Joni Ikonen returned to the ice recently, as the Finnish forward is on the road from an off-season knee injury that stopped a promising year in its tracks.
Eyes on the Prize spoke with the injured Finnish centre to ask how his recovery is going and while answers were short and carefully weighted it is clear that Ikonen is making progress in his mission to return to the game.
“Recovery is going well, thanks for asking. I have been on the ice for a bit and the knee feels good,” he said.
Ikonen who centered KalPa’s third line last season and had 14 points (4G-10A) in 52 games and one assist in six playoff games was set to take a step up this season. However this was interrupted when he was injured in a training session in early June.
Ikonen is set to return to a struggling KalPa’s line up sometime late December to mid January.
“I don’t know when I will be back [to playing in Liiga],” said Ikonen, but he appears to be needed due to his playmaking skills, as KalPa is currently in 13th place in the table and are pushing to make the playoffs.
Ikonen, who played at the World Juniors with Finland last year, was potentially one of three members of the Canadiens organization on this year’s team. However with his injury, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s NHL play, Jesse Ylönen could potentially be the only Habs prospect in consideration.
