{"id":454135,"date":"2026-02-11T06:36:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T06:36:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/454135\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T06:36:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T06:36:28","slug":"maybe-senators-nikolas-matinpalo-will-finally-find-some-ice-time-with-team-finland-at-winter-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/454135\/","title":{"rendered":"Maybe Senators’ Nikolas Matinpalo will finally find some ice time with Team Finland at Winter Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nikolas Matinpalo was wearing a suit when the Ottawa Senators honoured their players chosen<\/a> to compete at the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.<\/p>\n

Ahead of hosting the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 31, Lars Eller (Denmark), Tim Stutzle (Germany), Jake Sanderson (U.S.A.)<\/a> and Brady Tkachuk (U.S.A.)<\/a> each skated out to the neutral zone and stood next to a minor hockey player holding their respective country\u2019s flag.<\/p>\n

When it was time to announce Team Finland\u2019s representative, the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast faded into a shot near centre ice of a young kid holding a large Finnish flag, standing alone.<\/p>\n

Matinpalo was on the far left side of the Sens\u2019 bench, giving a half-hearted wave to the crowd.<\/p>\n

It was his 14th time being a healthy scratch in January. And he would watch from the press box for the remainder of Ottawa\u2019s games leading up to the Olympic break.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard. Of course, you want to play every game,\u201d Matinpalo told the Ottawa Citizen in late January. \u201cWhen you don\u2019t play a lot, you don\u2019t really practise together. It\u2019s hard. But at the same time, you just try to get better every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get the chance, you need to play very good if you want to stay in the lineup. It is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The chemistry between Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence on the third pairing, coupled with coach Travis Green\u2019s commitment to keeping Nick Jensen on the second duo with Thomas Chabot, has almost entirely relegated Matinpalo to spectator status.<\/p>\n

He has played two NHL games so far in 2026; he was plus-1 in 19:40 of ice time in an 8-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 8, and he played 15:26 in a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 24.<\/p>\n

\u201cI check every morning when I wake up, how our players play, who\u2019s on the team and, of course, who\u2019s not, too,\u201d Team Finland general manager Jere Lehtinen said in a phone interview. \u201cOf course, you want to see (Matinpalo play), and I think he\u2019ll get the chance to play again too.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Nikolas Matinpalo, right, was part of Finland\u2019s team at the 4 Nations Face-Off last year. He called it \u2018a very good experience\u2019 in preparation for the 2026 Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if they\u2019re rotating, tough to say for him. But he\u2019s an athlete; he takes care of himself. And you know, he\u2019s practising when he\u2019s not playing, so I\u2019m not worried about that. But on the bright side, I think he\u2019s going to get ice time again pretty soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite being in and out of the Sens\u2019 lineup leading up to the deadline for nations to name their Olympic squads, Matinpalo notably beat out New York Rangers defenceman Urho Vaakanainen for one of the final spots on Finland\u2019s blueline.<\/p>\n

And looking forward to Wednesday\u2019s tournament-opening game versus Slovakia, there\u2019s a good chance Matinpalo will dress.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good-size player with a good attitude,\u201d Lehtinen said of Matinpalo. \u201cHe plays hard and defends hard. His shot is good and he\u2019s a really good team guy; he will play for the team. I think all of that is there, to be a good defensive defenceman.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2026 Olympics come one year after Matinpalo was a last-minute injury replacement for Team Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off.<\/p>\n

The Finns ultimately fell short then, winning just one round-robin game, but Matinpalo played all three games and built relationships with fellow players, coaches and other staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a big thing, absolutely,\u201d Matinpalo recalled, \u201cknowing the coaches, knowing how we want to play in the Olympics. Of course, the hockey there, it was a great week and very hard. That was a very good experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

From unknown to Olympian<\/p>\n

Years after being passed over at the NHL Draft in the late 2010s, Matinpalo was seemingly discovered simultaneously by the Senators and Finland\u2019s national men\u2019s hockey program.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis story is a little different than most players because he didn\u2019t play on the junior national teams,\u201d Lehtinen explained. \u201cHe played a lot of youth hockey, junior hockey, not on a top team like a challenger team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat year when we picked him for World Championships in 2023, I think nobody really expected him to be with the team. But when we got him in the pre-camps in the spring, those games kind of showed how good he is. He came from behind a lot of players and grabbed a spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

At age 24 in May 2023, in the midst of representing Finland at the World Championships, Matinpalo signed a one-year, entry-level contract with Ottawa.<\/p>\n

After playing a full season with the Senators\u2019 AHL affiliate in Belleville in 2023-24, he was a mainstay on the NHL blueline for the final half of 2024-25, including all six playoff games against the Toronto Maple Leafs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got to know him a little bit more,\u201d Lehtinen said, \u201chow his attitude was and everything, then you kind of knew, \u2018OK, he\u2019s going to go to the next level.\u2019 I\u2019m so happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lehtinen and Matinpalo are both from Espoo, Finland, just outside of Helsinki, where saunas are all the rage and the salmon soup is to die for. They didn\u2019t cross paths in Matinpalo\u2019s earlier years \u2014 after 875 games with the Dallas Stars, Lehtinen stuck around for several years in Texas before accepting the GM position back in Finland \u2014 but the two now live mere kilometres apart in their hometown and re-connect at the local rink in the summer.<\/p>\n

Following in his idol\u2019s footsteps<\/p>\n

Matinpalo\u2019s favourite player growing up was another compatriot blueliner, Teppo Numminen, the all-time leader in NHL games played by a Finnish defenceman (1,372).<\/p>\n

Numminen\u2019s games with the Buffalo Sabres were rare finds over in Finland \u2014 NHL games were broadcast once a month, and Matinpalo would record them and watch in the morning \u2014 but the famed playmaker committed to playing for Leijonat (The Lions) whenever he could.<\/p>\n

Numminen represented Finland in four Olympic Games, including Torino 2006, when a trip to the gold-medal game ended in a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to rival nation Sweden.<\/p>\n

Seven-year-old Matinpalo, who had been told by a coach that he looked like Numminen \u201cin the eyes,\u201d watched in dismay.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Matinpalo could avenge his childhood trauma, as Finland and Sweden will meet to potentially decide the winner of Group B.<\/p>\n

This past Boxing Day, the 6-foot-3 defenceman got a phone call from coach Antti Pennanen to tell him he\u2019d been selected to Finland\u2019s Olympic team.<\/p>\n

For a player who was relatively unknown at the time of the last Winter Olympics, Matinpalo says it was an \u201cawesome\u201d feeling to receive such an honour.<\/p>\n

To be frank, this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Matinpalo has the potential to have a long NHL career, but nothing is guaranteed at the highest level for 27-year-old depth defencemen.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, this trip to Italy is exceedingly more business than pleasure. As defending Olympic champions, winners of the gold medal in Beijing 2022, Team Finland is singularly focused on standing atop the podium.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning. We want to win the whole tournament,\u201d Matinpalo said. \u201cAnd I think we have a good team. We have a possibility to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

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