Teuvo’s Breakthrough Season

Mar 25, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks left wing Teuvo Teravainen (86) reaches for the puck against Dallas Stars center Shawn Horcoff (10) during the third period at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

This week, we are trying something different for Rewind Wednesday. Rather than just recap a game, we thought it would be cool to try something new. So this week, I’ll be highlighting Teuvo Teravainen’s last season playing for his Finnish squad Jokerit and his incredible World Juniors tournament.

Teravainen, who was drafted by the Blackhawks in 2012, really began to show what he could do in the 2013-14 season for Jokerit. Every season since he began playing in Jokerit, his point totals have increased. Although that is obviously expected, he began assisting on significantly more goals than he was scoring goals himself.

Teuvo started the season off slow coming off of a minor injury. He didn’t get his first point until October 4 when he scored a goal in the third period to tie the game at 2 against SaiPa. He had three assists in an October 18 game against HIFK in which Jokerit won 4-2.

His decent play earned him a spot on the Finnish World Junior Championship team. That tournament is where Teuvo really began to attract attention. Teuvo carried his team by setting up some beautiful goals, and Finland landed all the way in the Gold Medal game against arch rival Sweden. The game would go to overtime, and Teravainen had an assist on all three goals scored, including the overtime game winner.

He led the tournament with 15 points (2 goals 13 assists) in 7 games.

After that, his season at Jokerit really took off. He had nearly a point a game, and at times, was scoring multiple points a game. He finished his season in Finland with 44 points (9 goals and 35 assists) in 49 games.

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The Blackhawks were then ready to bring the young star over to the United States, hoping he may be able to help them out during their postseason run. Blackhawks fans everywhere went crazy. Teuvo Teravainen was supposed to be the Blackhawks “savior”.

That is a lot of pressure thrown on the shoulders of a 19 year-old who was not used to playing on American ice, much less the much quicker NHL game. In three appearances with the Hawks, he didn’t record a point. He was then sent to the Rockford IceHogs, where he managed two goals in his 5 games played.

Next season, with the Blackhawks signing Brad Richards to a one year deal, Teuvo is expected to spend at least most of the year in Rockford honing his skills before making the final jump to the NHL. General Manager Stan Bowman has made it clear that he doesn’t want to put much pressure on the future star, instead letting him take his time to get adjusted.

I’m really excited to see what the future holds as Teuvo Teravainen develops into the top 6 forward he is supposed to be.

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