The Czechs did not beat him on Tuesday, but they are far from the only ones. Finnish goalkeeper Juho Olkinuora is showing even more breathtaking performances at the World Hockey Championships than last time.
At the 1998 Nagano Olympics, Dominik Hašek gave one of the best tournament performances in history. He collected only six times in six clans, caught two zeros and slightly exceeded 96 percent in the success of interventions. No wonder he was declared the best goalkeeper of the games.
That you can’t catch better? Maybe he’s coming.
Although Olkinuora does not have to deal with as many critical situations behind the stiff Finnish defense as Hasek once did, his numbers nevertheless arouse general astonishment.
The 31-year-old Finn picked up four net accounts in five clans and pulled the success rate to 99 percent. He scored the only (!) Goal. Alex Galchenyuk beat him less than two minutes before the final siren in the match against the United States. Everyone else came out empty.
“It says more about the team than I do,” Olkinuora said of the incredible statistics.
It is true that Finland, under coach Jukka Jalonen, has been operating for several years as a machine that is almost flawless at least backwards. The Czechs could tell. At the last World Cup, they lost the quarterfinals to the Finns 0: 1, this year at the end of the group stage they lost 0: 3.
“We defended well and kept the shield clean,” praised Finnish coach Jukka Jalonen. However, he did not forget to praise Olkinuora: “He has been catching excellent for a long time.”
The crowded hall in Tampere also paid special attention to the man number 45, who chanted his name at the end of the match with the Czech Republic. “I’ll remember it for the rest of my life,” Olkinuora said.
He will probably jump to the quarterfinals against Slovakia on Thursday. At the same time, he had no idea if he would be the Finnish number one. In the first four matches, he regularly took turns with Harri Säteri in the goal. However, he was then hit by an unspecified injury and at least he returned to the Czech Republic against the Czech Republic. In addition, in the two previous starts, he stopped “only” less than 93 percent of the pucks.
Olkinuora has already won Finland in silver at the last championship in Riga. After that, he was supposed to be number one at the February Olympics in Beijing, but due to a positive coronavirus test, he fell into the role of a substitute. Gold was picked up by Säteri.
Now the card has turned over again. Olkinuora, however, subdues any enthusiasm. “I would like to take it that I play the best hockey in my life, but I know that every match is different and you don’t always have to succeed. I just try to give balanced performances,” he said.
“It must also be said that this tournament is ruthless. The next match is a knockout and it will not depend on how I caught against the Czech Republic.”
So far, however, Olkinuora is by far the best goalkeeper of the championship. He is not one of the stars of the overseas NHL – years ago he tried to establish himself in Winnipeg, but only commuted between farms.
Europe sat him down. He will play next season in Biel, Switzerland. After due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he refused to continue the KHL.
–
