AT PEACE OUTSIDE THE CREASE, RINNE LIKE AN EXTRA DEFENCEMAN
The first time Mitch Korn laid eyes on Pekka Rinne was at a prospects camp, about a month after the Nashville Predators took a chance on the Finnish goalie — selected 252 spots after the New York Rangers selected Al Montoya sixth overall — with their second-last pick in the 2004 draft.
Korn, the team’s goalie coach back then, said Rinne immediately stood out.
Of course, it’s easy to stand out when you’re 6-foot-5. But it wasn’t just his size: What Korn saw that day was a goalie who was mobile, athletic and exuded competitiveness.
“You could just sense the passion even back then,” Korn said.
During drills, Rinne would never give up on a shot — even those that weren’t directed at the net.
“We used to laugh,” Korn said. “Every goalie coach on the planet will tell you that you don’t want your guy leaving when it’s shot around the boards on the glass because there’s that opportunity of the puck hitting a partition and taking a bad bounce. But Pekka would come out and catch it on the glass.”
As Korn tells it, then-Predators head coach Barry Trotz had also been watching the practice to see what was coming up through the pipeline. When Korn left the ice, “Barry and I looked at each other and we both said, ‘That’s the one.’ ”
All these years later, no one would dispute that fact. While Filip Forsberg leads the Predators in scoring and Nashville’s defence has contributed to 30 per cent of its goals, Rinne is the big reason the team has made it further than ever before in franchise history, headed to its first Stanley Cup final after eliminating Anaheim on Monday.
“He’s a different goalie, that’s for sure,” Ducks captain Ryan
Getzlaf said. “There’s not a lot like him in the league.”
The Predators play a 1-3-1 system, where they line up three players at the red-line and force opponents to either go through them or dump the puck in and chase after it. This can often be a dangerous style because it means the lone defenceman has to retrieve the puck while a couple of forwards are giving chase. But in Nashville’s case, one defenceman becomes two with Rinne back there.
“I think any time you can get a goaltender that can get out and handle the puck, I think it’s an incredible advantage,” Predators head coach Peter Laviolette said.
Rinne comes about his unique skill set naturally. He’s a big man who can move well, but he also enjoys playing the puck.
Not that the defence needed any more help — from Shea Weber and Ryan Suter to Roman Josi and P.K. Subban, Nashville has always been blessed with Norris Trophy-calibre defencemen. But Rinne gives them another layer of insurance Laviolette has exploited more than Trotz ever did.
Knowing they have a goalie who can clean up after their mistakes, the Predators are allowed to take more chances and play more aggressively than most teams. There are other goalies, such as the Montreal Canadiens’ Carey Price, who are as effective at playing the puck. But most have their limits. Most won’t bother with pucks hammered hard or high off the glass. With Rinne, there are very few scenarios where he won’t venture out of his crease.
“We never stopped him from going back there,” Korn said. “The reason is you never try to coach something out of someone who does it better than anyone.”