Thrashers look to fit in new defenseman Salmela

It’s one thing to grow up as a fan of high-scoring NHL defenseman Paul Coffey. It’s another thing to leave your home country and join Coffey’s league.

That’s what Finland’s Anssi Salmela has done, and Monday was the latest step in the process. He checked into his Atlanta hotel at 2 a.m., went through his first Thrashers practice eight hours later, checked out of his Atlanta hotel and headed out on his first Thrashers road trip.

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New Thrashers defenseman Anssi Salmela, 24, was up and down three times this season between the New Jersey Devils and Lowell of the AHL before being traded to the Thrashers last week for veteran defenseman Niclas Havelid.

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There might be time to settle in next season. For now, it’s go, go, go.

Salmela, 24, was up and down three times this season between the New Jersey Devils and Lowell of the AHL before being traded to the Thrashers last week for veteran defenseman Niclas Havelid. The Thrashers sent Salmela to the Chicago Wolves for a couple of games before calling him up just in time for a weeklong road trip to Colorado, Edmonton and Buffalo.

Salmela’s role is to use the final 16 games to continue adjusting to the NHL and to show the Thrashers how he can help them in the future.

“If I get to play some games, that’s good,” he said. “I’ll try to fit in somehow.”

He’ll get some help from goaltender and fellow Finn Kari Lehtonen. There are 41 Finnish players who have participated in an NHL game this season, but Salmela was the only one on the Devils’ roster and the only one who played for Lowell. That didn’t make for the easiest of transitions. Lehtonen can help.

“I need a translator sometimes,” Salmela said.

“He seemed to understand what I said, so that’s a start,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said.

Salmela and Lehtonen had only enough time to exchange a quick greeting before practice. Lehtonen is just a year older but made his transition to the United States at age 19.

“He can ask me stuff if he needs, and I can try to help him figure it out, make it a little easier,” Lehtonen said.

Salmela has to make an on-ice transition, too.

Parts of his game should fit in smoothly with the Thrashers. He likes to carry the puck, and Anderson wants his defensemen to do that. He likes to contribute offensively (16 goals in 56 games last season for the Finnish team Tappara), and the Thrashers want that, too.

But NHL hockey is a different game than the one he played in Finland.

“It’s faster, and of course it’s a little bit harder,” Salmela said. “More skillful players, of course.”

Salmela has a few Thrashers connections. He played two seasons for Pelicans, a team partially owned by former Thrashers goalie Pasi Nurminen. (“A really good guy, a little bit crazy. He coached me two years,” Salmela said.) Also, Thrashers draftees Niclas Lucenius and Jonas Enlund played on the same Finnish team with Salmela last season.

But none of those connections makes getting settled into a new city and a new team any easier. Monday was all about getting Salmela the things he needed: A ride to the airport from Colin Stuart; a uniform number, 25; a road-trip roommate, Bryan Little.

The practice lasted just over half an hour.

“It looks like he can skate well and he passes the puck hard,” Anderson said. “He was a little nervous out there. I think it’s a bit of a culture shock for him. We’ll see what happens.”

Salmela’s first impressions?

“Nice atmosphere,” he said. “It’s really easy to fit in. I’m looking forward to it.”