Thank You - Raimo Tuominen

[SlapshotLegion 887]

This is a thank you letter from Raimo Tuominen:

 

After 8 seasons in the VHL, I’m about to make one of the hardest announcements of my life. I was 18 when I first entered the VHL system and 20 when I first made it to the big leagues. I’m not gonna lie, I never fully prepared myself for life after the Victory Hockey League. And I’ve been trying to avoid this reality for the longest time now. However, now that we are eliminated from the playoffs, I’ve had to simply face the truth. My time in this league is done.

 

I’m still going to pursue hockey after this. Like many VHL graduates, I’ll be working hard to hopefully get the chance to ply my trade in the NHL. I still have a lot of seasons left in me and I don’t intend on retiring fully from the game of hockey anytime soon. Being completely honest, I probably will be involved with the game of hockey until my very last breath, whether it be as a coach, GM, or even a zamboni driver.

 

I’d like to start off by thanking the Houston Bulls for taking a chance on a streaky, unproven, immature kid from the Finnish league and giving me a chance to compete in a North American rink. The season I spent there was definitely fun and meeting people I’d eventually compete against (and hey! Even people I’d play with: looking at you Kadachi) as well as learning what it took to try and take that next step. I want to thank Oslo and Rome as well in the now defunct VHLE. Being a part of both franchises taught me a lot: At Oslo, we may have had a tough looking record but we were a high-octane offense. Rome taught me how to play a bit more maturely. Of course, I’d also meet Catia Goncalves in Oslo, who, no offense to anybody else, was the perfect linemate for me.

 

Speaking of Catia, I can’t stress how lucky I was to have a teammate like her to develop with in Calgary. When we acquired her from Riga, I was excited. It wasn’t only in Oslo where I had gotten used to her high scoring play; we had played together in international tournaments, Pro-Am tournaments, and even the Junior Showcase Tournament if I am not mistaken. Then in Calgary we took it to another level. That Dustin Funk award I won doesn’t happen without Catia. There was something about the way we played that just clicked and that connection was something magical. We just kept blasting shots on goal and they kept going in! I remember many sequences where it’d just be shot after shot until finally something would go in and then we’d celebrate and sigh in relief that the puck actually slid against the goal line after that shift.

 

I’d like to showcase lots of teammates. I have plenty of stories from Captain Phil to the hard hitting Toby Kadachi to Miner VHLer who is definitely a close second favourite linemate. I’m serious, having VHLer on my line for those many seasons in Calgary helped take the pressure off of me when it came to the physicality. He can bring it and still does with the Wranglers. However, I do want to say a major thank you to Randy Bobandy. I remember that he was an old man when he came to Calgary. He gave me a place to stay, even got a sauna prepared for me, and helped me learn the ropes of being a centerman in the VHL because before that I was a winger! A great mentor off and on the ice, I couldn’t be even close to the player I am today without him. Back then, I was a kid. Now I’ve become an old man just like him.

 

I want to thank the Calgary Wranglers; the staff, fans, Zef Goncalves, our coaches, and my teammates for all of those years. The locker room has always been a great place to be and we went on quite a number of runs together. Being there for 7 seasons and seeing all the different people come in and out and then playing hard together to try and get the job done. I know I might have finished my career as a Legion but nothing can change the fact that I am a Wrangler for life. We went from a young, rebuilding team to a team that could hang with the best. Now they have a new core with guys that I consider myself lucky to have been able to play with and are going to be good for a good while. Thank you for taking a chance on a guy who never scored a point per game pace in both Europe and in the Minors and drafting me 6th overall. I hope that I was able to make an impact on the city and on the organization because you guys definitely made a huge one on me. I hope you can all smell double dubs with your eyes many times in the upcoming seasons.

 

And finally, I want to thank the Toronto Legion who took me in as an old man in his final season in the league. I know it didn’t end the way we wanted but we had a great run. We were a team that kept fighting and that could play a damn good 60 minutes. That regular season was great and even if we did get upset, I know that this team will build upon what was done this season. Vidarsson had us enjoying donuts for days, Skilton is proving to be one of the best offensive defensemen in the league, Shevchenko is become a great forward, Kadachi with the hits, SMM also directing the middle, many good players that will for sure make great things happen in the city of Toronto. It was a short time but I definitely enjoyed my time here and I wish nothing but the best for the Legion for seasons to come.

 

Thank you all for my playing days here in the VHL, I will always be connected with this league.

 

Raimo Tuominen

[AJW 2,370]

Always love playing with you, hope we can cross paths again

[dstevensonjr 568]

It was an honour having you in Toronto!!