If Finnish assistant captain Kasper Halttunen had his druthers, he'd enjoy playing on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Jaromir Jagr in their prime.
photo: PHOTO: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / ANDRE RINGUETTE
Finland’s Kasper Halttunen knows exactly who he’d like to team up with if he could skate with any players in hockey history.
“I can be boring and smart and say [Wayne] Gretzky as the centre, and Jaromir Jagr on the left wing,” said the all-star London Knights power forward with a grin. “And I'll go with [Miro] Heiskanen and [Cale] Makar on the back end and Pekka Rinne as the goalie.”
Well, that hardly sounds boring!
Let’s face it: you probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that players at the IIHF World Junior Championship want to work hard, stick to their system, and focus on their next game. You can find that out in any post-game scrum.
So IIHF.com decided to dig a little deeper for some quirky tidbits about the backgrounds, dreams, and wishes of our 2025 crop. Family and country figure heavily in their preferences.
For instance, if you’re curious about why Halttunen sports jersey #22, it’s in honour of his father Niko Halttunen, who wore that same number at the 1995 World Juniors in Alberta.
For German forward Noah Samanski, number 8 is a “family tradition,” as it was also worn by his father John and his three hockey-playing brothers – including Josh, a current Straubing Tigers forward and two-World Junior participant with Germany (2021, 2022). And if Noah could get out there with his fantasy all-star team? “I have to go with Gretzky. And Moritz Seider as a D, because he’s German. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are also up there. I'll go with Makar as my second D.”
Puck-moving U.S. defenceman Cole Hutson would choose the United Center in his hometown of Chicago if he could put the World Juniors anywhere. How about his dream D-partner? No hesitation in picking a current Montreal Canadien who’s battling Macklin Celebrini and Matvei Michkov in the 2024-25 race for the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year: “My brother Lane.”
For American forward Carey Terrance, his jersey #10 has its roots in Pavel Bure, a perennial 50-goal scorer for the Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers: “Yeah, the Russian Rocket. I kind of got it from my dad. Growing up, I said, ‘Why am I wearing #10?’ ‘The Russian Rocket,’ he would always reply.’ And my older cousin, Lucas Tarbell, who passed away a couple of years ago, also wore #10. I always watched him when he was playing in high school.”
What about players from any era that Terrance would love to suit up alongside? The Erie Otters captain has an eclectic mix as someone who grew up in Akwesasne, New York, just an hour and a half away from Ottawa: “Erik Karlsson when he was here back in 2017 and they lost in Pittsburgh in the conference finals. Back in the day when I was really young, [285-game NHLer] Jesse Winchester, who I’ve trained a lot with. My favourite team growing up was Ottawa, and for some reason the person that keeps coming to mind is Milan Michalek. Number nine for the Sens. I watched him a lot growing up and he was here for a long time.”
Slovakia’s Luka Radivojevic shares a pre-game superstition with Halttunen: putting on all his gear on the left side first. As for his dream blue line partner, the son of ex-NHL Branko Radivojevic goes big: “Zdeno Chara.” Much like Hutson, he would enjoy having the World Juniors in his hometown: Trencin.
Of course, while all these topics are fun to explore, our young stars are focused primarily on success when the elimination games kick off at the 2025 World Juniors here in Ottawa.
“I can be boring and smart and say [Wayne] Gretzky as the centre, and Jaromir Jagr on the left wing,” said the all-star London Knights power forward with a grin. “And I'll go with [Miro] Heiskanen and [Cale] Makar on the back end and Pekka Rinne as the goalie.”
Well, that hardly sounds boring!
Let’s face it: you probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that players at the IIHF World Junior Championship want to work hard, stick to their system, and focus on their next game. You can find that out in any post-game scrum.
So IIHF.com decided to dig a little deeper for some quirky tidbits about the backgrounds, dreams, and wishes of our 2025 crop. Family and country figure heavily in their preferences.
For instance, if you’re curious about why Halttunen sports jersey #22, it’s in honour of his father Niko Halttunen, who wore that same number at the 1995 World Juniors in Alberta.
For German forward Noah Samanski, number 8 is a “family tradition,” as it was also worn by his father John and his three hockey-playing brothers – including Josh, a current Straubing Tigers forward and two-World Junior participant with Germany (2021, 2022). And if Noah could get out there with his fantasy all-star team? “I have to go with Gretzky. And Moritz Seider as a D, because he’s German. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are also up there. I'll go with Makar as my second D.”
Puck-moving U.S. defenceman Cole Hutson would choose the United Center in his hometown of Chicago if he could put the World Juniors anywhere. How about his dream D-partner? No hesitation in picking a current Montreal Canadien who’s battling Macklin Celebrini and Matvei Michkov in the 2024-25 race for the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year: “My brother Lane.”
For American forward Carey Terrance, his jersey #10 has its roots in Pavel Bure, a perennial 50-goal scorer for the Vancouver Canucks and Florida Panthers: “Yeah, the Russian Rocket. I kind of got it from my dad. Growing up, I said, ‘Why am I wearing #10?’ ‘The Russian Rocket,’ he would always reply.’ And my older cousin, Lucas Tarbell, who passed away a couple of years ago, also wore #10. I always watched him when he was playing in high school.”
What about players from any era that Terrance would love to suit up alongside? The Erie Otters captain has an eclectic mix as someone who grew up in Akwesasne, New York, just an hour and a half away from Ottawa: “Erik Karlsson when he was here back in 2017 and they lost in Pittsburgh in the conference finals. Back in the day when I was really young, [285-game NHLer] Jesse Winchester, who I’ve trained a lot with. My favourite team growing up was Ottawa, and for some reason the person that keeps coming to mind is Milan Michalek. Number nine for the Sens. I watched him a lot growing up and he was here for a long time.”
Slovakia’s Luka Radivojevic shares a pre-game superstition with Halttunen: putting on all his gear on the left side first. As for his dream blue line partner, the son of ex-NHL Branko Radivojevic goes big: “Zdeno Chara.” Much like Hutson, he would enjoy having the World Juniors in his hometown: Trencin.
Of course, while all these topics are fun to explore, our young stars are focused primarily on success when the elimination games kick off at the 2025 World Juniors here in Ottawa.