Erik Haula missed three games with a broken finger but still leads the top-ranked University of Minnesota men's hockey team with 31 points. The junior center has 11 goals and a team-best 20 assists.
A native of Finland, Haula is the Gophers' best foreign-born player since Austrian-born Thomas Vanek helped lift Minnesota to an NCAA title in 2003 and one of five Finns making an impact on Minnesota-based teams. Fellow countrymen Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund and Niklas Backstrom play for the Wild and Noora Raty is a record-setting goaltender for the undefeated Gophers' women's hockey team.
Once his college career is over, Haula could be joining Koivu, Granlund and Backstrom on the Wild, which selected him in the seventh round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
I talked to Haula on Wednesday, Jan. 30.
BS: Has Minnesota become a home away from home for hockey players from Finland?
EH: I think people in Finland are not familiar with the university and college life, but they definitely know there are a lot of Finns in the Wild organization. Obviously, Mikko is a big name in Finland.
BS: How well do you know Koivu, Granlund and Backstrom?
EH: I know Granlund really well. We played on the national teams growing up and that's how I know him. I roomed with him at camp last year. He's a great guy. I go out to dinner with him here and there and we catch up a little bit.
BS: Who's older, you or
Granlund?
EH: I'm one year older.
BS: Do you have that shot he has, the lacrosse-style shot he used to score at the world championships?
EH: The lacrosse move? (Laughs.) No, I leave all that for him. That's not my thing.
BS: Do you know how good this Gophers team is yet?
EH: I think we have a pretty good idea of what we're capable of. We've just got to find the happy medium of coming out every night and doing our best and performing at the
Erik Haula (Photo courtesy of University of Minnesota Athletics)
level we're supposed to. That's what I think is the biggest problem.
BS: Is the key somehow convincing yourselves every night is Saturday night? Because you seem to play better on Saturdays than on Friday.
EH: That's what we've been talking about a little bit. Like you said, Saturday has been our day usually and Friday, sometimes, we come out flat. We've got to get better. The season is winding down. There's not a lot of time. We've got to be ready to go on Fridays. That shouldn't be an issue at this level.
BS: Will you stay on the same line with Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau?
EH: Now that I had my injury, they put me with Bjugstad and I played wing. After this off week, I think I'll go back to center. And we'll probably mix the lines up a little bit again. We'll see what Coach (Don Lucia) thinks.
BS: Where are you most comfortable -- at center?
EH: Center, yeah. I wasn't 100 percent last week or the week before that. It's good now. I'm back to 100 percent. I just feel more comfortable being in the middle, getting the puck more and creating chances. That's kind of my thing. I feel on the wing it's more of an up-and-down game. At center, you kind of control the game more and that's what I like to do.
BS: Is it a big deal to the team to be the top-ranked team in the nation?
EH: Of course. It feels good knowing you're up there amongst the best teams in the country. Everyone looks up to the No. 1 team, so we're definitely getting everyone's best game every day.
BS: Do you know when and how you'll make your decision -- if you haven't already -- about whether to stay in college or join the Wild after this season?
EH: No. I try to focus on this year and try to accomplish individual goals and our team goals. We'll see after the year what happens.
BS: What is Granland telling you? Is he saying, "Come on up."
EH: We don't really talk about it.
BS: There is the possibility you can go from playing with the Gophers on a national championship team to joining the Wild on a playoff push.
EH: That is a dream come true, and that's why I came here. And that's what I want to do: Be here for however many years and then, when coaches think I'm ready and I feel comfortable, moving on.
BS: So you'll talk to the Gophers coaches and see what they think.
EH: Of course. I'm going to listen and see what they say and what they think and go from there. I'll see what happens.
BS: How much better are you than you were a year ago?
EH: I think every year I've gotten better, gotten stronger. I'm getting better at little things. I don't think there's been a huge bump from last year, but it's always important to get better every year. I think I've been doing that.
