Vesa Awesaka
#KeepTheSenate
- Jul 4, 2013
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G Joel Lassinantti - Luleå, SHL (2011 undrafted)
- Thread starter Vesa Awesaka
- Start date
Franck
eltiT resU motsuC
No.
The shortest goalie in the NHL right now is 5'11 and I can only think of a handful of goalies shorter than 6'0. Lassinantti is just too small to have any NHL future.
Vesa Awesaka
#KeepTheSenate
- Jul 4, 2013
- 18,236
- 25
Yet the Hasek one of the greatest goalies of all time is only 5'10 and Tim Thomas one of the greatest goalies post first lockout era is 5'11. Theres been a huge shift towards big goalies only being drafted in recent years but why should we discount the success of a goalie just because he's small? Obviously i'm not saying he's good enough to be in the NHL because i dont know how good he actually is lol. I'd rather have reasons other then size when saying he wont make the NHL though. Is his current play an accurate representation of his ability?
Franck
eltiT resU motsuC
The shift towards bigger goalies is driven by the almost universal adoption of the butterfly style, which is much more effective with a big goaltender. Both Hasek and Thomas were acrobatic goaltenders with playing styles that it would be difficult for anyone to replicate, size wasn't an issue for them because their styles didn't depend on it.
Lassinantti is a butterfly goaltender who compensates for his lack of size with being very aggressive, this creates an element of risk that is much greater than what any NHL team would like to see from a butterfly goaltender, and I doubt it would work against NHL-level opposition.
Lassinantti is a butterfly goaltender who compensates for his lack of size with being very aggressive, this creates an element of risk that is much greater than what any NHL team would like to see from a butterfly goaltender, and I doubt it would work against NHL-level opposition.
Yozhik v tumane
Registered User
- Jan 2, 2019
- 1,832
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Joel Lassinantti continues to be perhaps the best goaltender of the Swedish Hockey League, as he has been for years.
While he’s seen many of his peers in the league leaving to try their luck in North America, size rather than ambition and skill has kept Lassinantti in the SHL. I recall this becoming clear to me when I was researching the heights of NHL goaltenders some five years ago when Joel first made a splash in Sweden. He was like three or four inches shorter than the smallest starters at the time, and there was just nothing indicating that the league was moving anywhere but towards more size.
Now, I was just discussing Lassinantti’s future with a friend of mine as his contract’s due to expire after this season, and it had me examining the size of NHLers once more. I realized that Jaroslav Halak and Juuse Saros both stand at 5’10”/179 cm, which is just an inch/3 cm taller than Lassinantti, and it felt in general as if there’s some challenge to the trend towards bigger goaltenders nowadays, which was further highlighted in this article from March of 2018: https://www.nhl.com/news/shorter-goalies-find-niche-in-what-has-become-big-mans-position-in-nhl/c-297239132
Now, as a fan of Luleå HF and of Joel’s, I’ve felt like we’ve been blessed for having been able to keep a goalie of his caliber around for so many years. But if he did get an opportunity with an NHL franchise, I would certainly be cheering for him to make it.
What would you say as to his chances of breaking into today’s NHL? Are you aware of any other goalie prospects of smaller size that you would like to see in the league?
While he’s seen many of his peers in the league leaving to try their luck in North America, size rather than ambition and skill has kept Lassinantti in the SHL. I recall this becoming clear to me when I was researching the heights of NHL goaltenders some five years ago when Joel first made a splash in Sweden. He was like three or four inches shorter than the smallest starters at the time, and there was just nothing indicating that the league was moving anywhere but towards more size.
Now, I was just discussing Lassinantti’s future with a friend of mine as his contract’s due to expire after this season, and it had me examining the size of NHLers once more. I realized that Jaroslav Halak and Juuse Saros both stand at 5’10”/179 cm, which is just an inch/3 cm taller than Lassinantti, and it felt in general as if there’s some challenge to the trend towards bigger goaltenders nowadays, which was further highlighted in this article from March of 2018: https://www.nhl.com/news/shorter-goalies-find-niche-in-what-has-become-big-mans-position-in-nhl/c-297239132
Now, as a fan of Luleå HF and of Joel’s, I’ve felt like we’ve been blessed for having been able to keep a goalie of his caliber around for so many years. But if he did get an opportunity with an NHL franchise, I would certainly be cheering for him to make it.
What would you say as to his chances of breaking into today’s NHL? Are you aware of any other goalie prospects of smaller size that you would like to see in the league?
