Most underrated goalie coach in the NHL. I think that there's this semi-correct perception of the Colorado Avalanche that they're an easy team to play behind because of how good they are defensively. That's partially true in that most of the time they are easy to play in front of. The problem is when the Avs break down they break down in a way that's a goalies worse nightmare. It's often chaotic, happens unexpectedly, and there's really no way to predict when it's going to happen whereas other good defensive teams are generally pretty predictable ala Toronto/Carolina. Parkkila has done an amazing job at preparing goalies for the unexpected here leading to a run of Vezina caliber seasons in Grubauer, Kuemper and now Georgiev. Not to mention helping Bernier, Francouz, Hammond, Hutchinson, and Johansson all look various levels of good to fine. Jonas Johansson was proclaimed to be the worst goalie in league history by his own teams beat writer, Parkkila takes him in and turns him into a serviceable no. 3 who looks lined up to be the no. 2 in Tampa for some reason. All that's left for Parkkila to do is turn a goalie prospect into a star.
theathletic.com
