What happened to Finnish goaltending?

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

A decade ago, and not so much back, almost every team had a Finnish goaltender. They ruled the league. What happened that there are no more up and coming? We have Tuukka Rask and Koskinen now. They used to be the elite that every other country looked up to in their coaching.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Saros will take Rinne's job when he's done. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen seems very promising. Antti Raanta is a very good goaltender. Dunno what ur on about brother.

 

[Zub]

Maybe the quantity has gone abit down but i'm pretty sure the quality is at the top still. Just look at Rask, Rinne, Raanta, Saros etc..

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

I forgot about Saros, sorry about that! Raanta is also good but not a starter. There are good ones, of course, but not like then.

edit. And Rinne is a f***ing machine.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

I forgot about Saros, sorry about that! Raanta is also good but not a starter. There are good ones, of course, but not like then.

edit. And Rinne is a ****ing machine.

Raanta is a starter though. You seem rather misinformed.

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

There is a thin line between a starter and a "starter".

 

[pi314]

Perhaps they're... wait for it... wait for it... wait for it... Finnished.

I'll go ahead and show myself out now.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

There is a thin line between a starter and a "starter".

Antti Raanta has been injured a lot during last two seasons. He's Arizona's starter and gets paid like a starter.

 

[ijuka]

I've been wondering about this lately. Finland's just not had very many high-end goaltending prospects. I guess there should be a decent one for the 2022 draft class, so hopefully we'll be able to see a bit of a resurgence.

 

[Havre]

What happened? Normality is starting to happen.

Finland were never to dominate goaltending permanently. They still got more than their fair share today.

 

[Zub]

I forgot about Saros, sorry about that! Raanta is also good but not a starter. There are good ones, of course, but not like then.

edit. And Rinne is a ****ing machine.

Lol Raanta is borderline starter bro. His stats are insane playing for the dumpsterfire team that the Coyotes has always been.

 

[Know Your Enemy]

Entropy

 

[MrThomas]

What the Hell? Finland had 8 goaltenders last season in NHL.

Rinne
Rask
Raanta
Saros
Korpisalo
Koskinen
Niemi
Gibson

And then more promising are coming like Lankinen, Luukkonen, Husso etc.

Pretty good for a country which population is only 5.5m

 

[BL92]

For a time Finland was above all others in goalie development, now rest of the world has catched up. I don't think there's a cause for concern though, goalies tend to mature in a very different way and there are always a few surprises. Saros and UPL are definitely a part of the next generation.

 

[Cotton]

A decade ago, and not so much back, almost every team had a Finnish goaltender. They ruled the league. What happened that there are no more up and coming? We have Tuukka Rask and Koskinen now. They used to be the elite that every other country looked up to in their coaching.

Well no, it wasn't all that to the point the world was in awe. For a time Finland was a goaltending factory, go back further and there was a time that the Czech Republic was pumping out top players, and Russia before that, currently the US is having a little gold spell.

It happens from time time where there is something of a development bump, or maybe it's just a crop of exceptional prospects over several years.

It'll happen again one day, maybe it'll be Finland pumping out top D for several years, who knows.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

What the Hell? Finland had 8 goaltenders last season in NHL.

Rinne
Rask
Raanta
Saros
Korpisalo
Koskinen
Niemi
Gibson

And then more promising are coming like Lankinen, Luukkonen, Husso etc.

Pretty good for a country which population is only 5.5m

Ah yes. Chris Gibson. Quite the Finnish tongue twister!! I always forget he's Finnish even though his name says otherwise.

 

[Satan]

Finland is too busy developing superstar skaters

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

Well no, it wasn't all that to the point the world was in awe. For a time Finland was a goaltending factory, go back further and there was a time that the Czech Republic was pumping out top players, and Russia before that, currently the US is having a little gold spell.

I do understand that but my question is why the sudden change? THAT is my question. Why are there a sudden crop of forwards but not goaltenders? Was there a change in the junior system? THAT is my question.

 

[Paris in Flames]

A Finnish goalie just won the Vezina like...2 seasons ago, right?

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

To me it seems like there has been a dip after Rask, for sure. We used to have Kiprusoff, Rinne, Rask, Lehtonen, Bäckström, Niemi and even Niittymäki as starters in the league at the same time. After Rask, Raanta, Saros and Koskinen seem to be the most notable newcomers. Hopefully Husso, Korpisalo, Luukkonen and company can rise up to the task, because outside of Saros, the post-Rinne and Rask times look a bit bleak.

 

[Brownies]

Where are the Quebec goalies, now ?

 

[yukoner88]

I do understand that but my question is why the sudden change? THAT is my question. Why are there a sudden crop of forwards but not goaltenders? Was there a change in the junior system? THAT is my question.

One word....

Cycles

 

[HansonBro]

The poster does have a point. I remember clearly about the Finnish trend. Adding Toskala to the mix

 

[teravaineSAROS]

Maybe the quantity has gone abit down but i'm pretty sure the quality is at the top still. Just look at Rask, Rinne, Raanta, Saros etc..

What? In terms of goalie prospects the quantity is higher than ever but atm there aren't a lot of prime Rinne/Rask/Kiprusoffs coming up

 

[ManWithNoName]

Speaking of Finnish goalies. Myllys is still a legend in Swedish hockey. Can't believe he didn't make it in the NHL. He was the Finnish version of Hasek. Really enjoyable to watch with his fancy and impossible saves.