Rask interview article #1

[Jubis 1,341]

FUUKKA RASK INTERVIEW

 

Q:  Can you fill us in a bit about your background in hockey and who your role models were or are? 
 Can you tell us about your own goaltending style?

Can you also tell whether you adapt or change your game when you go from competing with younger players vs older players ?

 

Rask: "I started playing hockey at age 8 and have been a goalie since I was 10. My first full year as a goalie my parents enrolled me into a goalie school run by Oli Pekkanen and he was (and still is) my idol growing up. I was fortunate enough to end up teaching at the goalie school and am still in contact with Oli.

I’m a butterfly style goalie and try to make use of my athletic ability and reactions. I feel one of the biggest differences in Juniors vs VHLM games is patience and timing. In the Juniors it’s a lot of reaction saves because of the hard passes and shots, whereas the VHLM they tend to read the play more, so as a goalie you have to be patient and make the right save choices.

I averaged over 28 shots a game this year with my team  in the few games i played and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love being in games where the goalie can be the difference maker.  When you’re facing that many shots a night you have that opportunity. With my junior team however, there are nights we only see 10 shots and that’s just a credit to our team’s strong defensive play. Those nights aren’t always the most exciting but they are sometimes the games you have to be the most focused because your team is playing so well.  If it’s a tight game you don’t want to give up that goal on one of the few chances the opposition gets".