Towering Finn looks to find place in Oilers’ net
Mikko Koskinen admits moving from the KHL to the NHL is a bit of an eye-opener, but says he’s feeling more comfortable by the day.
He’s in a unique situation, trying to adjust to a new league in time for the season, and would love to play the bulk of the exhibition games to get ready, but that’s not going to happen.
Edmonton still wants to get Cam Talbot and Al Montoya up to speed, too, so Koskinen will have to do a lot of his acclimatization in practice.
“Every goalie wants to play a lot, then you get the feel,” said the six-foot-seven native of Finland, who made his second start of the pre-season Sunday in Winnipeg. “But there is no perfect world in hockey. You never know what’s going to happen. You have to be ready every day.”
The different shooting angles and goalmouth traffic people warned him about are challenges.
“The biggest difference is the game is far away from me in Europe, but over here everything is really close,” he said, adding things happen just a bit quicker in North America.
“That’s natural because the rink is so much bigger in Europe. There are still 10 players, but they have to squeeze into a smaller space, so that makes a bit of a difference.”
The irony is that as soon Koskinen starts to feel at home in the NHL, he will hop on a plane with the rest of the team and head over to Europe for a week of practice and a pair of games.
“It’s tough to say how long it will take (to fully adjust) but I need to be ready every day,” he said. “I need to get better every day. That’s the main goal.”