Claimed:Kimmo Salo

[Seth 92]

Kimmo Salo

 

 

On October 17, 1993, Kimmo Salo was born in Helsinki, Finland. From conception, Kimmo was destined to become a hockey player. In his childhood, he predominantly played as a forward and was quite the playmaker. However, that all changed when Salo hit a major growth spurt in his adolescence years and grew nearly seven inches over a two year span. Consequently, his bantam coaches tried him out as a goaltender and he excelled instantaneously. A legacy was born.

 

Salo's hometown of Helsinki

 

Growing up in Finland, Kimmo idolized all the great Finnish hockey players of the world. Collecting Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu posters were a common hobby. However, neither of the aforementioned players became Kimmo’s true idol, once he watched Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne.

 

Kimmo was mesmerized by Rinne’s size and puck skills. He swiftly attempted to model Pekka’s style as his own, by watching countless hours of film on Rinne. Watching Predators games and practicing at the skating rink became routine. Salo’s persistence and dedication resulted in resounding success, as he caught the eyes of numerous scouts within the Finnish Elite League.

After being recruited by nearly all teams within the league, Salo eventually agreed to terms with Tappara. Under the guidance of coach Jukka Rautakorpi, Kimmo sharpened his skills and flexibility while remaining the backup goaltender for his entire rookie season. He occasionally started games for Tappara and never allowed more than three goals in any game. His starts though minuscule, rapidly garnered rave reviews among executives in the NHL, KHL, and more significantly the VHL.

After much deliberation between his family and agent, Kimmo Salo was swayed to file admission into the VHL ranks. After one mere season with Tappara, he declared his eligibility to play in the VHLM. Upon being places on waivers, a rush of general managers filed a claim for the Finnish goaltender. His rights were eventually awarded to the Oslo Storm, who Salo currently starts games for. Kimmo Salo will be an eligible draftee for the S37 VHL Entry Draft.

 

Salo in net for Tappara

 

Pro's

 

• Size: Standing at 6’4’’, Salo has relatively great size for a goalie. He uses his frame quite well, which prevents shots aimed directly at him from entering the net. Furthermore, his size forces shooters to adjust their shots commonly, as aiming high rarely results in success. Size is a skill that cannot be taught, which adds to Kimmo’s popularity among numerous scouts.

 

• Flexibility: Perhaps the skill Kimmo takes most pride in is his flexibility. He contains the capability to flex his legs immensely, which results in beautiful splits and more importantly, fewer garbage goals. Moreover, his athletic ability allows him to avoid major injuries, as he can abruptly separate his body from massive collisions. Salo’s flexibility at his size is quite rare to encounter.

 

• Work Ethic: Once on the ice, Salo’s mindset changes expeditiously. The only thing that matters is preventing the opposing team from scoring and carrying his team to victory. To allow the forenamed result to occur, Kimmo spend immeasurable amounts of time refining his game.  He studies his play upon the conclusion of every game. Furthermore, extra practices with goalie coaches have become habitual.  His desire to become the best goaltender in the world is matched by few.

Con's

 

• Inexperience: A major critique among scouts is Kimmo’s inexperience.  He played only one season in a competitive hockey league and that was as a backup. Although his stats were rather impressive, the sample size remains insufficient in declaring his future as being automatically successful. Salo will be drafted into the VHL at the tender age of twenty and many wonder if he can adjust his game to such a high level instantly.

 

• Skating: Salo’s flexibility is undeniably impressive, but his quickness around the net leaves something to be desired. His lateral movements are rather unimpressive, which can allow lopsided fast-breaks result into goals. Being rather tall hinders Kimmo’s goal of improving his agility and that has created a major hole in his game.

 

• Leadership: Although goalies are usually never declared captains on the ice, their leadership is immeasurable inside the locker room. Most goalies are vocal with their opinions and ensure their thoughts be heard by their teammates. Salo tends to shy away from his teammates and prefers to isolate himself from scrutiny. Scouts are confident that he shares opinions which challenge his peers, but he is far too anxious to approach his teammates about them. Psychological improvement is something few coaches can offer, so this is a weakness that Kimmo must solve himself.

[eaglesfan036 4,602]

Overview: 3/3 - Since Salo was born in Helsinki, it would be cool for him to someday play for Helsinki. Rinne seems like a great goaltender to model after after if you keep up your work with Salo, maybe you can become the VHL version of Rinne.

 

Grammar: 2/2 - Couldn't find anything. I don't know for sure if pro's is supposed to be pros, so I didn't take anything off.

 

Presentation: 1/1 - Looks beautiful since there are no Islanders pictures in it

 

Pros: 2/2 - Just over 200 words. Don't let in those garbage goals like the Islanders goalie.

 

Cons: 2/2 - Over 200 words.

 

Overall: 10/10

 

Final: 10/10

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