Finnish assistant captain Mikko Rantanen (#96) notched two assists in a 4-3 win over Germany at the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Andrea Cardin
Mikko Rantanen is determined to go from disappointment to delight.
The day after his Colorado Avalanche saw their reign as Stanley Cup champions end with a first-round Game Seven loss to the Seattle Kraken, the 26-year-old Finnish ace decided to suit up in Tampere for his national team.
And after Finland underwhelmingly lost 4-1 to the Americans in their IIHF World Championship opener, Rantanen stepped up in the 4-3 bounceback win over Germany.
Even though his top line with Teemu Hartikainen and Sakari Manninen is still finding its groove, the trio combined for six points on Saturday. Rantanen assisted on two goals, including Mikko Lehtonen’s third-period winner.
“We feel better and better after every shift, after every period,” Rantanen said. “It’s my first time playing with those two. They’re two phenomenal players. This was only the second game, and hopefully we have a lot of games left here. So we’ve just got to keep building and keep talking about some plays. Today was a big step forward as a line.”
Fellow Finnish forward Harri Pesonen praised Rantanen: “Today we saw in the third period, especially, how he started to find his mojo. He’s a big boy. He can skate well and be creative with the puck. He’s going to bring a lot of good plays.”
Indeed, the 193-cm, 96-kg forward is arguably the best player at the tournament this year. His towering presence turbocharges Finland’s hopes of winning gold at Nokia Arena for the second straight year. The Finns are also reigning Olympic champions after earning their first title in Beijing in 2022.
Rantanen has enjoyed some other recent Nokia Arena highlights, albeit in an Avs sweater. In November’s NHL Global Series, the Nousiainen native scored a hat trick and an assist in a 6-3 romp over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He added another assist the following day as Colorado beat the Jackets 5-1.
Growing up, Rantanen idolized international superstars from Finland’s Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu to Sweden’s Peter Forsberg and Canada’s Sidney Crosby. Now the 2022 Stanley Cup winner is deservedly getting mentioned in the same breath, thanks to his great playmaking and a goal-scoring touch that ranges from crafty deflections to high snap shots.
“He's a superstar player for this tournament and in the world,” Lehtonen said. “So it’s a lot of expectations for him, but I think he doesn’t need to fret too much. Just play his game like he did today, and I think it’s going to be good.”
This season, Rantanen (55+50=105) became just the third Finn in NHL history – after Selanne and Jari Kurri – to record more than 50 goals and 100 points in a season.
According to QuantHockey.com, he currently ranks second all-time among Finnish NHLers in regular season points-per-game (1.047), just behind Kurri (1.118) and ahead of Selanne (1.004). And in playoff points-per-game, Rantanen is the leader (1.243), edging out Kurri (1.165).
Right now, he’s eager to boost his legacy in senior IIHF competition. Coming into the 2023 Worlds, he’d accumulated 23 points in 22 career Worlds games (2016-18), including a 2016 silver medal under coach Kari Jalonen.
Rantanen also has a positive history with coach Jukka Jalonen. The two collaborated on the 2016 World Junior team that dramatically edged Russia 4-3 in overtime to win the gold medal in Helsinki. Rantanen served as the captain that year.
“He's a great coach and it’s good to be back playing under him,” Rantanen said.
With the Avalanche, Rantanen sometimes toils in the shadow of perennial trophy contenders like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Similarly, at the 2016 World Juniors, Rantanen was overshadowed by Patrik Laine, Sebastian Aho and Jesse Puljujarvi, who comprised the tournament’s top-scoring line.
In the 2016 final, Rantanen was nearly the hero after giving Finland a 3-2 lead with 2:09 left in regulation. But the Russians tied it with six seconds remaining, setting the stage for Kasperi Kapanen’s sudden-death wraparound winner.
As a consummate team player, Rantanen is more concerned about winning titles than inflating his personal stats. For example, he led the Avs in playoff scoring this year (7+3=10), but that offered scant consolation for a first-round exit.
But if he can maintain those hot hands, he just might deliver a magic moment for Finland in the gold medal game on 28 May. Who knows?
“We'll try to find a way to get there and fight for it,” Rantanen said. “But it's one game at a time. You know, we can't get ahead of ourselves here.”
The day after his Colorado Avalanche saw their reign as Stanley Cup champions end with a first-round Game Seven loss to the Seattle Kraken, the 26-year-old Finnish ace decided to suit up in Tampere for his national team.
And after Finland underwhelmingly lost 4-1 to the Americans in their IIHF World Championship opener, Rantanen stepped up in the 4-3 bounceback win over Germany.
Even though his top line with Teemu Hartikainen and Sakari Manninen is still finding its groove, the trio combined for six points on Saturday. Rantanen assisted on two goals, including Mikko Lehtonen’s third-period winner.
“We feel better and better after every shift, after every period,” Rantanen said. “It’s my first time playing with those two. They’re two phenomenal players. This was only the second game, and hopefully we have a lot of games left here. So we’ve just got to keep building and keep talking about some plays. Today was a big step forward as a line.”
Fellow Finnish forward Harri Pesonen praised Rantanen: “Today we saw in the third period, especially, how he started to find his mojo. He’s a big boy. He can skate well and be creative with the puck. He’s going to bring a lot of good plays.”
Indeed, the 193-cm, 96-kg forward is arguably the best player at the tournament this year. His towering presence turbocharges Finland’s hopes of winning gold at Nokia Arena for the second straight year. The Finns are also reigning Olympic champions after earning their first title in Beijing in 2022.
Rantanen has enjoyed some other recent Nokia Arena highlights, albeit in an Avs sweater. In November’s NHL Global Series, the Nousiainen native scored a hat trick and an assist in a 6-3 romp over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He added another assist the following day as Colorado beat the Jackets 5-1.
Growing up, Rantanen idolized international superstars from Finland’s Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu to Sweden’s Peter Forsberg and Canada’s Sidney Crosby. Now the 2022 Stanley Cup winner is deservedly getting mentioned in the same breath, thanks to his great playmaking and a goal-scoring touch that ranges from crafty deflections to high snap shots.
“He's a superstar player for this tournament and in the world,” Lehtonen said. “So it’s a lot of expectations for him, but I think he doesn’t need to fret too much. Just play his game like he did today, and I think it’s going to be good.”
This season, Rantanen (55+50=105) became just the third Finn in NHL history – after Selanne and Jari Kurri – to record more than 50 goals and 100 points in a season.
According to QuantHockey.com, he currently ranks second all-time among Finnish NHLers in regular season points-per-game (1.047), just behind Kurri (1.118) and ahead of Selanne (1.004). And in playoff points-per-game, Rantanen is the leader (1.243), edging out Kurri (1.165).
Right now, he’s eager to boost his legacy in senior IIHF competition. Coming into the 2023 Worlds, he’d accumulated 23 points in 22 career Worlds games (2016-18), including a 2016 silver medal under coach Kari Jalonen.
Rantanen also has a positive history with coach Jukka Jalonen. The two collaborated on the 2016 World Junior team that dramatically edged Russia 4-3 in overtime to win the gold medal in Helsinki. Rantanen served as the captain that year.
“He's a great coach and it’s good to be back playing under him,” Rantanen said.
With the Avalanche, Rantanen sometimes toils in the shadow of perennial trophy contenders like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Similarly, at the 2016 World Juniors, Rantanen was overshadowed by Patrik Laine, Sebastian Aho and Jesse Puljujarvi, who comprised the tournament’s top-scoring line.
In the 2016 final, Rantanen was nearly the hero after giving Finland a 3-2 lead with 2:09 left in regulation. But the Russians tied it with six seconds remaining, setting the stage for Kasperi Kapanen’s sudden-death wraparound winner.
As a consummate team player, Rantanen is more concerned about winning titles than inflating his personal stats. For example, he led the Avs in playoff scoring this year (7+3=10), but that offered scant consolation for a first-round exit.
But if he can maintain those hot hands, he just might deliver a magic moment for Finland in the gold medal game on 28 May. Who knows?
“We'll try to find a way to get there and fight for it,” Rantanen said. “But it's one game at a time. You know, we can't get ahead of ourselves here.”