We caught up with Phantoms forward, Janne Laakkonen, to get his thoughts on the season so far and look ahead to the playoff campaign.
Janne recently set the record for assists in an NIHL National season and currently sits on a mightily impressive 92 assists. Laakkonen was pleased to reach the record, but was also keen to heap praise on his line mates.
“Yeah, it was nice, of course. I guess it tells that I have managed to do a good job but also that I get to play with really good players who really know how to score goals!” Janne said.
When asked if the league assist record was something he considered at the start of the season, he said: “No it wasn't, I heard about it from Cam when it started getting closer and then I started to think about it a bit - I thought that it would be cool to get it!”
Janne has scored some big goals recently, including a hat-trick in an 8-3 win against the Milton Keynes Lightning. He’s now three points shy of 200 for the Wendy’s Peterborough Phantoms. He’s been pleased with his contribution this season, but still has his eyes on the prizes which remain this season.
“Overall, I'm happy that I have managed to help the team with my own contribution quite well this season. Our line has been going great all season so I have enjoyed playing a lot and there are already more goals myself than last season so that's also a nice bonus.”
“We just need to continue what we have been doing so far and improve on some things that will be highlighted in the playoffs. Hopefully we can get more players healthy before the playoffs so we can get there with a full lineup.” Janne said.
Phantoms featured at the NIHL National Final Four Weekend in Coventry once again last year and made the Grand Finale, where they fell at the final hurdle. Last seasons’ ending has given Janne and the team even more determination to go all the way this time around.
“Yes absolutely [last year’s end does give the team more determination], Coventry was a great experience last year but it didn't end well so we are now really hungry to finish the job this time.” Janne said.
The fans have played an important role in a good season for the Wendy’s Peterborough Phantoms, with records being broken off the ice as well as on it. This weekend [21/22 March], will be the eighth consecutive game the attendance has passed 950 and sixth consecutive game it’s passed 1000 - numbers which haven’t been achieved at the club before.
“The support has been great all season, it feels like we have an extra player on the ice at home games. Keep doing what you have done so far and give us faith even in difficult times, I believe we have a great end of season ahead of us!” Janne concluded.
Janne is proudly sponsored by SiFi Productions!