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Olli Määttä brings sisu to Utah Hockey Club
The Finnish concept of sisu is difficult to translate into English. It encompasses stoic determination, sustained courage, tenacity, resilience and more.
If you need help understanding it, look no further than newly acquired Utah Hockey Club defenseman Olli Määttä. He is the embodiment of the term.
When Määttä first arrived in North America in 2011 to play for the OHL’s London Knights as a 17-year-old, Knights vice president and GM Mark Hunter had to tap the brakes on a recurring habit.
“If he had a bad game, he’d get on the [stationary] bike afterwards and just pound the bike,” Hunter said. “A lot of times, we still had to play on Saturday and Sunday so I’d go, ‘Olli, I know you didn’t play as well as you’d like, but we need you to play two more games and you’re not going to have your legs if you’re pounding that bike for an hour after the game.'”
When Määttä was diagnosed with thyroid cancer that required surgery to remove a tumor at the start of the 2014-15 season, he was back in the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup two weeks later — way ahead of schedule. And despite two surgeries on the same shoulder and a scary core injury that probably impacted his development and potential, he never blinked.
“I’ve always had this mindset of just accepting that things are going to happen to you, but if you just work hard and do your best daily, things will end up working out for you,” he said.
“With the cancer, it was such an early stage that I consider myself lucky. We do the physical at the beginning of every year and they found it right away so when people say I went through cancer, I don’t really think of it that way. I feel bad even bringing it up because I don’t think my experience with it was anything even close to what other people go through.”
Määttä has never viewed himself as a role model or teacher of any kind, even if his coaches always do. He admits, however, that his outlook was shaped by his father (Jari), a construction manager, and his mother (Tiina), a longtime kindergarten teacher who is now a principal.
“In the city I’m from [Jyväskylä, Finland], about a third or half of the kids I knew were taught by my mom,” he said, laughing. “They always tell me how much they loved her as a teacher. I still get that when I go home.”
Utah general manager Bill Armstrong knew he had to make a move to shore up a blue line that will be without Sean Durzi and John Marino for the majority of the season due to injuries. While there was hope that the franchise’s AHL prospects could provide short-term help, Armstrong, Tucson GM John Ferguson Jr. and director of player development Lee Stempniak are in lockstep when it comes to the idea of rushing their prospects to the NHL.
None of them believe in it; all of them would prefer to over-bake prospects such as Maveric Lamoureux, Maksymilian Szuber and Artem Duda in Tucson.
Reports surfaced last month that Armstrong was chasing defenseman Ivan Provorov, but Armstrong laughed when asked about it.
“We asked about every D-man in the league,” he said, adding that the team has no interest in Provorov. “Just over the course of games since all the injuries, you’re always looking at other sources to better your team. I think with what we acquired with Olli — he’s a two-time Stanley Cup winner.
“He gives a lot of stability to the defense and that’s what we need. One of the big things that we’re trying to do is cut our goals against down. He’s going to help that.”
What Määttä will bring to the Utah lineup is different from what he brought to the Penguins lineup early in his career when Pittsburgh won back-to-back Cups. Time and injuries have impacted foot speed that was never great, but Määttä has adapted his game to help compensate for that deficiency.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Määttä’s greatest strengths are his hockey IQ, his ability to defend in confined space — his net-front and corner battles — and his ability to make an outlet pass.
Former Penguins assistant and current Canucks coach Rick Tocchet echoed the hockey IQ sentiment while praising Määttä’s positioning and passing.
What everyone agrees upon — whether it’s Sullivan, Toccchet, Hunter, Määttä’s agent, JP Barry, a slew of beat writers who covered him in Pittsburgh, Chicago and Detroit, or Red Wings teammate Christian Fischer — is Määttä’s value to a team culture.
“Really awesome dude; easily one of the best pros I’ve ever played with,” Fischer said. “He works his ass off in everything he does. He’s gonna be really good for Utah.”
Määttä may have had loftier visions for his career when he remained with the Penguins at age 19 instead of returning to London where Hunter was poised to name him team captain.
But in each of his five NHL stops, he has embraced the moment and left something behind for teammates, coaches and friends to remember him. When he left his billet family in London, he donated his car to the family’s children. When he left Pittsburgh, Chicago, Los Angeles and Detroit, he left smiles on scores of faces and respect in most hearts.
And when he arrived in Utah in the last year of his contract, knowing that he was likely a fill-in, depth player who was auditioning for his future, Määttä took one day to assess the situation before deciding he liked it.
“Finding a place to live and knowing what’s going on in this city is different because nobody’s been here,” he said. “They’re all new to this city so it’s a little different than going to a city that’s been around for NHL teams where you kind of know where to go, the restaurants, and the lay of the land because your buddies have been here.
“I didn’t know what to expect but honestly, this place is awesome and this organization is really good. Right away coming to the rink, everybody welcomed me and you can see the energy all over the place. You can see they’ve got a good thing going here.”
Ask anybody who knows him and they will promise you that Määttä will only add to that energy and vibe.
“He gets punched but he just gets right back up and doesn’t let anything bother him,” Barry said. “This kid really is sisu. Nothing’s gonna take him down.”
Top photo of Olli Määtä via Getty Images
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