becoming like"a rock star in Finland," he said.

They have become really good friends since Jalonenfirst started covering him28 years agowhen a youngTeemuwas with theFinnish junior national team.

They now only see each other a couple of times a year, when their paths cross. That path, this weekend, mightlead to a familiar Winnipeg nightspot.

Selannewas known to pay a few visits tothePalominoClub and once tookJalonen there. He hasn't forgotten that.

"It was really fun there. There was a lot of girls around us," he said.