Gate and co-host Pete jump back in the studio to talk Goalies and are joined by Joe Drennan, the “Washed Up Goalie“, from the Tendy Talk podcast

  Pete Fricano media and Hockey Dad Gatekeeper.

  Joe tells us all bout his experience with Tendy Talk.

  A throwback to more southside Chicago hockey.

  Alex Ovechkin scores the record breaker, and we discuss from a goalie P.O.V.

  NHL expansion in the Atlanta area.

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The post The Net Perspective – Episode 7 – Tendy Talk podcast appeared first on The Rink.

Gate and co-host Pete Fricano get together to talk about all things goaltending. Get your goalie fix!

  Pete Fricano media and Hockey Dad Gatekeeper.

  League Goalie swaps.

  NHL Expansion.

  Little side quest about GoalieParts.com.

  4 Nation.

  Youth Goaltending in the Chicagoland area.

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The post The Net Perspective – Episode 6 – Back again with lots to talk about! appeared first on The Rink.

Gate and new co-host Pete Fricano get together to preview a new NHL season and remind you why you all listen. Get your goalie fix!

  In the warmups, Gate and Pete talk about Pet’s new gig doing some announcing with a new LPHL team.

  In the first period, Jeremy Swayman just signed a huge 8 year deal to stay in Boston.

  In the second period, We segue to the Robin Lehner saga.

  In the third period, the Yaroslav Askarov trade.

  We wrap up overtime with some predictions and story lines we’ll be following.

  As an added bonus we talk about out top 3-4 goalies in the NHL.

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Gate and new co-host Pete Fricano get together to preview a new NHL season and remind you why you all listen. Get your goalie fix!

-In the first period, Gate and Pete talk about how they met, tell some stories from days gone by, and what their experiences were as young goalies.
-In the second period, we talk about their top 5 favorite goalies (not to be confused with our top 5 “best” goalies)
-In a special between-period segment we talk about the three goalies we wish we could have seen play.
-In the third period, we discussed the goalie we “hated”

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The post The Net Perspective – Episode 4 – Back from the dead appeared first on The Rink.

Gate and Dutch get together to open the second half of the NHL season with a bang. Some big surprises and some crazy scenarios played out in the NHL. The guys are here to chat about it. Get your goalie fix!

-Why do goalies league-wide have lower save percentages recently?
-Goalie masks falling off discussion
-Kicking the net off intentionally discussion
-Jordan Binnington’s fake tough-guy act

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The Net Perspective – Episode 3 w/ @PuckinHostile and Dutch https://t.co/niekbg3DMd

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) January 22, 2023

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The post The Net Perspective – Episode 3 – The NHL Midpoint appeared first on The Rink.

Gate and Dutch are joined by the creator of the UNCAGE, Surjan Singh. The UNCAGE is a new revolutionary device designed to replace traditional metal bar cages for goalies to increase visibility and protection.

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The Net Perspective – Episode 2 – with UNCAGE creator @surjansingh_ https://t.co/YUNZ98VYAZ

— Hockey Rinkcast Channel (@TheRinkcast) July 13, 2022

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In this inaugural teaser episode, Lifelong hockey goalies “Gatekeeper” and “Dutch” introduce you to all things goalie. With over 50 years of combined experience playing and coaching hockey goalies, these two netminders talk about their experiences, coaching methodologies, pro & amateur goaltenders, and goalie development with Dek/Inline/Ice players.

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The post The Net Perspective – Episode 1 – Every goalie wants to rule the world (teaser) appeared first on The Rink.

That said, the 25-year-old Finland native is just 12 games into his career. Many other goaltenders have flamed out after starting out looking like the second coming of Ken Dryden. Names like Jim Carey, Steve Mason and Andrew Hammond come to mind when you put too many expectations into an unexpected phenom goaltender, though.

Admittedly, Lankinen has looked very poised and confident in the Blackhawks’ net thus far, which should not be overlooked.

That’s the funny thing about the position of goaltending. It has been jokingly referred to as “voodoo,” but that term is not far from the truth. For decades, goalies were just sent out and told to “just keep the puck out of the net.”

In recent years, though, goaltending schools and specialized coaches have turned the position into one of the most intricate in all sports. As a result, consistent goalies have become highly sought after. One thing Lankinen has been is consistent. Through his first 12 games, we have not seen him give up that “really soft” goal or terrible turnover (like the one against Tampa Bay that unfortunately sent Collin Delia to Shame Island).

Lankinen boasts a 7–2–3 record with a 2.29 goals against average and .931 save percentage coming into Friday’s game against Carolina. If he were to keep up at this highly improbably rate, he would rival rookie seasons by such familiar names as Ed Belfour and Tony Esposito.

The contenders

In 1969, the 26-year-old left-handed Esposito put together a historic rookie season for the Chicago Black Hawks with a 38–17–8 record, 2.17 goals against average, .932 save percentage and 39.6 goals saved above average, which won him the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year), Vezina Trophy (outstanding goaltender) and finished second in the Hart Trophy voting for the league’s most valuable player.

This was following an unspectacular 1968–69 season where he put up a 5–4–4 record, 2.75 goals against average and .919 save percentage with the Montreal Canadiens and was claimed by the Black Hawks in the league’s Intra-League Draft on June 11, 1969. He went on to have a 16-year Hall of Fame career with Chicago.

In 1990, Beflour, a 25-year-old unlikely former college free-agent, stepped into then-Head Coach Mike Keenan’s lineup and proceeded to put up a 43–19–7 record, 2.18 goals against average, .910 save percentage, four shutouts and 44.6 goals saved above average also en route to the Vezina, Calder, Jennings trophies and third place voting for the Hart Trophy.

This was after a very 4–12–3 record, 3.87 goals against average and .877 save percentage two seasons prior. Belfour went on to a similar Hall of Fame career over 17 seasons with Chicago, San Jose, Dallas, Toronto and finally Florida.

(Graphic created by The Rink’s Jeff Osborn)

The next “guy”?

Can Lankinen keep up these cartoonishly good numbers and end up in Blackhawks goaltending lore like Esposito and Belfour?

Probably not, especially with the team going through an alleged rebuild.

That does not mean Lankinen will not turn out to be a really good NHL goaltender. He has shown many of the tools that other great goalies have displayed. He is calm, composed, measured, well-trained, athletic and resilient. He has generally been in the right position and not overly aggressive in his appearances.

Looking back on all of his previous seasons, in Finland, he consistently posted very high save percentage numbers at most levels, including the assorted Jokerit junior teams and the Finnish national team.

With the Rockford IceHogs last season, he won four of his first five games on the year, combining for a 1.99 goals against average and .937 save percentage during that span. He set an AHL franchise record with 55 saves on 56 shots in a 2–1 overtime win against the Milwaukee Admirals on Dec. 10, 2019.

Lankinen was also selected to represent the IceHogs at the AHL All Star Game last season.

His final numbers were an 8–10–2 record, 3.03 goals against average and .909 save percentage in 21 appearances prior to his season ending shoulder surgery in February.

In a season when Blackhawks fans were told to set expectations low, Lankinen has been one of several pleasant surprises. This success should be taken both with a grain of salt and met with cautious optimism. Due to the COVID-19 division realignment and the travel restrictions, the Blackhawks have faced less than 25% of the other teams and Lankinen has only faced six of 30 other teams. His worst performance—albeit his first—was against the Florida Panthers, whom he has only faced once and is one of the hottest teams in the league. He has also yet to face the Tampa Bay Lightning team that put up 10 goals in two games against the Blackhawks to open the season.

Time will tell, but the excitement is not without some justification. Temper expectations, though.

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