"I always had that curious mind to learn things outside of hockey too," said Lankinen. "I just always think that the better you are as a person, the better an athlete you are. The broader the view you have, I think that helps with perspective in hockey too. And reading has been a way for me to just detach a little bit and put my mind somewhere else."
He added, "I think reading has been a really good help for me in that case, where I can activate some other parts of my brain and learn something new, and then when I get to the hockey rink, I feel refreshed for the love of the game."