Olli Jokinen will make his Toronto Maple Leafs debut Tuesday night.
His enchanting hairdo will not.
The Finnish flow, the newest Leaf explains, was chopped off Friday, two days before the impending free agent was bundled with a first-round draft pick and prospect Brendan Leipsic and jettisoned to Toronto in exchange for rentals Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli.
With new-old Predators Franson and Santorelli straightening out their immigration issues, Jokinen draws into the Maple Leafs lineup versus the Florida Panthers, one of his eight former teams. Only now the veteran will find trade rumours trailing in the breeze behind him where 14 inches of silken gold once did.
Jokinen had the notion to begin growing out his Fabioesque mullet last season in Winnipeg but kept his reasons quiet. The Predators say they had nothing to do with the donation.
Gotta See It: Olli Jokinen’s once-majestic flow in slow motion
“It was my idea. I didn’t want to make a big deal about it. I basically decided to let it grow and get that 12 inches,” Jokinen told me after a solo warm-up skate Tuesday at Air Canada Centre. “When you donate your hair, you have to have 12 inches. I was able to grow 14 inches in 13 months. That’s the longest it’s been. It got pretty annoying, to be honest, but it was for a good cause.”
The 36-year-old father of three girls had a date circled on his calendar, Feb. 13, when he would chop his mane and donate it to Pantene in Tennessee, which weaves real-hair wigs for children losing their own hair to chemotherapy.
“There’s a lot of charities that do that, so I went into a local haircut place [in Nashville] and they set up everything and took pictures,” he explained. “They make wigs, so it went to a good place.”
Despite his dissatisfaction with his deployment in Nashville – a career-long centre, Jokinen found himself on the wing of a Predators checking line – Jokinen’s move to Toronto, his ninth NHL club, could mean the continuation of a dubious distinction.
With 1,217 regular-season games to his name, Jokinen has but six post-season matches, making him the only player in league history to play at least 1,000 regular-season games and fewer than 20 playoff games. Think about that: 0.0049 percent of Jokinen’s games have been in the playoffs, and a lock for the post-season just traded him away.
Barring a flip, the streak will go on. (Leafs general manager Dave Nonis said Monday that a guy like Jokinen deserves to be moved to a contender.)
The Finn will return to his natural position, centre, for the first time this year and be flanked by David Clarkson and Leo Komarov, a national teammate of Jokinen’s in Sochi and at the world championships and the first Leaf to welcome him to the fold after captain Dion Phaneuf. The club placed Jokinen’s stall next to Komarov’s.
“They’ve played together before and had success,” coach Peter Horachek says. “[Jokinen] has got size. He likes to shoot the puck. That’s something I’m looking forward to—keeping that shot mentality. I think he’s going to provide some positive leadership up the middle.”
Jokinen’s agent, Ian Pulver, hopped on Hockey Central at Noon Tuesday and said the Predators had agreed that Jokinen would play the pivot when he signed with Nashville as a free agent last summer.
“I’m excited to play in the position I’ve been playing in the past,” Jokinen said. “I’m in a position that I have to show everyone I’ve still got game left. I’m in good shape. I believe I can still play at this level. I just gotta get out there and prove that.”
Defenceman Stephane Robidas sees plenty of value in the addition of Jokinen.
“He’s a big guy that can skate and move the puck well,” Robidas said. “He’s an all-around player that’s really responsible defensively. He’s the third pick overall by the L.A. Kings [in 1997]. Look at how many games he’s played in the league—over 1,200. He’s had a great career.”
The key to his longevity, Jokinen said, is three pronged: stay healthy, maintain your passion and find a good massage guy.
“The last seven years I’ve had a full-time massage therapist that only works for me,” Jokinen said. “He knows my body better than I do, and he’s been a huge help for me.”
One fan of the Finn worried on Twitter that Jokinen might end up like Samson, that the legend may have lost his puck powers along with those 14 inches of hockey hair. Don’t count on it.
“You have to have a passion inside of you to play this game. Once you don’t have that fire inside of you, you’re done,” Jokinen said. “I’m still planning to play next year. I don’t have a mindset that this is it.”