Tomak Valtonen

[Barnes52 0]

He was supposed to be the next McCarty, now he drops off the face of the earth. I hope that if Detroit stays with their Euro fetish, they look for guys in Finland. Finnish hockey is probably the most like hockey in North America and have boasted a few tough guys..Sami Kapanen comes to mind. Anyways, anyone have any info, Henkka?

[Hatcher#2 13]

He was supposed to be the next McCarty, now he drops off the face of the earth. I hope that if Detroit stays with their Euro fetish, they look for guys in Finland. Finnish hockey is probably the most like hockey in North America and have boasted a few tough guys..Sami Kapanen comes to mind. Anyways, anyone have any info, Henkka?

He was supposed to play in GR this year but he stayed in finland for some reason.

Check out his stats at redwingscentral down the bottom, hes piling up the Pims

http://www.allsports.com/nhl/redwings/stor...pectsWatch.html

[Lamothe 5]

Actually, I believe Valtonen is Polish. Anyway, I agree. I was looking forward to seeing him in GR.

[juice71285 2]

I believe you will see Valtonen come over next season as the Wings lose his rights next year. You might see a fair share of prospects get signed next year as many of them have their rights be lost in June.

Valtonen is from Poland.

[Barnes52 0]

Actually, I believe Valtonen is Polish. Anyway, I agree. I was looking forward to seeing him in GR.

He is but plays in Finland since he was a kid

[fightfan24 0]

Seeing that he is almost 26 years old and has one goal in ten games, they won't keep him around. The only comparison to McCarty is size and wardrobe problems.

[Barnes52 0]

Seeing that he is almost 26 years old and has one goal in ten games, they won't keep him around. The only comparison to McCarty is size and wardrobe problems.

"Wardrobe problems"? I'd still like to see him here, Finland is the second toughest league next to the NHL, he's putting up some serious PIMs there, he may be a good fourth line guy. I know you know this, but stats and scoring isn't everything.

Edited October 10, 2005 by Barnes52

[TNBT 3]

I'd be willing to bring this guy over now and let him play this season in Grand Rapids if it isn't too late to sign him.

Seriously, he may not be the next Kovalchuk, but he's a biggish guy who will let you run over him with a bus if that's what it takes. It doesn't really matter if he isn't a great offensive talent, as we have all the scoring we need. What we don't have is size, grit and toughness, three things which Valtonen provides.

I wouldn't recommend playing him on the first line or anything, but he would be great to have on the 4th line. He's 25 years old too, so it's not like he isn't physically ready to play the North American style of hockey.

Look at how well Samuelsson and Holmstrom have performed this year because they are pretty much the only two guys we have who are willing to go to the net. Holmstrom has been a handy player for us for years now, and he can't skate or play defense to save his life. So even if Valtonen is a little slow, at least he can play defense as well.

[Barnes52 0]

^^ that's right, and although skating is important, it's overrated. Shanahan, Holmstrom, Schneider are all awful skaters but they've carved out a nice niche in this league, as long as someone is willing to crash the net and be physical, why not?

[TNBT 3]

^^ that's right, and although skating is important, it's overrated. Shanahan, Holmstrom, Schneider are all awful skaters but they've carved out a nice niche in this league, as long as someone is willing to crash the net and be physical, why not?

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Obviously you have to be able to skate to a certain degree, like if you fall over every time you step on the ice you wont be useful to your team, but as long as you can skate OK, you can be an effective player.

You don't have to be Tonya Harding to play in the NHL.

[fightfan24 0]

"You don't have to be Tonya Harding to play in the NHL" lol

Wish we had her toughness...

If they have to make a decision on Tomek -- have a look at him here then or Grand Rapids.

[Henkka 0]

I have no reason why Valtonen stayed at Jokerit. I think his time is passed now, cause he is really sucking at Jokerit right now without a phenomenal playmaker Glen Metropolit.

And in future it's also very tough to sign those European players with this new CBA. The younger guys will become more important than him and I think he will never be a Wing or even a Griffin. And that's a pity.

And he is not Polish. He was born there, but has lived his whole life in Finland and is Finnish citizen. Just like Tomas Sandstrom was born in Finland but is Swedish.

Edited October 11, 2005 by Henkka

[TNBT 3]

With the new rules in regards to signing prospects, I have a question.

I know we have to sign our prospects within a certain time frame in order to keep their rights, but is there any limit to how many prospects we can sign?

I'm hoping not, as Illitch has enough money for us to sign all of our prospects if we want to, and that is an advantage that the "poorer" owners from other teams wont be able to do, meaning that some of their prospects will become available again.

[Barnes52 0]

I have no reason why Valtonen stayed at Jokerit. I think his time is passed now, cause he is really sucking at Jokerit right now without a phenomenal playmaker Glen Metropolit.

And in future it's also very tough to sign those European players with this new CBA. The younger guys will become more important than him and I think he will never be a Wing or even a Griffin. And that's a pity.

And he is not Polish. He was born there, but has lived his whole life in Finland and is Finnish citizen. Just like Tomas Sandstrom was born in Finland but is Swedish.

So he's not looking so good?

[FinRedWing 172]

Yeah,not so good. 14 games, 2+1. He's -9 and 51 penalty minutes. Scored yesterday though.

[fightfan24 0]

Of those 51 penalty minutes, how many are for fighting?

[Barnes52 0]

Of those 51 penalty minutes, how many are for fighting?

exactly FF, we need to put this in context.....some European Leagues, a loud fart get's you a 10 game suspension. But Finalnd, from what I hear, is pretty tough. They play a grittier style of game there

[FinRedWing 172]

Just one major for fighting. (Here they give 5+20 PIM for that).

[fightfan24 0]

Just one major for fighting. (Here they give 5+20 PIM for that).

Oh my -- 10 fights are 250 minutes...

[Satrebil 0]

^^ that's right, and although skating is important, it's overrated. Shanahan, Holmstrom, Schneider are all awful skaters but they've carved out a nice niche in this league, as long as someone is willing to crash the net and be physical, why not?

Schneider is an awful skater? He's probably an average skater. But awful? No.

[redwings1914 18]

a loud fart get's you a 10 game suspension.

LMAO!

[Seth 0]

exactly FF, we need to put this in context.....some European Leagues, a loud fart get's you a 10 game suspension. But Finalnd, from what I hear, is pretty tough. They play a grittier style of game there

Barneys you just made my day.

[Guest finnwonder]

I don't agree with the other Finn. As far as I'm concerned Valtonen hasn't "sucked" this season even though his +/- looks bad. Jokerit had a terrible first 20+ games, but Tomek wasn't one of the worst players. He's never going to become a high scorer and I don't think anyone seriously even expects him to score all that much. He did well in terms of scoring in 03/04, but at that time he was doing the dirty work on the 1st line alongside two skilful attacking forwards.

He now has five goals and three assists in 26 games this season and he has played on the 2nd and 3rd lines. I don't know if he'll ever move over the Atlantic to try his hand in the NHL/AHL though, but I'm sure he could do a job as a 4th liner. I'm also sure there's plenty of competition for places, so I would think the move depends on what he's offered. He's currently earning more than the AHL "cap" of $75k and he loves the club (Jokerit), so there's little sense for him to make the move just for the hell of it at age 26 (which he will be in January). First he has to get a decent contract offer and/or a realistic chance to play in the NHL, otherwise making the move is not a priority I would think. That's the way I see it anyway.

Last month he played for the national team in a tournament. That's team Finland. He was indeed born in Poland but family Valtonen moved to Finland when Tomek was four years old. His mother is Polish, his father Finnish. I think he has now played in 16 games for the national team.

Here's a couple of links. The first is a regularly updating text based page that includes basic player stats of all players playing in the Finnish top tier this season:

Finnish elite league player stats

Tomek Valtonen's career stats