While the NHL pre-season is just starting up, the European leagues are in full swing. This year, the Canadiens have players in the Finland’s Liiga as well as the Swedish Hockey League and the country’s lower tiers. This is the first edition of the weekly series that will keep you up to date on the performance of all the players plying their trade in Europe throughout the 2016-17 season.
The Finnish league started off before the World Cup of Hockey began in Toronto. Jyväskylä started off on September 16 with a penalty-shootout loss at home (2-3) to Ilves before falling away to last year’s regular-season winners, HIFK (2-1).