The Under-20 Men’s Ice Hockey World Cup will be played in Ottawa, Canada from December 26, 2024 to January 5, 2025. Urheilu follows the games in this article.
It’s showtime!
The Espoo audience has been buzzing about the 18-year-old goalkeeper for a long time, but now Petteri Rimpinen excerpts have also become familiar to the general public.
Rimpinen, who represents Kiekko-Espoo at the club team level, has won over both the home crowd and the North American media at the under-20 World Championships in Ottawa.
In the opening match, Finland lost to Canada 0–4, but since then the Young Lions have gone from victory to victory. Rimpinen has played a significant role in the victories: against the reigning world champions, the United States, the young Finnish keeper blocked no less than five runs when Finland beat the USA 4–3 in overtime.
The Canadian audience cheered Finland and especially the Finnish keeper wildly. After the USA match, Rimpinen was subjected to quite a bit of media attention.
– The USA is Canada’s worst mental opponent in this tournament. It increased his stardom in this country to other spheres. Even against Latvia, he received cheers and almost applause, even if the red line was only a sloppy shot. Rimpinen has really got into people’s hearts, the director of European talent scouting for the Dallas Stars Kari Takko comment.
Of course, the home crowd had noticed Rimpinen’s skills already in the opening match of the tournament. Although the Finnish keeper had to give up four times, he got in the way of the puck a total of 37 times: 16 saves were recorded in the opening set alone.
For example, the Canadian giant TSN praised the Finnish goalkeeper in its studio. Rimpinen was rewarded for his hard work as the best of his team.
2.1. at 19:00 Sweden – Latvia
2.1. at 21:30 USA – Switzerland
3.1. at 00:00 Finland – Slovakia
3.1. at 02.30 Czech Republic – Canada
A wonderful autumn in the SM league
However, Rimpinen’s story should start long before the WC tournament in Ottawa.
He has been involved in youth national teams for a long time: at the Pohjola camp, which gathers Finland’s best hockey players under the age of 15, he was chosen as the tournament’s best goalkeeper in 2021, and last spring, for example, at the home championships for the under-18s in Espoo, Rimpinen was Finland’s number one goalkeeper.
The goalkeeper from Kirkkonummi saved Kiekko-Espo’s goal in Mestis last season in 14 matches, and this season he has saved many victories for Espoo in the SM league.
Despite his young age, Rimpinen has even risen to the ranks of the top keepers in the league.
– Rimpinen has played a really wonderful fall in the SM league and received much more credit than he probably expected. He has been an important factor in Kiekko-Espoo’s success. If you look at the statistics from the junior seasons, he has played at a high level all the time. The boring answer is that Rimpinen is simply a good goalkeeper, Urheilu’s expert Top Nättinen comment.
However, Rimpinen’s career has not been just an upswing: he transferred to TPS after the 2021–2022 season, but the visit lasted only one season. A year older Noa Vali bore the main responsibility in A-youth, and Rimpinen was not satisfied with his role.
He returned to Espoo.
– Rimpinen had to pick himself up. The talent has always been there and last year he joined the Mestis team. Now he has also shown his claws in the SM league. Takko, who saved Minnesota and Edmonton in the NHL with a goal, can see that he has gained the self-confidence he has accumulated over the course of a year and a half, which is emphasized here at the World Cup.
But what makes Rimpis such a good goalkeeper?
As a goalkeeper, however, he is small: 182 centimeters.
– He has had to build his activities on movement, not only on placement. He can see the puck all the time, has really good balance and control. The operation is technically very controlled. He clearly enjoys tough spots and wants to be a hero. Doing it is very cool, even though his nickname is showtime, Nättinen enumerates.
Takko is on the same lines.
– A goalkeeper of his size must have game reading skills and speed if he wants to have some sort of career. They are at a tough level for him, and the will to fight must also be mentioned.
Rimpinen has enjoyed the trust of the coaching staff both in Espoo and Nuori Leijon. In Ottawa, Rimpinen has borne the responsibility of blocking in all Finnish matches so far.
Topi Nättinen believes that Rimpinen was told that he is the number one goalkeeper and plays as much as he can.
– It creates a feeling for the goalkeeper that I am trusted and that I am important. If you think about the number of games he has played, he is certainly in good shape both mentally and physically. In the SM league, he has not fallen into anything such that his head would start to get tired or he would get injured.
However, Nättinen admits that he has thought about Rimpinen’s recent game numbers.
– Of course, the young goalkeeper is excited and can play, but the number of games is really tough for this season. As a young goalkeeper, he doesn’t have that kind of routine. I’ve been thinking about how he copes when there’s stress at the bottom and there’s stress in the competitions.
– A young guy in a good flow. I think he’s dying to play.
NHL booking coming up?
Rimpinen was already of reserve age last summer, but even then the Finnish guard was not reserved for the fabled buck league.
– The reason why he was left without a reservation last year was without a doubt the result of the year in Turku. He had not yet found himself after a difficult year, Kari Takko sees.
Topi Nättinen believes that the excellent performances both in the SM league and in the ongoing World Cup have raised Rimpinen’s shares – especially when the games are played in North America and the USA and Canada happened to be in the same starting group.
– Of course, booking goalkeepers is a little different in the NHL. They are not usually booked very high and it is really rare for a goalkeeper to get booked in the first round.
– Unfortunately, Rimpinen is a bit short, and that is not always understood in Europe. In the two previous NHL drafts, fifty goalkeepers have been reserved, and none under 185 centimetres, Nättinen reminds.
However, ‘s expert believes that the Finnish keeper will be booked at the next booking event.
– Now there are even historically tough screens on the table. The reservation will certainly come, but not necessarily as high as the general public expects.
Both Nättinen and Takko see Rimpinen’s future as bright.
– He will play at a high level in the future. It is difficult to take a position, whether it means EHT tournaments, the World Cup, the Olympics or the NHL, but the future is bright, Takko reflects.
Nättinen emphasizes that this is a young goalkeeper who should be allowed to build his career in peace.
– The best age for goalkeepers is between 27 and 34 years. At an exceptionally young age, he has been able to take the position of first goalkeeper in the top club of the SM league. However, he is a good enough goalkeeper that at some point North America will call, Nättinen believes.
– Goalkeepers have a lot to do with which organization they end up and behind whose goalie. Is there room and opportunity? But I could see that at least in Europe, Rimpinen will have a top career, if the job doesn’t open up in the NHL. However, he has all the talent to have a great and long career even there in North America.