INSIDE HOCKEY

Sami Lepisto has been enjoying his first full season playing North American hockey with the Hershey Bears and Washington Capitals. Lepisto has been one of Hershey’s top defensemen all season long and even earned recalls to the Washington Capitals.

The Espoo, Finland native was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the third round, 66th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Being drafted by an NHL team was a huge thing for Lepisto.

“Oh, it was huge,” Lepisto said. “We went to the draft with my family.”

After being drafted, Lepisto remained in Finland for three more years playing for the Jokerit Helsinki of the SM-Liiga league. He played a total of four seasons with Jokerit and produced 19 goals, 52 assists, and 71 points in 190 career games.

Lepisto arrived in North America for the start of the 2007 season. After attending training camp with the Washington Capitals, Lepisto was assigned to the Hershey Bears to begin the season.

The way hockey is played in North America is different from the European version Lepisto was accustom to in Finland.

“It’s much faster,” he said. “It seems like some games guys are just hitting everything and more hitting more physical.

Lepisto played in Hershey’s regular season opener on October 3, but an injury forced him to miss 11 games before returning on November 17 against Bridgeport. Lepisto finally recorded his first professional point on November 18 against the Albany River Rats assisting on a Joe Motzko power play goal. He added to his point total three days later with another assist.

His first professional goal came well into his rookie season when he finally got the monkey off the back on January 12 against Lake Erie. His goal was the game-winner is a 6-4 Hershey victory. By this time, Lepisto had already asserted himself as a top defenseman in the league.

At the start of the season, Lepisto was paired with veteran Josef Boumedienne on the blue line and the two have been magic for Hershey’s defense. Being paired with Lepisto has given Boumedienne his best offensive season of his career. Boumedienne has been a major help for the rookie.

“He’s a great player and we find each other pretty good on the ice” Lepisto said.

Both Lepisto and Boumedienne have enjoyed great success this season, and in fact, they have both put on impressive streaks. Lepisto had a nine point scoring streak and had points in 12 of 13 games. Boumedienne, on the other hand, had a longer streak that reached 16 games and went on to record points in 20 of 22 games. The interesting fact about the streaks is that they happened at the same time.

The Washington Capitals rewarded Lepisto for his strong season with his first professional recall on February 12, but he was reassigned to Hershey on the same day. On February 15, Lepisto was recalled once again and stuck around a little longer this time. He took warm-ups on February 15 in Florida, but was a healthy scratch. He made his NHL debut on February 16 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"It's a little boy's dream and it's about to come true," said Lepisto. "I'm excited, but I'm not too nervous. I'm kind of relaxed about the whole thing."

After spending the next month up and down between the NHL and AHL, Lepisto recorded his first NHL point collecting an assist on March 14 on a Brooks Laich goal.

“I almost scored on that goalie (Kari Lehtonen),” he said. “He’s a very good friend of mine, so it was a fun time.”

Lepisto finished off the season in Hershey, but missed the final two games of the regular season with a groin injury. In all, Lepisto recorded four goals, 41 assists, and 45 points in 55 games. For his effort, the Hershey Bears rewarded Sami with the Milton Garland Awards as Hershey’s best defenseman. He also received an award for having the teams highest plus/minus rating at plus-29.