By Todd Kimberley, Grant Black
Calgary Herald
 
January 25, 2002 - Ville Nieminen (10) has five goals in his past 11 games.

From a bundle of joy to a bundle of points.

That's been the dizzying chain of events for sophomore Colorado Avalanche winger Ville Nieminen, who became a first-time father Dec. 28 when his girlfriend Kaisa gave birth to son Viljami at a Denver hospital. And ever since, the 24-year-old Finn has been on a scoring tear, helping the defending Stanley Cup champions assume their usual perch atop the National Hockey League's Northwest Division.

"That's the one reason. I waited for that moment for such a long time," said the six-foot, 200-pound Nieminen, who'll skate for Finland at the 2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City next month. "I knew it would carry over into the rink and the games."

After registering only one goal and four assists in his first 26 games this season as a distracted expectant father, Nieminen has suddenly come alive with five goals -- including a pair of game-winners -- and three helpers in his last 11 starts.

Nieminen, playing on a line with Chris Drury and NHL rookie Radim Vrbata on Thursday night, spent 14 minutes on the ice in a 2-0 Colorado victory over the Calgary Flames at the Pengrowth Saddledome, but failed to record a shot on net for only the second time in eight games and saw a modest two-game point streak halted.

Viljami hasn't afforded his parents too many restful nights yet, but his tired papa said that's the least of his concerns.
"He's not sleeping through the night, but I'm just so excited and happy" about fatherhood, said Nieminen. "I kept telling myself that after Christmas, everything would turn around. A new year, new goals. I worked very hard to get myself into shape, and now it's the time for a payoff."

Flames defenceman Toni Lydman, who played alongside Nieminen during the 1996-97 season with Tappara Tampere of Finland's elite SM-Liiga, is pleased  to see his old teammate doing so well -- with a Stanley Cup ring, no less. 
"People in Finland forgot he could play," said Lydman of Nieminen, who spent three full seasons with Colorado's affiliate in the American Hockey League, the Hershey Bears. "People back home tend to lose track of guys playing in the minors. "Even for the more familiar players in the Finnish league, if you come here and don't make (the NHL) in your first season, people think you're playing bad," added Lydman. "Somehow it seems people think whatever skills or whatever upside you had, you must have lost it."So people finally saw that he's a good player when he made the big team and they won the Stanley Cup last year (Nieminen notched 22 points in 50 games during 2000-01, and 10 more in 23 playoff matches). All of a sudden, things turned upside down for him. That's a good thing."

As for his comfort level in a talent-stacked Avs locker room, Lydman doesn't buy the theory that it took time for Nieminen to fit in.
"He has a big mouth," grinned Lydman. "He's a funny guy. He's a fun personality. There were pretty big names on the (Tampere) team he went to from junior in Finland, good experienced players, and he didn't seem to have any problems there."

Said Nieminen: "Last year, had we not won the Cup, I still would have been able to tell everyone that at least I played with six Hall of Famers."