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Teemu Pulkkinen, who possesses one of the hardest shots in the AHL, returns as the Griffins top scorer.

(MLive file photo)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Teemu Pulkkinen feigned disgust. Goals? He didn’t want to talk about scoring goals, which, of course, is what everyone wants to talk to him about.

"That's not all there is," he said with a smile.

The ability to score has always been first on the skill-set list for the 22-year-old forward of the Grand Rapids Griffins. He led the team with 31 goals last season and has a lengthy history of finding the back of the net dating back to the Finnish junior level.

But if the 5-foot-11, 185-pound forward from Helsinki, Finland, is going to carve out a career in the NHL, it will be because he mastered the defensive side to the game.

“I know you have to have a great two-way game to make it in the NHL,” Pulkkinen said. “You have to score goals, but you have to play great defense. I’m getting better at it all the time. That’s why I’m here. I’m ready to work.”

Last season, his first full season in the AHL, Pulkkinen sought to adapt his game to the tighter American rinks, and made “great progress” defensively, coach Jeff Blashill said. Now it’s time for the next step.

“Does he come back and do the little things defensively that it takes to be successful? Does he manage the puck in a manner that you have to to be an NHL player?” Blashill said. “That’s how I’ll judge Teemu’s progress because Teemu has proven he’s a goal scorer at this level and I think he’ll score at the NHL level if he takes care of the rest of his game.”

The result last season was a team-leading 59 points and a big step toward becoming a complete player. He made his first appearances in Detroit, getting into three games and was scoreless, and added five goals for the Griffins during the playoffs.

Teemu Pulkkinen, bottom left, falls and knocks over Boston defenseman Matt Bartkowski and goalie Jeremy Smith during a game with the Red Wings last September.

Pulkkinen played in three preseason games in camp with the Red Wings before he was assigned Monday to Grand Rapids.

The return didn’t come as a disappointment nor a surprise, Pulkkinen said. He didn’t expect to stay, but he did hope to make an impression.

“I didn’t get down when they sent me here,” he said. “I know it’s hard to play in Detroit. But I’m here, full of energy and ready to play. It’s going to be fun. I’ve been waiting the whole summer to get to work here.”

The Griffins open the season at home Friday against Lake Erie.

Blashill has been impressed by Pulkkinen’s goal-scoring prowess. Now he wants to see how Pulkkinen reacts when he doesn’t find the net for a spell. He noted some goal scorers, when they go into a drought, tend to cheat defensively in search of an extra step toward the net.

“What you have to learn is that cheating actually hurts your ability to score,” Blashill said. “If you play from the defensive side of the puck, the goals will come.”

That’s not lost on Pulkkinen.

“When you play 76 games there are times when you’re up and down,” he said. “There can be spots in there when maybe things aren’t so good. But I try and maintain the same kind of play, same effort every night. If I do that, I figure things will work out.”

Pete Wallner covers sports for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at pwallner@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.