Would You Rather

26 - WYR: deal with Nico (scary) or deal with Jorgen (scarier)

FIDAN

HOCKEY INSIDER: Fidan Koskinen Extends Scoreless Streak: Calder Bust or What Gives?

Regina Wolves right winger Fidan Koskinen has extended his scoreless streak by another game after the Wolves took Vancouver 2-1. His shift was a +2, but the winger couldn't seem to find the net. His shots seemed "erratic" and "desperate" in the words of analyst Nova Grant.

Grant states that Koskinen just couldn't seem to keep his patience long enough. She believes that this streak of games without goals is starting to weigh on the young player, making him reckless and desperate when faced with an open opportunity. Some of his plays lost his team better shots because of his trigger-happy shooting.

Another analyst, when posed the same topic, brought up his inability to stick to the same team. "It could be our first visible insight into how he acts on his squad," said Insider staff member Brock Laughton.

Koskinen, 21, has played for seven teams in the past six years. He has moved every off season, and once in the mid-season in the year before he got drafted. He has played in his home country of Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, a year in the QMJHL, and temporarily for a Swedish professional team all before being called up to play professionally for the Minnesota Wild.

"There's no good reason a player that has the skills like he does should spend so much time moving between teams." Laughton explained. "He's either a terrible teammate or he's not all he seems to be when you're watching him on the ice. I'd love to get in to see the Wolves' practices because I can't imagine that team environment is taking well to a guy that seems so interested in his own stats line."

Last year, Koskinen's show for the Minnesota Wild won him the Calder trophy. He had 66 points and a +1. He scored 30 goals. When presenting the award, the PWHA deemed him "one of the most promising young players on the ice" and touted his breakaway skills as "one for the history books"

Currently, with sixteen games played, Koskinen has eight goals and five assists, tracking behind his record from last season, despite the overall win and loss ratio between his two teams.

Nova Grant closed out her statement on a more hopeful note: "considering his age, Koskinen is doing quite well. We know he is a skilled player and an incredible talent but whether or not he figures out his hurdles is going to be the make-or-break point in his career. It's well known that the coaching staff working with the Wolves are quite good at turning nothing into something, so my hope is that we get to see a bit more of the Calder award winner and less of this desperation in the coming months."

***

Nico is getting on my nerves. Nico should-be-with-her-olympic-team-by-now Callahangn is getting on my Calla-damn nerves.

She walks over to me at the end of lifting on Monday, two days after I cut my hair and gave Finley a lonkero, with her clipboard and a mean look on her face despite the fact that she really is quite petite in comparison to most of us out here. I mean, she looks flat out ridiculous giving Yeti and Finnican advice from thirty centimeters and 50 kilograms smaller. The two gargantuan men nod and take it like the rest of us, though, because despite the size difference, she's fucking terrifying. 

"Bernie and I are considering scratching you for tomorrow night."

I get the urge to scream about it but hold my shit together. "Why?"

She gestures around her at the mostly-cleared-out rubber-matted room. It's just two or three guys cleaning up their weights now. "You're not following my instructions."