Who The Hell Are Carl Gunnarsson and Leo Komarov?
May 4th, 2009 by Steve
Gunnarsson is a Swedish stay at home Defenseman that the Leafs selected with the 194th pick, in the 7th round of the 2007 NHL entry draft, and he is currently patrolling the blue line for the Swedish entry at the IIHF World Championships in Switzerland. He and Anton Stralman are playing at virtually opposite ends of the Defensive spectrum for the Tre Kronor, but both play an important role with the team.
Gunnarsson saw more minutes for Sweden in last night’s 6-3 drubbing of France than Johnny Oduya, Anton Stralman, Johan Akerman, Dick Tarnstrom, and team Captain Kenny Jonsson. The only blue liner to play more minutes was Magnus Johansson. So far for the tournament, Gunnarsson has played in 3 games for the Swedes, and has the worst +/- rating on the team at -3. He is averaging 13 minutes per game, but he finally registered his first goal of the tournament, and it turned out to be a game winner.
He regularly suits up for Linkoping HC in the SEL, and this season he had 6 goals and 10 assists in 53 games. He is considered a very solid stay at home D man, who has some decent offensive instincts. He may or may not ever cross over to North America, but if he continues to develop well, he’s an asset the Leafs are likely keeping an eye on.
Leo Komarov is another name Leafs fans might have difficulty recalling from the memory banks, but the boys in blue drafted him 180th overall in the 6th round of the 2006 NHL entry draft. He idolizes Jarkko Ruutu, and is a fireplug built in the same mold. He was originally born in Estonia but grew up in Finland, and is currently representing them at the World Championships.
He registered an assist in Finland’s 4-3 defeat of Canada earlier today, and is most noted for playing aggressive grind it out hockey of a nature Finnish players are becoming quite good at.
His intensity level, and the fact that the Leafs own his rights might indicate there is some interest from management in his game. His club team, Pelicans, have had some difficulty re-signing him to a contract extension, and there are rumours he is looking at playing in the KHL, though the team has also indicated he’s thinking of heading to North America. If Burke and Wilson are paying close attention, which I am sure they are, they’ll be keeping close watch on Komarov.
He has only played in 3 games at the tournament but he does bring a fairly decent energy level. I don’t speak Finnish, but based on everything I read about him in the translated Finnish press, he’s a fan favourite who plays a “feisty” game, and talks a lot of trash - he’s sort of like the Finnish Sean Avery. The Leafs could use more of that at this point… but he isn’t very big and he has a tendency to just get under the opposition’s skin, right before they paste him into the ice.
We’ll see where things go for these two.
Posted in Player Analysis, Prospects
3 Responses to “Who The Hell Are Carl Gunnarsson and Leo Komarov?”
By eyebleaf
on May 4, 2009
Idolizes Jarkko Ruutu? That makes me wonder about his mental state. Nobody, NOBODY, should be idolizing Jarkko freakin’ Ruutu.
By TeamFinland
on May 6, 2009
Both Jarkko Ruutu and now Leo Komarov are important figures in the Finnish team at this point. Now look what they did to Jaromir Jagr against the Czech rep, and Spezza and St. Louis for that matter! They show no respect whatsoever towards star players, and do whatever they can to get into their heads and mess up their game. Any team could use an energy boost of his level.
By Hepp
on May 11, 2009
don’t touch my Calle you fuckers!!!