NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman Veeti Väisänen stands guard at the front of his net in the first period of a 4-3 win Tuesday at Co-op Place over the Calgary Hitmen.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Veeti Väisänen’s second run with Finland at the World Juniors was a vastly different experience than his first.
The Medicine Hat Tigers defenceman and Finland finished fourth in the U20 tournament, losing 6-3 to Canada on Jan. 9 in the bronze medal final.
He played in all seven of Finland’s games, held off the scoresheet, having an easier time navigating the off-ice World Junior experience.
“It was disappointing that we didn’t get the results we wanted,” Väisänen said.
“The second tournament was very much the same as the first one but you knew what they were going to do every day.”
The 19-year-old blue liner was kicked out of Finland’s third game of the tournament, assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct penalty for cross checking just 27 seconds into their matchup with Czechia. He caught the Czechia skater in the neck with his stick while standing tall in front of the Finland crease.
“I didn’t mean to do that, it happened fast and I was just trying to box up the guy but that happened,” Väisänen said.
The tournament, hosted in Minneapolis, Minn. provided a different atmosphere than the 2025 tournament held in Ottawa, according to Väisänen. He says the tournament in Ottawa had a louder and more enjoyable atmosphere, but still he enjoyed his time in the U.S.
Coming out of the tournament, Väisänen says the difficulty of winning is his biggest takeaway.
“Just how hard it is to win and how you prepare when you have a lot of games in a short time, we had seven games in 12 days,” Väisänen said.
In his first game back with the Tigers, Jan. 9 against the Seattle Thunderbirds, he suffered an upper-body injury while taking a shot on net in the first period of an 8-3 win. Väisänen missed the next four games before returning on Tuesday in the 4-3 win over the Calgary Hitmen.
The Utah Mammoth prospect says that game against Calgary was a hard return, he felt weird but Väisänen expects to be good this weekend with the Tigers on the road in Saskatchewan.
As he looks toward the rest of the season, he hopes to keep pushing for a second championship in his sophomore WHL season and a pro contract.
“Lot’s of work, I’m going to come in here every day and work and hopefully sign that contract,” Väisänen said.
