Now we have a really "juicy' story in the Stanley Cup finals. Or is that "Jussi"?
You might have had to go all the way to Imatra, Finland, where journeyman goaltender Jussi Markkanen is from, to find anyone who was willing to give the Edmonton Oilers any chance at all to win the 2006 Final after No. 1 goalie Dwayne Roloson injured his right knee late in the third period of Game 1 in a goal-mouth collision with teammate Marc-Andre Bergeron and Carolina Hurricanes winger Andrew Ladd.
But here we are heading into Game 7 and Markkanen, who wasn't even being used as the backup to Roloson in Game 1, is one win away from writing a Cinderella comeback story to rival the off-the-bench-to-win goaltending legends written by New York Rangers Coach/Goalie Lester Patrick-to-Joe Miller in 1928 and the netminding of Mike Karakas-to-Alfie Moore-to-Paul Goodman-back to Karakas for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1938.
Larry Wigge has covered the NHL since 1969. The longtime NHL columnist for The Sporting News, Wigge is now an NHL.com columnist and a frequent contributor to the website.
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This story takes on even more emotion, when you consider that the Oilers didn't clinch a playoff spot until the final weekend of the season and then rode Roloson all the way to the Final after the team finger-pointed at its less than stellar goaltending by Markkanen, Ty Conklin and Mike Morrison that forced Edmonton to trade a first-round draft choice to the Minnesota Wild for Roloson at March's trade deadline.
The 31-year-old Markkanen may have had to face only 16 shots in a 4-0 victory in Game 6, but teammates say the netminder has given the Oilers confidence to rally from the 2-0 deficit in the series. The shutout was only the second ever by an Oilers goalie in the Final -- the other one coming by Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr in 1984 against the New York Islanders.
"Jussi has found his game and has taken it to another level," Oilers veteran left winger Ryan Smyth said. "We kept saying in the locker room that all we needed was four wins ... and that Jussi has played well enough in stretches for us in the past. He's given us a chance to win every night since he took over for Roli."
With just 99 NHL games on his resume coming into the playoffs, Markkanen understands the perception that he may not be considered a "go-to guy" by some. But that's the least of his worries in the here and now, where he had never started a playoff game before his Game 2 appearance -- joining the previously-mentioned Joe Miller, Alfie Moore and Paul Goodman as first-game Cup Final debuts along with Detroit's Hank Bassen in 1961.
"The last week and a half has been a little bit nerve-wracking, but it's been the best time of my hockey life," Markkanen said before Game 6. "I had never played in an NHL playoff game, before and then I wind up getting my first chance in the Stanley Cup Final. Wow! This is so exciting, I can't sleep. You know, all the energy, all the hard work. The mind, the body, won't shut down. But I'm not about to let down, not when I look around and see a lot of great players who have played for a long time without ever winning a Stanley Cup. When you get a chance like this, you have to give it your best."
Prior to the lockout last season, Markkanen has been a pretty non-descript puckstopper at best. He was 26 before he was drafted by the Oilers in the fifth round, 133rd pick, in the 2001 Entry Draft. His record was 23-26-8 before this season, including a trade from Edmonton to the New York Rangers late in the 2003-04 season and then back.
But during the lockout, the journeyman netminder played in 54 regular-season games and 10 more in the playoffs for Lada Togliatti in the Russian Super League in perhaps the best run of his career. He had 11 shutouts and a microscopic 1.20 goals-against average in the regular season and 1.44 with another shutout in the playoffs.
That run helped him gain the starting job this season. In fact, he started 16 of the Oilers' first 18 games. But after that he played only 14 times the rest of the season, interspersed with lackluster performances by Conklin and Morrison before Roloson was acquired from Minnesota. Jussi's record was 15-12-6 with a 3.13 goals-against average.
Rust? Nerves? Pressure? Markkanen hasn't shown any of those trouble spots.
Oilers coach Craig MacTavish on Jussi Markkanen:
"He has given us an opportunity to win every night."
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"I was surprised that I didn't feel that rusty," Markkanen said of his unexpected insertion to start in Game 2. "I felt good from the first game and have been trying to keep it up. Roli has been marvelous to talk to about the pressures of playing in such big games and how he was planning to face the Hurricanes before he got hurt."
"While I don't play the same way as Roli or think the same about the game, it was helpful to have someone to talk to about the little things we face, the shooters, the passers, the traffic, you know."
Markkanen goes into Game 7 with a 3-2 record and 2.18 goals-against average in this year's playoffs, which is beginning to look a lot more like Roloson's 12-5 record and 2.33 GAA. And those four wins that some said the old Jussi couldn't manage looks more doable now, doesn't it?
"He has given us an opportunity to win every night," said Oilers coach Craig MacTavish.
MacTavish said he has noticed more aggressiveness in Markkanen's play, even though the coach also is loath to talk too much about it.
"I hesitate to even discuss it right now ... from a superstitious standpoint other than to say we're liking what we see," MacTavish said. "He looks to be more aggressive, and I think that's a product of confidence."
Even if neither he nor Veijo, his father, are not getting much sleep.
"Dad and mom both get up early, but I think mom is too scared to watch the games," Jussi said, chuckling. "Dad has always been my biggest fan. He calls after every game just to see how I'm doing, keep me calm. After Game 5 (the 4-3 overtime win for Edmonton), it was about 6 a.m. in Finland. When he was finished talking to me on the phone, he went right off to work. I don't think he is getting much sleep, either."
Veijo is a big part of Markkanen's first recollection of playing hockey.
"I have a picture of me when I'm maybe 3-, 4-years-old, with one of those old-time masks on my face," Jussi recalled, with a big smile. "Behind me is the sofa, which was the goal. I was standing there with a goalie stick. My dad says he took the photo ... and that he was my first coach."
And while this Jussi story is juicy, it is yet another of the growing number of outstanding Finnish goaltenders we have seen in recent years like Miikka Kiprusoff, Vesa Toskala, Antero Nittymaki and Kari Lehtonen.
"I think Finnish goaltenders are getting a lot of publicity because every team, even when you are very young, has a goalie coach," Markkanen said. "It starts when you are, like 10 years old. A goalie coach would be out with a team once a week, maybe on a Saturday."
Markkanen actually grew up an Oilers' fan, even if it wasn't until he was 26 that they drafted him in the 2001.
"When I was growing up, every young boy's favorite team was the Edmonton Oilers, because Jari Kurri went there," Markkanen said. "Jari was the first real superstar from Finland to come to the NHL. He was kind of like the Mr. Hockey of Finland.
"Coming to Edmonton meant even more to me, because I have a picture of me at Jari's hockey school in 1985. That's when I met him the first time. Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri and the Edmonton Oilers. They were all a part of being brought up as a hockey player in Finland."
Other things you might find of interest about Markkanen include his favorite movie being Silence of the Lambs, his favorite car being a BMW and his most difficult opponent being Colorado center Joe Sakic.
Carolina's Ray Whitney might be in there, too, after he rang a shot off the post late in the third period of Game 5 with the game on the line. Markkanen quickly swatted the rebound out of harm's way.
"I felt something hit my glove. I just tried to throw it somewhere," he said. "I was still on my knees, it came back behind the net. ... One break either way, and the game is over. I guess it was just one of those things where you don't know what you're doing.
"I actually saw it on the tape afterward. It looked like a smooth move. It was not."
We all know that goaltenders can be a weird lot. Quirks. Superstitions. Talking to their goal posts like they are real friends. Just plain strange behavior when you consider they sign on to face shots at them at 100 mph or better and agree to be bumped around in the traffic around the net.
We don't yet know all of Jussi Markkanen's quirks. All we really know is he has saved the Oilers' Canadian bacon at a time when no one really gave them a chance to rally from a 2-0 deficit in the series without the No. 1 goalie that got them to the Final.
"I don't know about second chance," Markkanen said. "But it's like a new start when you've been on the bench on in the press box for a long time. So you just try to enjoy the moment."
Or the 60 juicy moments ... or more ... that Jussi will have to face Monday night in Carolina in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
