DENVER — A welcome back was in order for Chicago Blackhawks center Teuvo Teräväinen, who spent the last few weeks in Milan skating for Team Finland at the Winter Olympics. He didn’t leave empty-handed, as the Finnish cruised past Slovakia 6-1 in the bronze-medal game, their seventh medal in the last nine Games.
After a hectic collection of days, it was time to relax and fly back to the States. Unfortunately, that didn’t go as smoothly as the 31-year-old would’ve liked.
“I (was) stuck in New York, it didn’t really go our way those last couple of flights,” Teräväinen said.
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The bronze medal is on the top of the list of his home-country accolades thus far. He wore the captain’s patch for the gold-medal team in the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship and played for Finland in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and the 2018 World Championship.
He didn’t get much action in the 4 Nations Face-Off last February, skating for minimal ice time before being a healthy scratch in a loss to Canada. He played in Milan, but Nathan Mackinnon’s power-play goal helped Canada rally to edge Finland 3-2 in a semifinal.
The center wasn’t the main focus in Milan, but the overall Olympic atmosphere elevated his experience overseas. The bronze is just the cherry on top.
“It’s such an awesome experience, just to hang out with all the fans and play for your country,” said Teräväinen, a 13th-year NHL veteran. “Every time you step on the ice, you put everything out there and this time, we got at least something back home.”
It wasn’t the spacious hotels that the Hawks usually get when traveling for road games. The Finnish players stayed in the Olympic Village with small rooms and roommates, where Teräväinen’s space may have been cramped by his roommate, 6-foot-3, 217-pound Dallas Stars defenseman Esa Lindell.
Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena also was being built until the last minute for the Olympics. The center noticed the flaws.
“The ice was not that good, (it was) soft ice, and that building was really hard to play,” Teräväinen said. “(But) it was cool, for sure, everything was good.”
He got some support from his Hawks teammates on top of Finland natives. Nick Foligno had his eyes glued to the screens when Finland competed.
“It was awesome to see, and I’m proud, he looked really good,” Foligno said. “It was fun to watch and cheer him on and (Hawks assistant coach Anders Sörensen) with Sweden as well.”
Now, it’s back to business. The bronze medal will be on display at an undisclosed location.
“It’s somewhere, not here,” Teräväinen said with a smile