Kevin Lankinen Appreciation Thread (Calder Trophy Candidate)!

[Toews2Bickell]

At the time of Jukka Jalonen selecting him for the Finnish roster i seem to recall he was even sent down from the AHL. Then he goes and beats teams he had no business beating to win gold. You seem to like saying "you have no idea" a lot, seems like your thing. However like i said, i did have a strong idea at that time already. Give it a rest and have another sip of crow milk shake.

he wasn't on the hawks radar as much as he should've been after the gold at the world championship and anyone saying he was is just making shit up at this point...there were a few on this board that went to bat for lankinen but he wasn't really talked about in the press or by the team talking heads despite his accomplishment for team finland...he came into this year 3rd on the depth chart and it seemed like nobody really questioned why he wasn't in the conversation for starter to start the season...its all revisionist history at this point, stan is a genius etc etc

 

[ClydeLee]

he wasn't on the hawks radar as much as he should've been after the gold at the world championship and anyone saying he was is just making shit up at this point...there were a few on this board that went to bat for lankinen but he wasn't really talked about in the press or by the team talking heads despite his accomplishment for team finland...he came into this year 3rd on the depth chart and it seemed like nobody really questioned why he wasn't in the conversation for starter to start the season...its all revisionist history at this point, stan is a genius etc etc

Why do you think these things?

Who or what makes you think such things?

Seriously reread some things said by people, even said by the team. You're ideas nobody claimed and because a prospect wasn't praised hard enough for you? This is not rational.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Why do you think these things?

Who or what makes you think such things?

Seriously reread some things said by people, even said by the team. You're ideas nobody claimed and because a prospect wasn't praised hard enough for you? This is not rational.

This board ranked him 13th in a poll for top 20 prospects in system a few months ago...Hawks system isn't that good to begin with...13th in an average system...what more needs to be said, the poster came in here and asked why it took so long for Lankinen to be on the radar given what he accomplished at the world championship and was told they're wrong...they're not wrong

 

[BK]

This board ranked him 13th in a poll for top 20 prospects in system a few months ago...Hawks system isn't that good to begin with...13th in an average system...what more needs to be said, the poster came in here and asked why it took so long for Lankinen to be on the radar given what he accomplished at the world championship and was told they're wrong...they're not wrong

The same board that openly notes they exclude goalies for the most part and have ZERO affiliation with the team other than fandom...

 

[ClydeLee]

This board ranked him 13th in a poll for top 20 prospects in system a few months ago...Hawks system isn't that good to begin with...13th in an average system...what more needs to be said, the poster came in here and asked why it took so long for Lankinen to be on the radar given what he accomplished at the world championship and was told they're wrong...they're not wrong

Radae you mean fans radar? Or Stan when you say Hawks? Cause it sounded everything about the Hawks. As you imaginary people calling Bowman a genius for signing him.

And maybe because he was only okay in Rockford... that's why I didn't have him higher. He played great, yet an 8 game tournament was all it was. That's not a testament to definitve success or being nhl ready.

You act like it's a flaws he didn't get played or praised earlier, why should he have been? Was he ready? Was he adjusted to NA angles and play yet?

 

[bwana63]

You have an uncanny ability to predict the past.

 

[Pez68]

This board ranked him 13th in a poll for top 20 prospects in system a few months ago...Hawks system isn't that good to begin with...13th in an average system...what more needs to be said, the poster came in here and asked why it took so long for Lankinen to be on the radar given what he accomplished at the world championship and was told they're wrong...they're not wrong

He had some issues with his shoulder, that he recently had surgery to fix. He didn't have great numbers his first couple seasons here in NA. Plenty of people were high on him after the WC, and the organization obviously was too. If they weren't, why sign him for two years, coming off of shoulder surgery?

 

[Crow]

I was pretty often saying tbe goaltending is not nearly the doom and gloom others.

People hate unknown, unproven prospects so much at some roles though. Like the desire to add a Miller or x over just rolling and seeing these 3 seemed odd to me. Young guys may be up and down but broken vets north of 36 are usually bad most of their games.

I think a lot of the doom and gloom came from knowing how goaltending made up for this team’s defense in the past, which looks to have improved, especially the forwards.

I’m cautiously optimistic and very happy with lankinen so far but it’s way too early for a lot of the hype he is getting. The criticism of management for not seeing lankinen’s potential is not only unsubstantiated, it’s premature.


How many goalies have we all seen start hot as hell and then descend back down to a mediocre or even bad level? I hope it doesn’t happen but it’s pretty common in the NHL.

 

[Crow]

Crow would have done nothing in regard to help the future. Nothing.

A lot of goalies he has worked with have given him quite a bit of credit for helping their career progress. But really enough about crow already. That ship sailed. Not sure why I even brought it back up.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I don’t remember much of any hype around Lankinen at any point recently. Certainly no one expecting him to play THIS well. That’s all T2B is saying. Why are you guys muddying up the waters with this?

This board was more high on Commesso than Lankinen. Stan didn’t “get lucky” with Lankinen so I disagree with T2B there, and him chasing after Murray or Keumper doesn’t mean Stan didn’t believe in Lank...but I think you all are being a little disingenuous here and overcomplicating what was said.

I had no expectations for Lankinen this season, good or bad. I thought Delia and Subban were going to play us into a top 3 pick and stopped thinking about our goaltending as soon as Stan brought it up a few months ago. Very pleasant surprise though. Might take us out of a top 3 pick but if these kids can play with confidence going forward because of solid goaltending then that’s great too.

 

[CallMeShaft]

I've been busy this past day (technically past couple days), so I'm only reading this last page now.

Lankinen was ranked 13th on our prospect list because he showed promise at the Worlds, but had an unimpressive save percentage in Rockford and was not a former draft pick, which usually indicates a player that, at the age of 18, was further behind his peers. Now the Icehogs performance may or may not be due to injury, but plenty weren't sure about him here, that's why he went 13th.

Bowman deserves blame for a ton of shit. But why the f*** is he getting blamed for not letting a goalie that was never drafted and had a save percentage of only .909 in the last two years in the AHL, play in the NHL until he was 25? 25 is still very young for a goalie. And Bowman signed the f***ing kid. How the hell is that not a big W for Stan?!?

Be happy the Hawks took their time with him. If they rushed him, he might not be rocking the 4th best save percentage in the league right now. He came at the perfect time and in the perfect situation.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Way too much time was spent arguing with strangers on the internet in this thread today.

 

[Hattrick Kane]

I've been busy this past day (technically past couple days), so I'm only reading this last page now.

Lankinen was ranked 13th on our prospect list because he showed promise at the Worlds, but had an unimpressive save percentage in Rockford and was not a former draft pick, which usually indicates a player that, at the age of 18, was further behind his peers. Now the Icehogs performance may or may not be due to injury, but plenty weren't sure about him here, that's why he went 13th.

Bowman deserves blame for a ton of shit. But why the f*** is he getting blamed for not letting a goalie that was never drafted and had a save percentage of only .909 in the last two years in the AHL, play in the NHL until he was 25? 25 is still very young for a goalie. And Bowman signed the f***ing kid. How the hell is that not a big W for Stan?!?

Be happy the Hawks took their time with him. If they rushed him, he might not be rocking the 4th best save percentage in the league right now. He came at the perfect time and in the perfect situation.

Rockford is an absolute dumpster fire. It’s not shocking at all to me that good players struggle down there. It’s like a black hole of sucktitude.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Rockford is an absolute dumpster fire. It’s not shocking at all to me that good players struggle down there. It’s like a black hole of sucktitude.

But, this Hawks team wasn't supposed to be all that much better, though. Part of why this team is doing as well as they are is the play of Lankinen.

 

[Pez68]

But, this Hawks team wasn't supposed to be all that much better, though. Part of why this team is doing as well as they are is the play of Lankinen.

Lankinen is playing well but the team defense is drastically improved.

 

[CallMeShaft]

Lankinen is playing well but the team defense is drastically improved.

I agree, but nobody thought that'd be the case a month ago. Can't really blame management for not wanting to throw a kid with those AHL numbers behind last year's defense. Only happened now out of desperation, luckily it worked out.

 

[Kevin Musto]

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Lankstop loooooooooooooooooool...the thing that stands out about Lank is he looks a lot like Crawford in that he's positionally sound, he's not just running hot and keeping pucks out with unsustainable highlight reel saves...

 

[RememberTheRoar]

I like this stonk.

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice

 

[Brightwing]

Nice of the Hawks to allow all those shots in the third so Lanky's sv% didn't suffer too much.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

1 regulation loss in 8 first starts of his NHL career!. Good job Kevin.
Lankinen has scored 1.4 team points per game this season.

Still could hold .930 sv% this season after tonight's game.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

His 5 on 5 numbers are still impressive.

13 goals against in 8 starts. (205/218)
1.62 gaa
.940 sv%

 

[Malagahawks]

With Lank are there any Crow comparisons in talent & technique?

 

[BobbyJet]

Lankstop loooooooooooooooooool...the thing that stands out about Lank is he looks a lot like Crawford in that he's positionally sound, he's not just running hot and keeping pucks out with unsustainable highlight reel saves...

He got the win but Lankinen was shaky last night. Plenty of rebounds and he was down early quite a bit. As I said earlier, might be fatigue. I don't know his background, is he a workhorse type or is this stretch more than he is used to?

 

[Toews2Bickell]

He got the win but Lankinen was shaky last night. Plenty of rebounds and he was down early quite a bit. As I said earlier, might be fatigue. I don't know his background, is he a workhorse type or is this stretch more than he is used to?

He was shaky for sure but he battled after giving up a two goal lead in a short period and got the win...maybe he needs a game off but it couldve been an off night for him