Finland churning out goalies
By LANCE HORNBY -- Toronto Sun
A larger-than-life-sized statue of a hockey player in full flight attracts customers to a downtown Helsinki sports bar.
But as a curious visitor draws near, it's evident the skater depicted is not Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu or even Prof. Leonard Borgstrom, the father of Finnish hockey. Not until you get close do you see the bronzed mask, blocker and goalie stick.
This is Finland after all, Europe's rising netminding capital.
The Stanley Cup playoffs saw the emergence of the Calgary Flames' Miikka Kiprusoff, who has carried that momentum into the World Cup. He leads the Finns to North America this week, having nearly recorded his third shutout of the World Cup in Finland's 2-1 win over Germany on Sunday in a quarter-final. He has allowed just two even-strength goals through the first four games and has the Finns talking about their first significant global tournament win since the 1995 world championship.
"It's the first time we've had (national team goaltending) like this," defenceman Aki Berg said. "Not just one goalie, but two or three."
Berg was referring to Kari Lehtonen, who had four wins in four starts at the end of the season for the Atlanta Thrashers.
The third Cup netminder is Vesa Toskala, awaiting his turn with the San Jose Sharks.
Other Finnish goalies to make their mark in the NHL: Pasi Nurminen, who had a .903 save percentage as the Thrashers' No. 1 last season; the Thrashers' Jani Hurme, who was sidelined by injury in 2003-04; Mika Noronen, fighting for top spot in Buffalo; Jusi Markkanen with the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers; and Antero Niittymaki with the Philadelphia Flyers.
"I don't know where they all came from, but it's nice to see," Lehtonen said. "Everybody wants to be like Kipper now. I hope in five years we'll have 10 or 15 Finnish No. 1s in the NHL."
Finland's goaltenders needed a Kiprusoff to refute the notion they were a nation of backups. Lehtonen said his favourite Finnish goalie as a boy was NHL journeyman Jarmo Myllys. But with no local star on the horizon, he began to emulate Patrick Roy. That won't be the case for the next generation.
"All the Finnish goalies in the NHL helped me a lot when I got there: Jani, Pasi, Vesa, Miikka. By the time I got there, they'd gained some respect for me," Lehtonen said. "They didn't have it when they first went over there. They were the (pioneers) and it wasn't easy."
Berg has known Kiprusoff since their junior days in Turku and sensed he could make inroads in the NHL.
"When he first came to the NHL, he never got the chance (with San Jose)," Berg said. "Now he has it and it has given him confidence. This guy next to him (Berg gestured to Lehtonen, chosen second overall in 2002) is coming on, too."
Arto Koivisto, goaltending coach on the Finnish team, says teams at all levels in his country started giving more attention to netminders about 10 years ago.
"We had good goalies before, and some were in the NHL, but there weren't the openings there are now," he said.
Everyone knows the Patrick Roy Butterfly Academy in Quebec, which inspired Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Jose Theodore among others. But is there a recognized Finnish style equivalent?
"Goalies all over the world have developed the butterfly, but there has to be a mix," Koivisto said. "Me, I don't like goalies to go to the ice on every shot. He has to be a standup on some shots. Goalies are bigger now."
Added Lehtonen: "We're all different. I'm pretty much a butterfly guy, Vesa is more of a standup guy. Miikka is so good he can do whatever he wants."
Kiprusoff is modest about his success, but he'd dearly love a World Cup after coming so close to Stanley with the Flames. He certainly didn't mind the short summer, playing into June then getting revved up a few weeks later for World Cup training.
"I wanted to be ready," he said. " Summer was perfect -- fishing, relaxing in the sauna (the traditional Finnish method of resting mind and body), just the right length of time for me. When I got back on the ice again, I was excited."
