Prospects Profile : Hannu Toivonen
Welcome to the second edition of “Prospects Profile”. This will (hopefully) be a weekly thing I can do for you to give you the history of some of our less known prospects. The first edition of Prospects Profile was on Yan Stastny which you can read here.
Hannu Toivonen started his career as a Boston Bruin.
Hannu Toivonen, the 25 year old goaltender born in Kalvola, Finland, was drafted 29th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 2002 NHL entry draft. Toivonen was drafted out of HPK Hameenlinna.
Toivonen came overseas to play with the Bruins farm club, the Providence Bruins in the 2003-2004 season. He put up decent numbers in the 36 games he played in Providence. Thought his record of 15-16-4 didn’t show how well he played, his goals-against-average and save percentage did. A very solid .921SV% and 2.30GAA proved that Toivonen did well in his first season in North America. Hannu did not play a game in the post-season that year.
The next year in Providence proved better for Toivonen who played a total of 54 games. Boasting a 29-18-3 record for the regular season, not to mention an even better .932SV% and his incredible 2.05GAA and incredible seven shutouts was setting up Toivonen to be the next great Finnish goaltender. He followed up that season performance with an 10-7 record in the playoffs that year. His .923SV% and his 2.43 helped keep his Providence team in the games every night.
The Bruins liked what they saw out of Hannu the two previous years enough to say, kid, you’re playing for us this year. In the 20 games he played for Boston in the 2005-2006 season, he continued to show that promise as he posted a 9-5-4 record with one shutout and impressive .914SV% and 2.63GAA. Pretty solid numbers for Toivonen. Then faced his biggest obstacle of his career. The dreaded high-ankle sprain, this would sideline him the rest of the year. This was the turning point of his career.
He split the next season between Boston and Providence, putting up some not so great numbers compared to the start of his career. The games he played with Boston, the once proud Finnish goaltender faded and Toivonen posted a sad 3-9-1 record, an abysmal .875SV%, and an even worse 4.23GAA, the worst in his career.
He didn’t fair much better in Providence compared to his previous two stints, going only 13-13-1 and held .909SV% and a 2.37GAA. He did manage two shutouts in those games with Providence, but the goaltender that was seen the previous three years was gone, and the Bruins followed this season up by trading Toivonen to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Swedish forward Carl Soderberg. Soderberg, a highly skilled player has yet to come overseas to play in North America as he continues to play with his home town team, the Malmo Redhawks. If Soderberg ever comes overseas, he could show why he was a 2nd round pick and that his stats overseas aren’t just for show, but right now, that is a big if.
Hannu had a good start in St. Louis until a blowout in Colorado.
Toivonen started the year in St. Louis quite well as he boasted in his first eight games, a 5-3-0 record with a .914SV% and a 2.00GAA. A very promising start for the young net-minder who was looking to regain his stride in the National Hockey League.
Then December 9th, 2007, the Blues lost goaltender Manny Legace to injury and went into the game, with Toivonen as their starter, and young Marek Schwarz as the back up.
This was the turning point in Hannu’s season. Letting in a whopping eight goals the entire game, all of his confidence he had built up in the previous eight games, were now gone. Toivonen had given up five, and been pulled. Schwarz was put in, the Blues had started to build a come back scoring three times in a matter of five minutes. Schwarz had let in an early goal, but things were looking up, and then in the move that likely did Toivonen in the rest of the year, they brought him BACK into the game. He proceeded to let in three more goals in the night to bring his total to eight for the night. He never returned to form as he finished out the rest of the season with just one more win. Totaling up a 1-6-5 record the rest of the year. The final win he recorded, was in the final game of the season. He looked like the goalie from the start of the year in that game, stopping 35 of 36, but that would be the last game for Toivonen in the NHL. He finished the year with a 6-10-5 record, a 3.44GAA and a .878SV%. Such a sad finish after such a promising start. Hannu did play 11 games with the Blues AHL affiliate team, the Peoria Rivermen, going 6-4-0 with a .883SV% and a 3.16GAA. This coming after his blowout in Colorado and after trying to instill from confidence in their young goaltender, the Blues let Hannu go for the next season.
Toivonen proceeded to return home that next year, signing a one year deal with Tampere Ilves in Hannu’s home land of Finland. Those casual fans who look at his record, 19-23-9 would probably think that was a disappointing year for Hannu. It was quite the opposite. For a team who had a leading point get of only 45 points in 55 games, the Ilves didn’t really stand a chance to go anywhere good that season, but Hannu kept them from doing horribly. He finished his season off with Tampere with a 2.68GAA and a .910SV%. This helped Hannu build some of his confidence back up.
Toivonen is back in Peoria this year.
This brings up to the 2009-2010 season, the season we are currently in. Hannu is back in North America. After an apparent phone call from Toivonen’s agent, he told the Blues he wanted to come back overseas and see if he can make his way back into the NHL. He is currently splitting time with Ben Bishop in the Blues top farm system, the Peoria Rivermen. He’s had a fairly good year this season, going 7-7-1 with a .909SV% and a 2.78GAA. Hannu is doing well for his first season back North America after his stint in Finland. He’s proving that he’s got the skill to be a quality goaltender, and if either of Chris Mason or Ty Conklin go down with injury, I think Toivonen will be the likelier call up as he’s been the better goaltender this season, between him and Bishop, in my opinion.
Will Toivonen make it back to the NHL? If I had to guess, I’d say yes. He’s got the skill, reflexes, flexibility, and ability to make the big save. As long as his head is in the game, he’ll be a fine young goaltender yet.
So here is a good luck to you, Hannu Toivonen, and we all hope you can make it back to the National Hockey League.
Randall Ritchey
randallritchey@gmail.com
