Goalie Jussi Rynnas signs with Toronto

We talked about Jussi Rynnas and his interest in the Flyers here before, but today, he selected the Toronto Maple Leafs as his team.

about 2 years ago Travis Hughes 8 comments 0 recs |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

I’m thinking these unsigned European goalies may not be that great. Gustafson only started because Toskala was horrible and Backlund played the whole year in the AHL. Both signed one year contracts. Brunnstrom hasn’t been able to stay in the NHL in Dallas, either. Bobrovsky is too young to be an NHL starter, so at least he’ll be evaluated by different criteria.

by thasmin on Apr 21, 2010 3:39 PM EDT reply actions

Gustavsson extended two more years at $1.35M in Toronto and really started to sparkle once Toskala was moved out of town.

After the Olympic break Gustavsson was second or third in the NHL in save percentage, and if you’re talking about undrafted European UFA goalies don’t forget Jonas Hiller, Antti Niemi and Niklas Backstrom in MIN.

Pension Plan Puppets*
* Blog contains less than 2% puppet content by weight.

by Chemmy on Apr 21, 2010 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Bobtovsky isnt too young to be an NHL starter. He might not be ready to be one, but it has nothing to do with age.

Also Brunnstrom isnt a goalie he is a forward.

by tmurder on Apr 21, 2010 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Backlund spent a year in the AHL for multiple reasons, the first of which was to have him adjust from the large rink to the North American rink. Secondly, the Flyers had three goalies ahead of him, and when two of them went down, he was hurt. As soon as he got healthy, he came up as the backup, started a game, got hurt, and is once again the backup.

Just like in the AHL, goalies don’t come over from Europe and get handed a #1 job. They have to earn it. Jimmy Howard had to steal it from Osgood and he spent 4 years in the AHL.

Man-crushin' on Boucher since 1999
Broad Street Hockey - Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Apr 21, 2010 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions