Where thou Finnish elite goalies/goalie prospects?? where's the next Pekka Rinne, Tuukka Rask, Miikka Kiprusoff?... - too many years without one

[Artorius Horus T]

Saros is our best one currently, but even he isn't a top goalie in the NHL atm
(what happened after last season is baffling)

Yes Juuse WAS an elite goalie last season(s), but was he a true of that kind?
- not as what Peks was.

UPL tries really hard and actually has improved tons from last season,
most nights (as ive been told by Sabres fans) Luukkonen is the only one
keeping Sabres in the games he starts.

But UPL is relatively far away from elite top goalie, im afraid he'll never reach that in Buffalo..
maybe he can do like Ulmark, after years trying to do something in Buffalo, who knows.

Lankinen had his 15 minutes at Chicago few years ago, in couple of months he rose to the Vezina talks
but then he disappeared as quickly he appeared..

Kähkönen does as much as he can as the Sharks back up / on and off starter, but he is what he is

Husso... so frustrating goalie to watch.. the difference between his good game and good season
is so huge..

Korpisalo, so much talent but so little mental strength


What about Kasimir Kaskisuo?... he is 30... but damn he has had hot start in the AHL
could he be the next Binnington.. an older version...


Where is the next Finnish Vezina level goalie???, of Euro goalies ours rank the bottom and
that's not acceptable, we have long elite goalie traditions, damn it!

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[Pavel Buchnevich]

Can't you say the same thing for all of Finnish hockey?

I mean no disrespect to our Finnish friends. Seems like their players aren't translating as well of late. All countries go through ruts in their hockey development. Finland needs to figure out what is going wrong as a whole. I think the lack of elite goalies is part of a lack of elite players. And obviously they have some, but if you look at the last 5-7 drafts not many of the young stars of the NHL are from Finland.

I also think Saros is elite, for what its worth.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Joel Blomqvist (02) in Wilkes-Barre looks good right now.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Joel Blomqvist (02) in Wilkes-Barre looks good right now.

He could be one.

 

[theslatcher]

Saros has had a better career thus far than Rinne at the same point in his, and much better than Miikka (who had one fantastic playoffs).

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Saros has had a better career thus far than Rinne at the same point in his, and much better than Miikka (who had one fantastic playoffs).

i disagree but.. opinions

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Where does Veeti Louhivaara project? He's mentioned by Central Scouting (5th amongst Europeans) but that can mean a wide range of things.

 

[Pazucha]

Can't you say the same thing for all of Finnish hockey?

I mean no disrespect to our Finnish friends. Seems like their players aren't translating as well of late. All countries go through ruts in their hockey development. Finland needs to figure out what is going wrong as a whole. I think the lack of elite goalies is part of a lack of elite players. And obviously they have some, but if you look at the last 5-7 drafts not many of the young stars of the NHL are from Finland.

I also think Saros is elite, for what its worth.

Maybe its just a population issue? Probably unrealistic to have an elite player in each draft from such a small country?

Their draft numbers are still impressive they are averaging around 14 players per draft.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

I believe Joel Blomqvist will be a starting goaltender one day. Has the mental game, physical skills, and a proven track record trending up every year. Could be playing 30+ games 1B role for the Pens in 2 years time.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

I believe Joel Blomqvist will be a starting goaltender one day. Has the mental game, physical skills, and a proven track record trending up every year. Could be playing 30+ games 1B role for the Pens in 2 years time.

fingers crossed

 

[nergish]

Saros has had a better career thus far than Rinne at the same point in his, and much better than Miikka (who had one fantastic playoffs).

Absolutely baffling to me that someone could hold this opinion tbh

Better than Rinne? You must be joking.
Better than Kipper? You may be having a stroke.

 

[theslatcher]

Absolutely baffling to me that someone could hold this opinion tbh

Better than Rinne? You must be joking.
Better than Kipper? You may be having a stroke.

You might need a refresher on their careers at age 28.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

The defensive talent ain´t looking too hot either

 

[Soundgarden]

Absolutely baffling to me that someone could hold this opinion tbh

Better than Rinne? You must be joking.
Better than Kipper? You may be having a stroke.

At this point in their careers yes, Rinne got a late start and Saros an early one, Saros has three top 7 Vezina votes at this point Rinne only had a 4th place Calder vote and 12th in all star team voting.

 

[austin63867]

They may not be top Goalies but the top 2 Euro goalies this year are Finnish (Eemil Vinni & Kim Saarinen)

 

[nergish]

You might need a refresher on their careers at age 28.

Fair enough, I misread and didn’t realize the “to this point” applied to Miika as well. Definitely a bit of a late bloomer.

 

[GaboriklessWild]

Nowadays most Finnish kids would rather get drunk and do useless things than play sports. That country is going downhill pretty fast.

 

[Czechboy]

No mention of Koskinen?

Finn's are in a mini rut to my eye... I think they will get out of it very quickly though.

Ftr.. 8 finn goalies have suited up this season. That is pretty good!

 

[Hntz]

Nowadays most Finnish kids would rather get drunk and do useless things than play sports. That country is going downhill pretty fast.

Statistically finnish kids drink less than ever before. But hey, it’s just statistics after all.

 

[GaboriklessWild]

No mention of Koskinen?

Finn's are in a mini rut to my eye... I think they will get out of it very quickly though.

Ftr.. 8 finn goalies have suited up this season. That is pretty good!

It's not quantity that counts, but quality. Maybe you are not old enough, but a little over 10 years ago Finland produced the best goalkeepers. Kiprusoff, Rinne, Niemi, Backstrom, Rask, Lehtonen were all top quality starters.

Statistically finnish kids drink less than ever before. But hey, it’s just statistics after all.

Statistics usually have a sources, not 'trust me bro' I write something on the message board.

 

[Esko6]

Kiprusoff and Rinne were not good prospects, great goalies often appear seemingly out of nowhere and this time Finland actually has some decent young goalies that might or might not become great.

 

[GaboriklessWild]

Kiprusoff and Rinne were not good prospects, great goalies often appear seemingly out of nowhere and this time Finland actually has some decent young goalies that might or might not become great.

In his draft year, the 18-year-old Kipper was the best goalkeeper in the Finnish u20 league and played a few games in the men's league and the u20 world championship. If he wasn't a good prospect then I don't know what counts as a 'good prospect'.

 

[ijuka]

Yes Juuse WAS an elite goalie last season(s), but was he a true of that kind?
- not as what Peks was.

I would, in fact, argue that Juuse Saros is a better goalie than Pekka Rinne was. Take the eras into consideration.

 

[JabbaJabba]

Statistics usually have a sources, not 'trust me bro' I write something on the message board.

Maybe you should take your own advice and provide source for your previous statement.

On topic. Finland is a small country and they can produce as much elite talent as they can. At the moment most of the elites are forwards. Also the scoring has risen in recent years so that probably makes goalies look worse. How many elite goalies are there in the league at the moment even? Feels like most teams could use a better goaltender.

Seems like Luukkonen is rising to the next level and maybe in the future he'll be in the Vezina race. Blomqvist and Annunen are interesting names as well.

 

[Hntz]

Statistics usually have a sources, not 'trust me bro' I write something on the message board.

So I need to provide sources for my claims, but you don’t?

I’m sure you could find said statistics yourself, but here’s a few:

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