Quote:
Originally Posted by dammage79
I always anticipated an up and down year for Valimaki last year. An entire year off hockey, rehab from a surgery that severely restricted staying in shape or adding more muscle like he would have done.
This year is the tell tale for him. I for one fully expect him barring injury to take a couple of steps.
Last year was always going to be a write off for him IMO.
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You've got to hope losing that whole year didn't damage his trajectory. Not only did he have an up and down year, but I'd say when he was down he was pretty awful. I think he may have played some seasoning time the AHL last year if it wasn't for the whole COVID mess. Perhaps expectations were just really high after he tore up the league in Finland too...
That's the problem with the Flames roster right now though. In order to have a successful season, there a lot of questions in how players are going to bounce back. Having Valimaki show some consistency and take a step would be a huge help to this team.