Claimed:Rookie Profile: Santeri Heikelä

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Santeri Heikelä

 

Santeri Heikelä during Finland's Junior National Team training.

 

 

Santeri Heikelä began his hockey career very late in the age of 15. He joined a small Finnish Junior team from Jyväskylä. For the first year he was mostly a substitute goalie winning 5 out of 7 games he played. His team managed to make it to the Play-Offs but was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Next year the teams number one goalie was no longer a part of the roster, so Heikelä took his place. The team had a very successful season with Heikelä, concluding in a championship win and a record of 30-7-2 during the regular season. Heikelä was the starting goalie in 27 of them. His potential was finally noted and he was invited to Finland's Junior National Team. Heikelä was chosen as the second goalie. Finland did not have great success in the tournament, but Heikelä played well. From that point on Heikelä would no longer continue playing in the Junior League.

 

 

Pros:

 

• Heikelä's aggressive style of play has been a topic of many junior coaches. Rather than waiting for the puck to come to him, he's more likely to go get it himself. He usually denies breakaways by using his stick to poke the puck away resulting in angry looks from the attempting player. He also moves a lot and helps the defense very often by clearing the puck.
• If you check the dictionary for the term 'hybrid goalie' you'll find a picture of Heikelä there. Heikelä's saves rarely include going into butterfly and catching the puck with the glove. More often you'll see him for a neat save at the last second, again causing opposing players to have hard feelings for him.
• It's often said that Heikelä has very much discretion when it comes to Ice Hockey. Like goalies should, Heikelä always seems to be one step ahead thinking more about where the puck is going rather than where it is. He would suit surprisingly well to a captain's position because of his playmaking and leadership skills.

 

Cons:

 

• Though Heikelä has developed a lot during his junior years, he began his quite old, especially for a goalie. His flexibility is slightly below what a hockey goalie should be able to do and he might not always be able to stretch into a split save when needed.
• Heikelä is a very tiny man for someone who's supposed to cover up a hockey goal. This can often be a slight problem with Heikelä with pucks going just an inch too far away. While most goalies usually are big enough to cover up, Heikelä is just happy that he has a long stick.
• For someone who has to train many times a week and keep himself fit, Heikelä's athletical ability is still seems to be under developement. In a match where the puck stays too much on his side of the rink he'll run out of juice way too fast. Getting used to the fast pace of VHL will be a problem at start. It also seems that Heikelä's skating and balance need some practice especially after off-season.

 

Santeri Heikelä started his career at the age of 16.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Kitnox

[AwfulHomesick 148]

Content: 5/5 - I saw potential in your player back when you joined. You haven't been on in a few days but I hope you can come back and have your goalie turn into something special.

 

Grammar: 1/1 - Nothing to be worried about here. Just make sure to read through after finishing any future point tasks.

Play-Offs - playoffs

 

teams - team's

 

Ice Hockey - ice hockey

 

he began his quite old - he began quite old

 

Appearance: 1/1 - Solid.

 

Over 500 Words?: 1/1 - Just barely.

 

Overall: 8/8

 

Final: 8/8

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