London Knights returnee Kasper Halttunen looks to heat up fast (literally)

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When you’re trying to make an NHL team, you need singular focus.

Kasper Halttunen admirably had his sights set on staying in sunny San Jose this season. So when the Sharks organization returned him to the Knights last weekend for a second shot at the Memorial Cup, he discovered his wardrobe was incomplete.

“I didn’t pack any winter clothes with me there,” the 19-year-old Finnish winger said. “I’m kind of struggling right now. I guess I have some shopping to do (in London). It’s warm all year round (in California) and you can play golf all year.

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“It was fun.”

After almost no time to adjust to a cross-continent flight, Halttunen posted two assists in his OHL season debut in Guelph last Saturday. He registered nine shots on goal in the Knights’ 12th straight win, 3-1 in Kitchener Tuesday.

“I want to be an even bigger part of the team and get better with my all-around game,” the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder said. “Possibly playing (penalty kill) and all different situations and growing up more as a player and person. I want to go back to the (Sharks) camp next year even better.”

The Knights’ fall roster wasn’t considered to be complete until the Sharks made their ultimate decision on Halttunen. He scored two goals and four points in six games with the San Jose Barracuda of the American league before suffering an injury that forced him to miss a couple of weeks.

“I was a little unlucky with that,” he said. “I hit my head to the boards and had a little whiplash injury. I’m glad to be healthy again and am excited to come back here and play. I was happy and (the Knights) were happy to see me again.

“This is something I wanted to be part of and now, I’m really glad I’m here.”

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Halttunen ended last spring as the most dangerous scorer in junior hockey. His 17 playoff goals were the most by an import player in league history and he scored four times in four Memorial Cup games.

The Knights power play was productive without him. Now, it’s intimidating again and he has already slid into a first-line role.

“You have to be pretty fast to keep up with (Easton) Cowan and (Denver) Barkey,” he said. “Just try to get more speed and power with the skating and work hard to get to the pro level. I felt like I got a little faster and (am) doing a pretty good job of keeping up with those guys.”

He followed the team closely through his good friend Jesse Nurmi, a first-year Knights forward. The two Finns hope to do some damage at the world juniors next month in Ottawa.

“I was talking to him almost every day in San Jose and asking how he’s doing,” Halttunen said. “It’s great I can help him with those things that I struggled with at the beginning last year. It’s always good to have a friend and my national teammate here.”

It won’t help keep him warmer, but he still has the black T-shirt former Knights goaltender Owen Willmore gave him last year. It reads, ‘Halts Need One Tee’ as an inside joke about the big shooter’s passion for blasting one-timers.

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“Of course it’s still with me,” he said with a grin. “That’s one thing you never want to lose. It has some memories and it’s a fun thing.

AROUND THE RINK: London over-age goaltender Austin Elliott is 10-0 split between the Saskatoon Blades and the Knights and forming a trustworthy tandem with rookie Aleksei Medvedev. “All I’m thinking about is grinding and getting the win for the team,” the 20-year-old from Strathmore, Alta., said. “That’s my attitude. Winning is more important to me than the stats are.” . . . London has been using both goaltenders regularly and it should pay off in a three-in-three weekend. “They have shown they can give us what we need to win games,” London associate GM Rob Simpson said. “It’s good, healthy competition. They’re going back and forth and being able to do the job. When you get into weeks like this (with four games), it gives you options and you have a goalie somewhat fresh playing every time.” . . . It also helps the Knights gave up just three Grade A scoring chances to the Rangers Tuesday – and zero during 5-on-5 play. That’s incredible against a nationally ranked team . . . The London Nationals surrendered the most goals in a home loss in their long Junior B history in an 11-2 blowout by Chatham Wednesday. The Maroons scored six times in the second period . . . Now that Halttunen and Nurmi are London’s two imports, what happens to Russian forward Gleb Semenov? The 17-year-old has been moved to London’s special import list because he didn’t report by Nov. 1 due to visa issues. It’s a way for the Knights to retain his rights while using two other European players. You can still only use two imports per game. Semenov, who has a goal and two points in 11 games with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League, is still awaiting his Canadian visa.

rpyette@postmedia.com

KNIGHTSWATCH

Friday: vs. Owen Sound, 7 p.m. at Canada Life Place. London has two road overtime wins against the Attack.

Saturday: at Saginaw, 7:05 p.m. Memorial Cup rivals have each won in each other’s arenas.

Sunday: vs. Ottawa, 4 p.m. at CLP. 67’s have a league-worst 64.3 per cent penalty kill.

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