Daniel_Tkaczuk said:
I am going to have to disagree with you there, if you're saying Lehtonen was equally as important. The Finns won the bronze medal, but Lehtonen was giving up some goals not characteristic of a netminder you could lean on (e.g. goal against Canada that went in from behind the net). I remember several other ones that made me cringe as well. Not to say Lehtonen was bad, but he was not Fleury... or even Bob Goepfert.
Fleury was the best goalie at the tournament, which is why he was MVP. Lehtonen was the second or third best player on the team behind Pitkanen and possibly Bergenheim in my view.
You can't judge the talent of a prospect based on a single tournament. For example, Fleury was HORRIBLE in this year's WJC. Does that make him a future bust? And besides, Lehtonen wasn't even that bad in the 2003 WJC, he was actually pretty good.
And sure Lehtonen didn't have his best WJC in 2003, but he WAS voted the best goalie in the 2002 WJC:
"In Kari Lehtonen, the Finns could have the best goaltender in the 2003 WJC competition in Nova Scotia. Lehtonen became the highest drafted European goalie in history when he was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers second overall in 2002, after being named best goalie in the 2002 WJC, when he had a brilliant 1.17 GAA and .943 save percentage. "
Lehtonen was also named the MVP of both the league and of the playoffs the year he led Jokerit to it's championship cup in the Finnish League:
"Lehtonen earned MVP honors and led Jokerit-Helsinki to the 2002 league championship as the league's youngest goalie. He led the league with 11 games, eight wins, 623 minutes, a .940 save percentage and three shutouts in the postseason. During the 2001-02 regular season, he was 13-5-3 with a 1.79 GAA and four shutouts in 23 games."
He also was brilliant in the 2003 European Hockey Championshop, being the key person in Jokerit winning the 2003 Continental Cup:
"Led Jokerit-Helsinki to the 2002-03 Continental Cup over the Russian champion Yaroslavl, finishing with 3-0-0 record, a 1.67 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage in three games. "
Needless to say, Lehtonen has proven his mettle numerous times already. The kid is ice under pressure. He seems just step it up a notch in big games.