BOSTON<\/b> — When Boston University coach David Quinn looked at his roster last offseason and saw a gaping hole on the left wing, he knew the solution was to move offensive defenseman Ahti Oksanen up front.<\/p>\n
“After coaching Ahti for a year, I thought all his strengths were going to be highlighted up front,” Quinn said. “The way he sees the ice, his shot, his hockey sense, his strength around the puck. I don’t know if anyone has got a stronger set of hands or a stronger stick in college hockey.”<\/p>\n
His idea went over like the proverbial lead balloon with its subject.<\/p>\n
“He didn’t react with a huge smile,” Quinn said. “I had to do some convincing and some arm twisting. I told him, ‘We’re not going to put you on the third or fourth line. We think you’re going to be one of the top six forwards.”<\/p>\n
Oksanen still didn’t like the idea. He thought of himself as a defenseman. And when Quinn noted that Oksanen might get a chance to play with Jack Eichel, that selling point fell flat.<\/p>\n
“Who’s that?” Oksanen said. “Never heard of him.”<\/p>\n
Hockey players being nothing if not stubborn, Oksanen headed back to Finland, practiced on defense all summer, then told Quinn that was still the position he wanted to play.<\/p>\n
“Ahti, you’re never going to play another second of defense at BU,” Quinn told him.<\/p>\n
Reluctantly, Oksanen made the move up front.<\/p>\n
Just 20 minutes into his collegiate career as a forward, he’d scored four goals. On a line with Eichel.<\/p>\n
“Jack gave me four nice apples,” Oksanen said.<\/p>\n
Oksanen didn’t stay on Eichel’s line, at least not at even strength, but his production continued.<\/p>\n
“It was a huge change for me,” Oksanen said. “But now I feel great playing forward. I guess I have to say, ‘Thank you, coach.'”<\/p>\n
He stands at 24 goals and counting, a total that has him tied for fifth in the country with a guy named … Jack Eichel.<\/p>\n
Does Oksanen know now who Jack Eichel is?<\/p>\n
“Yeah,” Oksanen said. “I know.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Boston University coach David Quinn looked at his roster last offseason and saw a gaping hole on the left wing, he knew the solution was to move offensive defenseman Ahti Oksanen up front.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1426],"tags":[743],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n