I was thinking for awhile there wouldn’t quite be a need for a “Scouting the Enemy” today considering (A) we scouted the Rockford IceHogs on Tuesday (B) had the game recap later that night from the Admirals 3-1 and (C) also had post-game interviews to gear you all up for the conclusion of Admirals/IceHogs in the 2013-14 season tonight.

Then, late yesterday afternoon, the Chicago Blackhawks decided to spice up tonight’s game by officially reassigning Teuvo Teravainen to the Rockford IceHogs.

Teravainen was the Blackhawks first round, eighteenth overall, selection in the 2012 NHL Draft. He is a product of Jokerit Helsinki of the SM-Liiga in Finland where he played for three seasons, played 133 games, scored 93 points (33 goals, 60 assists), had a total of 24 penalty minutes, and an overal plus/minus rating of -5.

The 19-year old Finn was captained his country in the 2014 World Juniors held in Sweden. He produced 15 points (2 goals, 13 assists) – edging out Filip Forsberg‘s 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) for the tournament’s top scorer. He would then meet Mr. Forsberg in the Gold Medal game where he would score an assist on all three Team Finland goals en route to their defeat of the host nation Sweden, 3-2 in overtime.

In his 2013-14 season with Jokerit he played forty-nine games, scored 44 points (9 goals, 35 assists), had 12 penalty minutes, and a plus/minus of -2. When his season in Finland ended with a playoff loss – he made his NHL debut for the Blackhawks on 3/25/14 in against against the Dallas Stars. He played two more games for the Blackhawks, actually logging some decent ice time in each game following his debut, but has since been on the out looking in prior to his reassignment yesterday.

While he doesn’t have many other offensive outlets with the IceHogs forward group – Alex Broadhurst, Mark McNeill, Garret Ross, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard – what makes a player like Teravainen so special is that he raises the playing level of those around him. I see a fair bit of similarities between him and Calle Jarnkrok in that regard: speed, vision, stickhandling, and creativity.

There will be a massive spotlight on the young Finn for the IceHogs tonight. This can be the sort of jolt that a team like Rockford needs in their desperate hopes to salvage the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They would need lots of things to go their way for that to happen – but it could all start with Teuvo Time tonight.

What should we expect from tonight’s game? Does Teuvo Teravainen add the same spark for the IceHogs as Calle Jarnkrok did for the Admirals?