While many Wild fans spent the day catching Wild prospects like Alex Tuch, Carson Soucy, Adam Gilmour, and others play (and get eliminated) in the NCAA tournament, goaltender Kaapo Kähkönen was busy scoring goals in Finland.
Yes, Kähkönen is a goaltending prospect, but that didn’t stop the TUTO goalie from putting one in against KooKoo on Saturday.
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He grabbed a loose puck dumped into his end from a center ice faceoff. He was able to notice that he had some time with the puck and didn’t need to get rid of the puck instantly, so he repositioned himself and then aimed for the empty KooKoo net. Afterward, he saluted fans then did a fly-by.
A goaltender’s goal is always a wonderful thing, but what makes this one extra special isn’t as much Kähkönen as it is the play-by-play. The announcer goes absolutely bonkers. He seems to see where this is going early on — given, I’m reading off his inflection and not his words because my Finnish is akin to bridge trolls, in that it doesn’t exist — but he absolutely loses his mind as the puck hits center ice. In any language, this is a fantastic call.
Take a look at the play below.
The 18-year-old goaltender was a 4th round pick, 109th overall, for the Wild in the 2014 draft. He’s got quite a shot there.
Next: Time to Sign Mario Lucia?
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