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Petteri Nokelainen MONTREAL - Petteri Nokelainen(notes) was a few minutes late joining his new teammates for the morning skate Monday, but he was given a pass because he had spent most of the previous 24 hours trying to get to Montreal.Nokelainen was in Anaheim preparing for the Phoenix Coyotes game against the Anaheim Ducks Sunday when he was told he had been traded to Montreal along with mino d3 football r-league defenceman Garrett Stafford(notes). Forward Brock Trotter(notes) and a seventh-round draft went the other way. I took the first plane 24 hours ago and there were a lot of planes, said the 25-year-old Finn. I didn t have my passport because you don t need it when you re travelling in the U.S. so I had to go back to Phoenix. Then, there was a storm in Chicago so we couldn t land there and d3 football we went to Indianapolis. We waited in the plane for three hours and then they flew us to Chicago. We got there at 3 a.m. and I had a six o clock flight here. I finally got some sleep on that flight. Nokelainen may have been tired, but he was happy with the reception he received. All the guys were coming to me and saying hi and it was really nice, he said. It s always a little bit of a surp d3 football rise (to be traded) especially so early in the season. But I m happy be here with the Montreal Canadiens. Nokelainen said he started following the Canadiens when he was growing up because his childhood hero was former Montreal captain Saku Koivu(notes). He texted me and told me what a great place it was to play, Nokelainen said. He was the guy I was looking up to and I was following the Montrea d3 football l Canadiens because of him. Koivu and Teemu Selanne(notes) were the best Finns and Saku was my favourite because he was a centre. He was so good to me when we both played in Anaheim. We all know in Finland what Montreal is about and it s definitely an honour to play here. Montreal is Nokelainen s fifth stop in the NHL since he was drafted in the first round by the Islanders in 2004. They haven t e d3 football xplained it to me, Nokelainen said when he was asked for an explanation why he has been traded so often. Nobody wants to be traded that much, but it s part of the business. Now I m here and I hope it s my home. Nokelainen, who lost a full year after he suffered a knee injury 12 games into his NHL career, said he was energized after returning to Finland and playing for Jokerit last season. It was d3 football good for me and my game, he said. I had a lot of injuries and didn t play that much and it was really good for me to be getting regular ice time and getting healthy. Head coach Jacques Martin said the 6-foot-3, 207-pound Nokelainen fit the profile of a fourth-liner more than Aaron Palushaj(notes) and Andreas Engqvist(notes), who were returned to Hamilton to make room for Nokelainen and Mike Blu d3 football nden(notes). Faceoffs, killing penalties, playing hard - that s what I do, Nokelainen said. Finish my checks. Do whatever it takes to help the team win. phickey@montrealgazette.com Play Fantasy Hockey, now with Pro Leagues! Updated Oct 24, 11:05 pm EDT d3 football
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