Ville Leino's First NHL Goal

Last season, while everyone was getting jacked up over the possibility of signing Fabian Brunnstrom, James Mirtle had an interesting conversation Finnish hockey writer Risto Parkinnen over another guy who he thought had a bigger upside:

What I really wanted was a sense of what those who had seen Brunnstrom play thought of him, and where they pegged him as a potential NHL player.

Pakarinen was relatively muted in his praise of the young Swede, but he was keen on another player. Good Finn that he is, Pakarinen wanted to let me know about a countryman named Ville Leino.

"Brunnstrom is not the hottest player around here," he said. "This guy is."

Brunnstrom, as we all know now, went to Dallas. Meanwhile, the unheralded Leino was quietly singed by Detroit. And just a couple of hours ago here in Washington, we got to see up close just how good Leino really is when he scored his first NHL goal against the Captials.

Though the 1-0 lead he gave the Red Wings wouldn't hold up -- the Caps scored a goal to tie the game just 10 seconds later in what would turn into a 4-2 Washington win -- there's little doubt this gem will be on television screens all over Europe and North America in just a few hours.

As if the Red Wings needed another slick-skating stick-handling European on their roster.