One of the most innocuous signings the Flyers had this season occurred on May 17th. I remember we all talked about it because Niko Hovinen was 6-7 and since he was a Finnish goalie I asked my friend Risto Pakarinen about him. The Wild had passed on him not offering him a deal since he was drafted in 2006. Why? Well I got that answer today.

“Oh yeah but not as good as the one I have now, he said, talking about former NHL netminder, Pasi Nurminen. “When I signed with the new team three years ago. That’s when things started to go in the right direction.”

Back in 2005-06 he played his first game for Jokerit and actually took over the backup duties when Tim Thomas, yes the man who has won two Vezina Trophies and a Stanley Cup, left the team. But things clearly got better for him when he joined the Pelicans. Many times a change of scenery is a partial help but a complete change in mindset makes all the difference in the world and clearly Nurminen has had a great effect on him. He couldn’t be happier right now.

At 23, he’s pretty mature and he will spend one more season in Finland, and if it’s a successful one, he could be coming in next year as the starting AHL goalie for sure, and an eventual NHL backup sometime after that, depending on how the career of Sergei Bobrovsky continues to develop.

“I felt good, better than yesterday and the day before. I got used to the ice after a while. Pretty much the same (as overseas) other than the rink is smaller. Shots come quicker. I like the smaller rink. I think it suits me well.”

“He’s only been here for three days really because of some visa issues he had,” said Flyers GM Paul Holmgren. “The goalie coaches both Neil Little and Jeff Reese were happy with how Niko did. He’s a big guy and takes up a lot of room in that net…He’s going to stay one more year in Finland with his team there and we look forward to him playing 50 or so games so that’s good experience for him.”

In the last two years he’s only played 39 games combined so this is a big year for him and he knows it. Fans are still learning about him on this side of the ocean and he understands that.

“Oh yeah, I’m not surprised. I only played one year as a starter and I don’t know if people here know about the Finnish Elite League.”

He’s a sturdy 200 pounds. He’s not too skinny and he covers the post well and reads plays well. He stays pretty far back in the net not giving shooters a lot to shoot at. He can be aggressive at times, his stick control is good and he has BIG pads which give him an edge when a shooter comes in close, they seem to swallow up the puck. He uses his stick flat on the ice at times to block shots which you are starting to see more of, he’s fast up and down, and he has good overall body positioning.

He’s been big for a long time and since there aren’t that many goaltenders around that are his size you would have to think that made it a bit harder for him to learn his craft. He certainly has gotten a lot of attention.

“Yeah, of course you get noticed when you are that big. I never thought about it in that way. It’s not a big deal for me.”

Getting back to his current goalie coach when I asked what he changed specifically in his game, he said, “Everything! A lot of the mental stuff.”

Next year around this time I expect there will be a lot of buzz surrounding this Finnish goalie.