Olli Määttä, once a Penguins teen star, says Ben Kindel's experience is invaluable

ZURICH -- Olli Määttä stood a few feet away from Finland's dressing room Monday at the Swiss Life Arena, a smile on his face. Yes, Team Finland had just defeated the United States 6-2 in early-round play of the IIHF Men's World Championship. Määttä had two assists in the victory and played well, but this smile was one of reminiscing. Määttä, now 31, is seven years removed from being traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins team that drafted him in 2012. He has since made his way in every direction around the NHL, from Chicago, to Los Angeles, to Detroit, to Utah and finally to Calgary. The lessons he learned as a teenager in Pittsburgh, however, stick with him today. "Man, does time fly," Määttä said. "You know, when I was 19, things were so great. I never thought I'd leave Pittsburgh. You don't even think about that kind of stuff, the business side, when you're that young. You just want to play, and you're happy." Määttä was one of the great rookies in Penguins history, becoming a two-way sensation at age 19 during the 2013-14 season. Early in his second season, Määttä was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He returned to play that season, but his skating never looked quite the same. Määttä says the cancer wasn't the issue. "It wasn't the thyroid so much," he said. "The doctors were incredible, and they helped me get through it. I was OK from that. What really slowed me down was the shoulder injuries that I had my first couple of years. It just took a lot out of me." Määttä never felt quite right physically after that combination of incidents, but he's still in the league a decade later. Being a cerebral player has helped. The lessons he learned while in Pittsburgh were perhaps even greater. Ben Kindel, who just turned 19, finished a wonderful rookie season and is the most successful teenager to wear a Penguins sweater since Määttä. Young Kindel, Määttä said, is learning lessons for life in that dressing room. Määttä would know. "I know he had a really good year, and I know he's going to learn so much more," Määttä said. "It's a very big deal for him. I was there when Sid (Sidney Crosby), Geno (Evgeni Malkin), Flower (Marc-Andre Fleury) and Tanger (Kris Letang) were much younger, but they were still the guys even then. What happens is, when you're young like he is, at first, you're just in awe. You're sitting there beside Sid. It takes time to adjust to it." But then, you do adjust. "And that's when every day is kind of like going to school," Määttä continued. "Every day you go to the rink, to practice, or to a game, you pay attention to those guys. And for me, there were also guys like Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik. You just keep learning. If you pay attention to Sid and to all of those other guys, you learn something new every day, and you take it with you for the rest of your career. That's what it's like. And if you're willing to pay attention and put the work in, it's the best experience you can have in hockey." Määttä laughs when he thinks about being a teenager like Kindel is now. "Time went by so fast, really," he said. "Back then, I had teammates who had been traded, and they would warn you that anything can happen when you're in the NHL. But I never thought I was leaving Pittsburgh. You think you're going to stay there forever and keep playing for that great team. I was too young and dumb to think anything like that could ever happen." Määttä not only learned the finer points of the game from the Penguins' stars, but he also learned a thing or two about resiliency. He was drafted in Pittsburgh when Crosby was emerging from his concussion saga, when Malkin was one year removed from ACL surgery, and during a time in which Letang was about to have the first of multiple strokes. "I had to scratch and claw after my health problems just to stay in the league," Määttä said. "It was hard. But you learned how to scratch and claw being around Sid, Geno and Tanger." Määttä figures Kindel and a young crop of Penguins players on their way to the NHL will learn from the masters the way he once did. He just never thought this was the road he would take. "It's never easy being traded as many times as I've been," he said. "The trades have always worked out in some good way, one way or the other. Sometimes you need a new challenge, a new start. I think I have a lot of good hockey left in me." Määttä learned the benefits of being positive from the masters, too. "I learned a lot from them when I was young," he said. "So will everyone else if they're paying attention. It's helped me so much throughout my career." * Aleksander Barkov, who missed the entire season because of a torn ACL suffered during the Florida Panthers' training camp, is participating in the World Championship with Team Finland. He didn't record a point in Finland's 6-2 win against the United States, but a number of his teammates have nonetheless been blown away by his performance in this tournament. "It's like he never went away," Määttä said. "I think it's amazing how good he looks, how well he's played. He's still just as great, still playing unbelievable hockey. It's like he wasn't even hurt." Without Barkov, the Panthers didn't even reach the postseason, failing to give themselves an opportunity to win a third straight championship. Anton Lundell, a teammate of Barkov's in Florida and with Team Finland, smiled when he was asked about Barkov. "The magic," Lundell said, "is still there." * About 75 miles to the west, Crosby put on quite a show in Fribourg, Switzerland, in Group B play. Canada defeated the Denmark team that stunned them in the quarterfinals last season. Through two periods in this game, history appeared to repeat itself as the Canadians were badly outplaying Denmark, yet were locked in a scoreless game. Then Crosby took over. The 38-year-old produced primary assists on four goals in the third period, all of them sensational efforts, en route to Canada's 5-1 win. Crosby set up goals by Porter Martone, Denton Mateychuk, Ryan O'Reilly and Pittsburgh teammate Parker Wotherspoon. Gabe Vilardi also scored for Canada, which is 3-0 in this tournament. Crosby's game shifted into a completely different gear in the second period, leading to the four-assist outburst in the final 20 minutes. He was named player of the game.