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Ari Ahonen signs in Finland(?)


RowdyFan42

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http://www.eurohockey.net/transfers/transf...stname=&days=31

http://www.hifk.fi/news/files/5859.html

It looks like Ari's signed with his old team, HIFK Helsinki.  Does anyone know enough Finnish to tell whether the team's website actually says that or not?

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So he has given up on the NHL???

LL should have traded him 3 years ago... No talented goalie is going to wait 10 years to get their shot!!!

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I didn't have my Finland guide here. But from trying to read it, it didn't say too much about the contract. It talked about him being a 4-year AHL vet with Albany and being a former first round pick and how old he is, etc. And I think he started 116 career AHL games?

P.S. It should be noted that Pasi Nurminen inked a similar deal to go back home.

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Yeah, it does confirm that he indeed signed with them.

EDIT: Ahonen, that is.

Edited by Giuseppe
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I know we have some goalies coming up through college, but if Ari did indeed sign in Finland for next year, would those goalies be ready for the AHL?

Like Rowdy said, VERY bad news for the Rats. I hope Ari hasn't given up on the NHL yet. He's still young and would have a good shot at the NHL with a lot of different organizations.

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If Kari's as much of a hotshot as you keep telling us he is, he can handle his own damn development. :rolleyes::glare:

Thanks, Derek and Giuseppe.  This is not a good thing for the Rats.

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Jason Smith from sacred heart and he should never step foot on a pro rink considering his college GAA is around 4.

Josh Disher will be signed, thats allmost a given now with Clemmensen backing up Brodeur and Ahonen in europe.

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Is Matus Kostur still kicking around the Devils organization? I tend to think not, but you never know.

Also, it may not be a given that Clemmensen will back up Brodeur when the lockout ends. He may be needed here unless Lou can find some goalie prospect that another team has given up on.

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So the Rats will be worse next year?

:glare:;)

Hard to say. We're getting into deeper uncharted territory the farther the lockout goes on, so who knows how minor league free agency is going to work. If the NHL comes back in any form at some point next season, the Rats will likely be decimated. If we can manage to keep Clemmensen in Albany (meaning <insert NHL veteran on the decline here> gets signed to be the Devils' benchwarmer for a year), he'll likely get about 55-60 games with Disher/Kostur/random guy off the street pulling backup duty. If we have to start from scratch with the goaltending, things could get ugly.

Long story short, yeah, I'm not too optimistic. :(

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If Kari's as much of a hotshot as you keep telling us he is, he can handle his own damn development. :rolleyes::glare:

Thanks, Derek and Giuseppe.  This is not a good thing for the Rats.

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Ya.....cause its smart to throw a goalie immediately into a 60-70 game season his rookie year right?

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If Kari's as much of a hotshot as you keep telling us he is, he can handle his own damn development. :rolleyes::glare:

Thanks, Derek and Giuseppe.  This is not a good thing for the Rats.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ya.....cause its smart to throw a goalie immediately into a 60-70 game season his rookie year right?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Gotta learn sometime. :P

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If Kari's as much of a hotshot as you keep telling us he is, he can handle his own damn development. :rolleyes::glare:

Thanks, Derek and Giuseppe.  This is not a good thing for the Rats.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ya.....cause its smart to throw a goalie immediately into a 60-70 game season his rookie year right?

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Gotta learn sometime. :P

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Ya cause even brodeur or roy couldn't pull that off right?

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1993-94 	 New Jersey 	 NHL 	 47 GP 	 27 W 	 11 L 	 8 T 	 2625 MIN 	 105 GA 	 1238 SA 	 3 SO 	 2.4 GAA  .915SV%

1993-94 NHL - Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year)

1993-94 NHL - All-Rookie Team

I'd say that's damn good for a rookie year.

I was just kidding with my previous post, BTW.

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Well, Brodeur had Terreri his rookie year and didn't become the full-time guy till late that year before the playoffs.

Don't the Thrashers still have Dafoe?

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He's UFA and insanely injury prone. I wouldn't expect the Thrashers to re-sign him.

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I'm not all that familiar with the Thrashers, to be honest. I'm sure if need be, they'll go out and get a vet for Kari to work with. Granted, there's not a stockpile of available goalies, but Atlanta's NOT going to want to screw this kid up. They'll figure something out.

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1993-94 	 New Jersey 	 NHL 	 47 GP 	 27 W 	 11 L 	 8 T 	 2625 MIN 	 105 GA 	 1238 SA 	 3 SO 	 2.4 GAA  .915SV%

1993-94  NHL - Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year)

1993-94  NHL - All-Rookie Team

I'd say that's damn good for a rookie year.

I was just kidding with my previous post, BTW.

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Bittorrent make internet go slow, make me miss icon...

Yes that was a DAMN good rookie season, but the poitn was more so that it wouldn't be good for kari to jump right into a full season. His biggest issue coming into north america was conditioning and playing a big streak of games, while it seems like he's corrected that no matter who you are, its never good for a goalie to jump right into the NHL like that.

As for dafoe, RD nailed it. Dafoe blows anyways. I was a big dafoe fan...but not so much now. Farkenhouser finnished his first season in the ECHL i'm pretty sure and just came off an injury. Garnett at this point is better, but he just finished his first AHL season as BACKUP. So right now the thrashers are filled with a bunch of goalies, but no vets or guys who can aleviate the pressure without sucking. As much as the thrasher's d has improved i always felt comfy with cartman in net, because he is fantastic when facing a large amount of shots and fairly consistent, vs. dafoe who's inconsitency gave me fits...well at least inconsistency with the thrashers.

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Hey bruins, what do you think of Cam Ward of Carolina/Lowell? I've heard some people say that he's unflappable, reminds them of Marty, etc. so I was wondering about him. What do you expect him to do in the NHL?

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Hey bruins, what do you think of Cam Ward of Carolina/Lowell? I've heard some people say that he's unflappable, reminds them of Marty, etc. so I was wondering about him. What do you expect him to do in the NHL?

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I've only seen him play..twice? Or something. But from what i've heard and seen...he's jsut....my god. One hell of a prospect indeed.

He doesn't play like marty at all. He's a typical butterfly goalie, but he has superior concentration, positioning, and reflexes, not to mention he's a towering beast. I really see him as a vezina winner. His talent level is no way near as high as lehtonen, toivenen, niitymaki, fleury, or even leclaire. Honestly outside of his size and reflexes in general he's only above average in most physical aspects of the game. But techinically and mentally he's so strong, he's ready for the NHL already. Even a hell hole like carolina i think he can do great in cause of his incredible mental game.

One last thing, even though i downplayed his other physical aspects outside of reflexes. Its not to say he's not quick or anything. He's pretty quick and such, but he's not incredibly quick and fall out of your seat fast like other top goaltending prospects. But despite that i still see plenty of highlight reel saves and awards in this kid's future. He's outstanding. I'm not a big stat guy, but those stats you see in the playoffs and regular season really show how amazing this guy is...and he's a rookie even crazier.

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