With five goals in the playoffs so far for the Carolina Hurricanes, including the overtime winner in Wednesday's Game 3 to beat the Boston Bruins, Jussi Jokinen is practically an overnight sensation. But as recently as three months ago, he was an unwanted spare part who was placed on waivers and eventually traded away by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"I think I started the season pretty good. During the first 16 games Barry Melrose was the coach (in Tampa Bay) and I was getting lots of ice time. I think I had five or six goals in the first 15 games. Then they did the coaching change and Rick Tocchet came in to coach. I don't know, you would have to ask them, it's tough to say. I think I didn't play as good as maybe I would have liked to play. I don't know, maybe they didn't like the style I was playing," said Jokinen.
The 26-year old forward first made a name for himself during his rookie season with the Dallas Stars in 2005-06. The NHL added the shootout to decide overtime games that year, and Jokinen put on a show by scoring on each of his first six opportunities with a dazzling array of moves. He ended the season having scored a league-high 10 shootout goals on 13 chances, and along with his 55 points in regulation time, established himself as one of the league's solid forwards.
Few would have thought that three seasons later, he would have been traded twice, and on two other occasions made available to any team in the league.
"I was two times on waivers, and nobody was willing to pick me up," said Jokinen after his overtime winner put the Hurricanes up 2-1 in their series with Boston. "So obviously if you're thinking about what happened to me three months ago, and what my thoughts were then versus my thoughts right now, it's a really big difference."
In February, after Jokinen went unclaimed on the waiver wire, he was traded by the Lightning to the Hurricanes in exchange for Wade Brookbank, Josef Melichar and a 2009 fourth-round pick.
"Two or three days before Carolina traded for me, nobody was willing to pick me up (on waivers), and I didn't know what was going to happen," said Jokinen. "Tampa Bay was poised to send me to the minors...and now I'm thinking about where I am right now...so probably that moment was my lowest point this year."
But Jokinen's arrival in Raleigh didn't result in improved results right away. In 25 regular season games with Carolina, Jokinen potted just one goal. So his timely resurgence in the post-season has been a welcome boost for the Hurricanes, although it didn't come as a surprise to one of his Boston opponents.
"Jussi and I were linemates a lot in Tampa this year, and we played well together and he's a very good hockey player," said Bruins forward Mark Recchi. "I mean, they gave him away - Carolina stole him. He's playing a very big role for them, and scoring some big goals. I knew he had it in him, and he knew he had it in him, it's just unfortunate it's happening against us."
"You try to teach everybody systems. Some guys get it really well, and some don't," said Hurricanes head coach Paul Maurice. "And then there's a whole other layer of the game that happens - who is on the ice, time on the clock, who is playing well when you're winning and losing draws, all those things that (Jokinen) picks up really fast."
With his sudden offensive output in the playoffs, Jokinen conjures up memories of other players who have produced unexpectedly when the post-season pressure is on. In 1998-99, Jamie Langenbrunner scored 10 goals in the playoffs after counting just 12 in the regular season for the Stanley Cup-winning Dallas Stars. When the Edmonton Oilers went to the final three years ago, Fernando Pisani became a post-season hero by contributing 14 goals after an 18-goal regular season. And most impressively, John Druce of the Washington Capitals produced 14 goals in the 1990 playoffs after scoring just eight times in 45 games during the season.