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Banned
OVR: 31
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Westchester County, NY
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Re: The Keeper from Karelia: An NHL 09 Goaltender BAP Story
Mikko was able to sleep in late that day, and he took advantage of that, going until 2:30 PM. When he woke up, he found that his girlfriend was gone, and had left a note for him. It told him that she had gone to get groceries, and would be back soon. Mikko took advantage of this, as well, by turning on the NHL Network. Aina claimed she enjoyed going to his games, but the first time Mikko had turned on a hockey game, Aina cried out in disgust, saying, “I already have to watch your games. Please don't make me go over my requirements.”
Mikko began watching the television, and since the hour had recently turned, the show he was watching had just begun. NHL Live was on, and today, they were talking about the Southeastern division. They started off talking about Cam Ward and Alexander Ovechkin. However, when the topic turned to Kari Lehtonen and the Atlanta Thrashers, Mikko sat up in interest.
“You know,” Eddie Olzceck said, “Kari Lehonen may not hold up that much longer in Atlanta. There's a new kid in town, and with the way he's been playing so far in the AHL, I wouldn't be surprised if Waddell called him up soon/”
“Yes,” said Bill Clement, “what's even worse is that the kid stole his last name! Check this out, folks, there's two 'Lehtonen's' in Atlanta. There's Kari Lehtonen, with an 'o', and Mikko Lehtinen, with an 'I'.”
Eddie Olzceck chuckled, and then said, “Yeah, but one of them has to go eventually, don't you think?”
“I absolutely do,” Bill said. “Kari Lehtonen's a great goalie with a bright future, but he hasn't done as well as the Thrashers organization has really hoped, and although he's only 24, he hasn't been able to do anything for them.”
“And especially with this year being the last year of his contract, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Mikko Lehtinen was at least a backup by the end of this year, and starting by next.”
“Absolutely,” Bill said in affirmative.
“Well, folks, you may be asking, who exactly is this kid, and what's the big fuss?” introduced Eddie Olzceck.
“He's so good,” said Bill. “His numbers through April weren't too strong, but I still think that was just him adjusting to the higher-ante of play in North America. You take a look at his last two starts, and come on folks, 45 saves against Nikita Filatov and the Syracuse Crunch, take a look at some of the saves he made that night.”
As the highlight reel began, there was hard rock music that went along with the numerous glove saves, split saves, and diving saves Mikko Lehtinen had made, making Mikko laugh and smile as he heard some television broadcaster's voice exclaim “what a save!” over and over and over again.
When the highlight reel was finished, Mikko decided to have a little fun with Eddie and Bill. Scrummaging through his jeans from last night, Mikko pulled out a small slip of paper with a phone number on it.
He punched the number into his hotel phone, and waited until a cool female voice came over on the other line.
“NHL Network, this is Christina, how may I help you?”
“Yes,” Mikko replied. His English was getting better every day, and it wouldn't be long until he no longer officially needed Aina. “I'd like to talk to Bill and Eddie on NHL Live.”
“I'm sorry, we currently have a waiting list, what's your name?”
“Mikko Lehtinen,” he said with a huge grin on his face. He couldn't wait to hear the woman's shocked voice at the end.
But she only said, “Okay Mikko, where are you calling from?”
“Uh....Chicago,” he said, completely put off that she hadn't directly connected him.
“Okay Mikko from Chicago, we'll try to get you in to the show before it's over but I can't promise any...”
Static overtook the phone line, until Mikko heard a man's voice, yelling at Christina.
Somebody picked the phone up, and said, “I'm so sorry, Mr. Lehtinen. This is Jake, Christina's supervisor. I am so sorry about her, she'll be dealt with accordingly.”
“Don't worry about it,” Mikko said. “It's not a big deal, she doesn't need to be punished or anything.”
“Alright then, Mr. Lehtinen, we're about to connect you, but before then, is there anything you need from me or Christina?”
“Yes,” Mikko said. “You don't have to call me Mr. Lehtinen, just Mikko.”
“S-sorry,” the supervisor stammered. “Sorry Mr—Mikko.”
Mikko laughed, and said, “Please connect me now.”
Mikko turned his attention the television set as the phone began to ring once more.
“Oh my goodness, folks, I don't believe this. It appears that we've got a special guest on the air right now, over the phone! How's it going, Mikko Lehtinen?”
“It's going well, Eddie, thanks for the compliments on my play. Do you like my hair, as well, or am I pushing it?”
They both laughed, and Bill said, “Thanks so much for coming on the show, we weren't expecting you to come on right now, so you'll have to excuse our lack of questions for a full-fledged interview.”
“It's not a problem,” Mikko replied.
“But I'm sure our fans have loads of them,” Eddie said. “Here's Mark Estabia, from New York.
“Hey Mikko,” Mark said. “I'm a huge follower of the AHL, and I couldn't help but notice your phenomenal play against Syracuse. Tell me something, though, what would you say was the hardest part about leaving Finland to come here?”
“Well,” Mikko began, “Obviously the fact that I didn't know anybody here, and I only knew one person that could speak my language, and that was my translator. It was hard at first, and a bit scary. But now I feel like I'm pretty used to it, I've been working really hard on my English, and I feel that over the past three months I've almost got it down/ Other than the language barrier, just adapting to the style of play, it's much different, especially against Syracuse, who is such a skill based, fast paced, highly offensive squad. Back in Finland it's all about defense, a guy like Tom Renney would've done well over there, much better than he did in his stint with the Rangers.”
“Do you like the skill oriented play, or the defensive play better?” Asked Eddie Olzceck.
“Ah, I like both for different reasons. You know, being a goalie, I like devensive play a lot, because that way my job is easier. But it's also a lot less fun, both for me, the players, and the fans. And what is hockey but a game? So I think that if I had to choose one, I would choose the skill type play more, especially in cities like Florida and Phoenix, where hockey is really struggling right now.”
"Next caller is Josh Ramirez from Washington DC," said Bill Clement.
"Hi, Mikko. I was just wondering who you feel is the best player on your team."
Mikko inhaled sharply, and said, "Ooooh, tough question there. I'm in a tight spot now, if I say the wrong guy I may have horrible defense the next couple of games."
Everybody laughed. Once they had settled down, Mikko continued, saying, "I don't think I can pick just one player. Our record doesn't show it, but I feel that we've all been playing really good hockey. Our only problem is that we make bad mistakes in the defensive zone sometimes, myself included, and we end up getting taken advantage of because of that. But I'd say we're all playing great, you know, Riley Holzapfel has been scoring like a maniac, just like Tomas Pospy. But also, Brett Sterling has been a huge influence in our locker room, and is always there to pick us up when we're down on ourselves. Also, he can make the big play when it's really necessary."
"Our third and final caller is Jennifer Howe, from Calgary," Eddie said.
"Hi," Jennifer said. "I've been watching you play, and you remind me a lot of Mikka Kipprusoff. What would you say is the number one thing that seperates him from you, or vice versa?"
"Well, I think it's mainly clutch factor, and a lot of confidence," said Mikko. "I feel like coming into every game I've often got a pit at the bottom of my stomach, and you watch him and he goes out, works hard, and never gives up, and he does this every day and night of his career. He's a great goalie, and I can only hope that one day I will be blessed enough to be as good as him."
"Well," Bill Clement said. "Thank you very much, Mikko, for your time and patience. Congratulations on the big win against Syracuse, once again, that's all the time we have, have a nice day, Mikko and friends."
Mikko returned the courtesies, and hung up the phone.
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04-29-2009, 06:37 PM
