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| Petrus Palmu (OHL Images) |
Petrus Palmu rolls with that classic cliche of, "small in stature, big in heart."
The Owen Sound Attack are typically thought of as a larger, bruising team. With players in recent years such as Mike Halmo, Daniel Zweep, and Kurtis Gabriel, the Attack have showed notable physical presences in one of the smallest major junior markets in the country.
Now, with the arrival of the five-foot-four (maybe five-six), 170-pound Palmu, Owen Sound appears this season as a much different team. Despite having one of the taller goaltending trios around and their consistent physical play up front, the Attack are being sparked by one of the shortest forwards in the Canadian Hockey League.
Palmu arrived as Owen Sound's first-round pick in the 2014 CHL Import Draft. Wanting to play in the National Hockey League someday, Palmu has shown up as a small player in a small market and turned heads right from opening night.
From his very first regular season game in Owen Sound, Palmu has shown up to work.
Here's an early evaluation report of Palmu's game:
"Palmu is a very shifty skater, one who has a short, wide stride to go with his stocky frame...rapid puck handler...very quick hands...appears as more of a shooter than anything else...constantly wants the puck 5-on-5, but absolutely craves it on the powerplay...not shy about shielding away larger opponents - keeps his head down a bit too much while shielding...manages to be seemingly everywhere on the ice all at once - makes him very tough to track and keep up with...takes stickchecks in stride, acting like they never happened...wants to show that his size makes him tougher...agile skater, not necessarily a fast one...pounces on opponents on the defensive side...constantly moving his feet in the offensive and neutral zones - in the defensive zone his feet can have a tendency to stop moving - leads to needless stick infractions...takes a beating throughout the game from opponents regularly targeting him - as third periods go on Palmu looks more and more worn down - as he adapts to the OHL, this should become a resolved issue."Let's take a look at Palmu's first OHL goal against the Kitchener Rangers. We should see Palmu do this a few times over the course of the season.
That's Palmu in the red circle on a PP setup. He's high between the circles, reading to fire of a quick release if need be. It doesn't happen on this sequence, but it does immediately display Palmu's constant awareness in the offensive zone.
Next PP sequence. Palmu has just wheeled back through the neutral zone, prepared to accept an outlet. He moves through the neutral zone with speed, realizing Kitchener is sitting back and waiting.
Palmu enters the offensive zone with his head up, knowing that he now has two options: whip the puck towards goaltender Matthew Greenfield and hope for a rebound for Owen Sound's captain, Zack Nastasiuk; or Palmu could also set the puck on a platter for Kyle Platzer, who's wearing number 19 and is about to enter the zone.
Palmu chooses the first option, firing a shot on goal. The rebound extends off the right pad of Greenfield, all the way out to Platzer who fires a one-timer.
Palmu has now circled around the back of the Kitchener net. Following Platzer's shot, the puck has deflected over to the left of Greenfield. Both Kitchener skaters on the left side of the image (Greenfield's right) are set to exit the zone, unaware that all three Attack forwards have eyes on the puck near the crease.
Both Nastasiuk and Palmu see a massive gap remaining with just one Rangers defender in front of the goal.
With just one man defending and four now attacking, Kitchener has almost no chance of preventing a goal at this point. Platzer quickly recognizes Palmu is sitting with an open cage in front of him. Having seen the gap and skated himself into an open spot, Palmu easily buries Platzer's pass into the Kitchener goal.
Owen Sound goes on to score three more goals in the second period, winning their home opener by a score of 6-1.
Against Ottawa a few games later, Palmu continued to display high offensive awareness, regularly positioning himself in opportunity areas. Since Palmu isn't always going to be able to establish position physically, it's important that's he's able to forecast the play before it happens.
While his stature creates limitations in his game, out-thinking others on the ice will provide Palmu with an invaluable competitive edge moving forward.
