It's not just the Canadians who are rebuilding. There are also individual construction sites. Joel Armia is part of this group.

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At 30 years old, Armia is not a young player. But he remains in search of the same quality, the famous consistency.

To quote a quote from Dominique Ducharme's past: You never know what card you're going to end up on with the Finn. Is it a six of clubs, a ten of hearts or a jack of spades?

When asked about the unpredictability of Armia, Martin St-Louis spoke of progress in this important aspect.

“Historically speaking, yes [c’était un enjeu], he answered. Recently, no.”

Armia played two strong games when the Edmonton Oilers and the Colorado Avalanche visited. He posted personal bests both times this season with seasons of 17:58 against the Oilers and 19:49 against the Avalanche.

“He’s having more fun,” St-Louis said. It has been under reconstruction since the beginning of the year. It's difficult to rebuild yourself properly when you're not in good mental shape. He’s working on that.”

“The fun starts with the player,” explained the head coach. He is in an environment where we are careful to maintain pleasure. We work, but we remain serious. You can still have fun. I know that there is pressure and the desire to be successful individually, which can sometimes wear you down mentally. Your mind must remain stronger than your feelings.”

Work above all

There is joy, but also attitude. At the end of the last camp, Armia hit a wall. Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton granted him waivers on October 8th. With an average salary of 3.4 million this season and the following, Armia had no chance of being claimed by any of the other 31 teams in the NHL.

The Finn opened the season in the colors of the Laval Rocket in the American Hockey League. It was a huge blow to pride and pride.

Armia did not shy away from his two stays in Laval this season. He regained his confidence with nine points (6 goals, 3 assists) in just eight games.

“I wanted to work hard every day,” Armia said. I also wanted to get rid of negative thoughts, I didn’t want to be disturbed.”

feel well

The sample remains thin, but number 40 has been keeping himself afloat with good hockey for a few games. However, he doesn't become a talker when it comes to describing his recent transformation.

“I feel good. I'm having fun on the ice. That's all I can say. It's not up to me to decide whether I'll be sent back to the American League. I feel like I'm playing well and having fun now “That's the most important thing.”

“I also take a lot of pride in playing outnumbered. I find it very pleasant.”

In 27 games this season with CH, Armia has scored seven goals but is still looking for a first assist. With seven goals, he shares fourth place among the team's top scorers with Alex Newhook, Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher.