1-On-1: with Aku Raty

Roadrunners Forward Aku Raty joined Jonathon Schaffer and Kim Cota-Robles on this week’s Happy Hour Show. For the complete conversation and to hear about Aku’s point of view of Johnny’s sewer ball disaster, download this past week’s show below.

Listen to “Aku In Attendance” on Spreaker.

What does your game day routine look like?

I just came from the rink. Usually on these back to backs we have a full meeting, I tend to shoot some pucks and get warm up a little bit and then just go get lunch from the rink and go home. Take a little nap. I think that’s my routine usually.

What are your takeaways through the first half of your second AHL season? What are you most excited for in the second half of the season?

It’s a tough league. I had a really good year last year, but it hasn’t gone my way this year. I feel like I’m playing a lot of good games, but I feel like with the team too, we maybe haven’t gotten the result yet. I think the wins and points should be coming soon if the team and I are playing well. We know that we’re going to get a lot of wins and score a lot of goals.

Your brother is coming into town this weekend with Abbotsford. Are you excited to see him? Did you know that he was AHL player of the week this week?

I just heard about it at the rink. Our coach said it, but before that, I had no idea about it. I haven’t had time to congratulate him. He’s like one of my best friends, so obviously I’m excited to see him. I was just texting him about going golfing. He’s a little bit better golfer, but nevertheless he’s not able to play a lot. I have to set up a tee time to have a little match. We always have good matches, so I was just texting him about that. They’re coming tomorrow so I think we’re going to have a Finnish dinner in an American restaurant with me, (Miko) Matika and him, so I think it’s going to be cool.

What’s your relationship with Mikko like?

Really good. I had never talked with him before he got here. He’s a couple years younger than me, but we clicked up pretty much right away. He’s a really cool dude, a little different than me, but at the same time our humor and how we talk is pretty similar. We have a lot of fun together and he’s been good to have on the team.

What have you seen from Mikko’s game so far? Do you like what you see?

This is not easy. He’s still a young kid; a first-year pro. With me, I played four years professionally back home and the game is always so different when you jump from college or if you come from juniors to the pro level. It took him a little bit of time. After that injury, he’s been playing well and before that too, he had a couple really good games and then got injured. We’ve been talking; it doesn’t get easier for both of us, but it’s a good thing that we have fun together. I feel like outside of the rink, it’s super fun all the time. We’ve also been talking asking each other what do you have to do be to be able to score points or be effective in this league? I think I have been able to help him a little bit.

How have you been helping Mikko adjust to this league and kind of find his footing on the team?

The stuff that we’ve been talking about with him is just like just defining a role, like doing something extra because he’s used to scoring points. He’s used to be a skill guy, but all of a sudden you come to this league, you’re playing against grown men. Guys are faster, stronger, more skilled than in college or in the Finnish Junior League. You just have to find a role and bring something to the table for the team, which I have to do, I’m playing different here versus when I was playing in Finland where I was the guy on my hometown team. That’s how it usually goes in Pro hockey.