Antti Raanta

Antti Raanta
Born (1989-05-12) May 12, 1989
Rauma, Finland
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 193 lb (88 kg; 13 st 11 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team
Former teams		 New York Rangers
Lukko
Ässät
Chicago Blackhawks
National team  Finland
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2008–present

Antti Raanta (born May 12, 1989) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as an undrafted free agent in 2013.

Playing career

Professional

In 2013, Raanta won the Finnish championship with Ässät and was awarded both the Lasse Oksanen Trophy for the SM-liiga's best player of regular season, as well as the Jari Kurri Trophy for the best player of the playoffs, posting a .955 save percentage.

On June 3, 2013, Raanta signed a one-year, entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.[1] He was recalled by the Blackhawks from the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Rockford IceHogs on November 17, 2013, after Chicago's backup goaltender, Nikolai Khabibulin, suffered an injury in a loss against the Nashville Predators the previous night, November 16.[2] Raanta made his NHL debut against the Colorado Avalanche on November 19, 2013, stopping 14 of 16 shots in relief of starter Corey Crawford.[3] On December 30, 2013, Raanta earned his first career shutout, beating the Los Angeles Kings at home at the United Center. He stopped all 26 shots he faced, and improved to 10–1–3 on the season. Raanta was named Rookie of the Month (an honour shared with Los Angeles' goaltender Martin Jones) for December 2013, going 8–1–3 with one shutout.[4] On January 12, 2014, Raanta helped end his team's losing; the Blackhawks had previously lost three-straight games, with Crawford in goal for all three losses. Raanta played against the Edmonton Oilers as Chicago prevailed 5–3.

On June 27, 2014, the Blackhawks signed Raanta to a two-year contract extension.[5]

In the 2014–15 season, on November 15, 2014, the Blackhawks announced that Raanta had been assigned to the Rockford IceHogs to make room for rookie goaltender Scott Darling.[6] On December 17, 2014, Raanta was called up from the IceHogs and placed on the Blackhawks' roster, replacing goaltender Darling, who was himself demoted back to Rockford.[7] However, on February 22, 2015, the Blackhawks again reassigned Raanta to the IceHogs after a 6–2 loss against the Boston Bruins, and called up Darling to take his place. Raanta was recalled on April 12, 2015, but did not dress in any more games. Raanta was given a day with the Stanley Cup, and a Stanley Cup Ring. However, he was not included on the Stanley Cup for not dressing in the playoffs, for playing in the minors after the trading deadline.

Unable to earn back the backup role on the Blackhawks at seasons end, on June 27, 2015, Raanta was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Ryan Haggerty.[8]

Raanta would battle Magnus Hellberg for the backup role behind Henrik Lundqvist, Raanta eventually won the battle as Hellberg was sent to the American Hockey League (AHL). Raanta was put in net for the Rangers' December 17 game against the Minnesota Wild (Lundqvist was to start the following day against the Winnipeg Jets). However, near the end of the 1st period, Raanta took a slapshot to the head from Wild defenseman Marco Scandella, and left the game. Lundqvist was put in net the remainder of the game, and the next day Raanta was put on injured reserve. Originally expected to be out 2–3 weeks, Raanta recovered faster than originally expected, returning to the Rangers lineup on December 28. During Raanta's absence, the Rangers called up Magnus Hellberg to serve as Lundqvist's backup. Raanta made 25 appearances in the 2015–16 season, started 18 games, and finished with a 11-6-2 record. Raanta had a 2.24 GAA and a .919 Save Percentage along with one Shutout. At the end of the season, Raanta agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension with the New York Rangers on May 2, 2016.[9]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2009–10 Lukko SM-l 15 6 7 1 836 37 2 2.66 .918 — — — — — — — —
2010–11 Lukko SM-l 20 6 6 4 1,064 42 2 2.37 .911 2 0 1 84 6 0 4.28 .818
2011–12 Ässät SM-l 38 21 10 4 2,149 80 2 2.23 .933 3 0 3 176 9 0 3.07 .917
2012–13 Ässät SM-l 45 21 10 11 2,595 80 5 1.85 .943 16 12 4 1038 23 4 1.33 .954
2013–14 Rockford IceHogs AHL 14 7 5 0 677 32 0 2.83 .914 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 25 13 5 4 1,397 63 1 2.71 .897 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 14 7 4 1 792 25 2 1.89 .936 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 Rockford IceHogs AHL 11 8 1 1 604 24 2 2.39 .918 — — — — — — — —
2015–16 New York Rangers NHL 25 11 6 2 1,151 43 1 2.24 .919 3 0 1 94 4 0 2.55 .895
Liiga totals 118 54 33 20 6,644 239 11 2.16 .932 21 12 8 1298 38 4 1.76 .941
NHL totals 64 31 15 7 3,340 131 4 2.35 .914 3 0 1 94 4 0 2.56 .895

International

Year Team Event Result GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2013 Finland WC 4th 7 5 2 0 430 15 1 2.09 .928
Senior totals 7 5 2 0 430 15 1 2.09 .928

Awards/Honors

Award Year
Lasse Oksanen Trophy 2013
Jari Kurri Trophy 2013
Stanley Cup Champion 2015

References

  1. ↑ Russo, Michael (3 June 2013). "Raanta reportedly agrees to terms with the Blackhawks". Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  2. ↑ Blackhawks, Chicago (17 November 2013). "Blackhawks recall goaltender Antti Raanta from Rockford". Chicago Blackhawks. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
  3. ↑ "Chicago Blackhawks vs. Colorado Avalanche - Boxscore - November 19, 2013". ESPN. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  4. ↑ "Kings' Jones and Blackhawks' Raanta named NHL co-rookies of the month for December". National Hockey League. 3 January 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Blackhawks agree to terms with Smith and Raanta". Chicago Blackhawks. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "Blackhawks recall Darling, assign Raanta". Chicago Blackhawks. 15 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Advantage Raanta: Blackhawks send Darling to AHL". James O'Brien. December 17, 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Blackhawks trade Raanta to Rangers for Haggerty". ESPN. 2015-06-27. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  9. ↑ "Rangers agree to terms with Antti Raanta". New York Rangers. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2016-05-02.

External links

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