Rinne, the Impenetrable

11 May 2015Petr Polák»

FInnish starting goaltender Pekka Rinne changes the historical maximum of length to not allow a goal during IIHF World Championships.

After the Finnish opening game of the 2015 Worlds against USA (L 1-5), Pekka Rinne earned three consecutive shut-outs in games against Denmark, Norway and Slovenia, receiving the first goal after a gap during game against Belarus, 237 minutes 05 seconds following the last goal received from USA Nick Bonino.

Credits to Rinne come from rows of both his teammates and today`s opponents.

Finnish forward Tuomo Ruutu says, Nashville Predators no.1 goaltender belongs among the world`s best goalies, if he is not even the best in the game: "His record is another proof of his nomination for NHL`s Vezina Trophy."

Head coach of Belarus, Dave Lewis sings the same note, "tonight he made fantastic saves, thus I cannot cast up anything to our players."

"I feel proud, however without our defenders helping me out, I would be no recordman," said Rinne himself about the milestone, referring to a fact the overall series of Team Finland in the championship was even longer.

Rinne received a day off for the game against Slovakia, in which Juuse Saros appeared in his place and shut-out the opponent as well. Thus the overall Finnish record is of 288 minutes 47 seconds.

The previous maximum was set by Jan Lasak of Slovakia, coincidentally in the same arena during the 2004 Worlds in Ostrava (206 min 26 sec)