Over the past couple weeks, we’ve heard a lot of summer updates from some Oilers that are back in Edmonton like Cam Talbot, and Kris Russell. It’s been quiet for our hockey friends that live overseas like Jesse Puljujarvi. We haven’t heard much about how his offseason is going and what is training has been like. UNTIL NOW. 

Finnish writer, Jouko Vuorjoki, Kempele, sat down with our boy Pool Party this week and spoke about how his off-season is going so far, and what Jesse’s outlook onto next season looks like. You can read the full article here. Let me warn you though, the article is completely in Finnish and my Google translator extension wasn’t working properly. I’m pretty sure I figured the jist of the article out, but I had one hell of a time doing it.

It sounds like PoolParty’s having a great summer so far. He’s been skating with guys like  Pekka Rinne, Mikka Salomaki, Sebastian Aho, and Markus Nutiaara. In fact, they all participated in a very popular charity game at the end of July that seemed to be a great success. I can only imagine after a long, hard NHL season across the world from your home, how great it must feel to be back amongst your friends and family. I hope he’s soaking it all in and really enjoying his home-time.

Jesse says he trains five days a week and then travels to Torino to visit his mother on weekends. Jesse’s mother, Tuula, is an ex-Olympic skier and a great cook in the kitchen says, Jesse. As his cooking skills are lacking, Jesse loves going home for some home cooked meals.

When asked about his game, Jesse Puljujarvi spoke with nothing but confidence.

Jesse has his eyes set on the top line, and isn’t even thinking about the possibility of the AHL. This is a great state of mind for our boy and it’s exactly what we want to see from our top prospects. Puljujarvi also spoke about his ice time. If he plays strong and with lots of energy, he’d like to see his time on ice increase to 20 minutes. What’s not to love about this kids motivation?

It sounds like Jesse’s been pretty busy this offseason. When he’s not spending time with family and friends, he’s in the gym or on the ice training. In fact, he’s been SO busy that Jesse admits he hasn’t been practicing his English as much as he’d like to be.

Whether his English speaking skills improve or declines, I will never get tired of PoolParty interviews, and I love having such an entertaining man on this team. Here’s hoping all of Jesse’s confidence and training pays off this summer. There’s nothing I’d love more to see him succeed on the top line of the Edmonton Oilers alongside Connor McDavid.