Justus Annunen Adapting to North American Ice

Justus Annunen has spent the past two seasons playing with Karpat in Finland's top professional league (Liiga) and he is now transitioning to the North American game and preparing for his first year with the Colorado Avalanche organization.
After wrapping up the Avs' 2021 development camp, Annunen played in the first game of the 2021 Arizona Rookie Faceoff against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday. The matchup between Colorado and Los Angeles resulted in a loss, though Annunen stopped 43-of-47 shots.
"I think he is a great goalie. He's been around, I got to meet him last year and see him in the 'A' a bit last year," forward Alex Newhook said of Annunen. "I think he is a great goalie. I think we hung him out to dry a little bit tonight, but he's got great potential, I think he is a great guy to have in our system and he's going to be great down the road."

Before Annunen made his way to the United States, he was playing in Finland's top professional league where he led the league in the 2019-20 season with a 1.77 goals-against average and .929 save percentage. In 2020-21, Colorado's third-round selection (No. 64 overall) in the 2018 draft posted a 2.43 goals-against average and .884 save percentage before coming over to finish the year with the Colorado Eagles in the American Hockey League.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound netminder had a major leap to take when transitioning from larger international sized ice to the smaller North American sized ice.
"I think the biggest thing was just getting used to the game," said Annunen. "I played three games so that helps me a lot… Knowing a little bit what it's like and going on in here because the rink is smaller, and the game is different."

Not only was it the transition between the size of ice but also Annunen had to go about making the transition between Europe and North America living. He was able to spend some time in Colorado prior to the season starting.
"I like to be here a lot. I think it helped me a lot to be here before the summer, I was here like five or six weeks kind of living on my own." said Annunen "So, I think it helps me a lot to get used to this life here. It is obviously a little different than in back home, but I like it a lot and I feel pretty comfortable with it."
His ability to adapt to the change in rink size has been noticed by coaching staff alike.
"He's progressed really well. He's really patient on the puck which I think is great. Tracks it well, he's got good size and presence in the net," said assistant general manager of the Avalanche and general manager of the Colorado Eagles Craig Billington "Obviously all the goalie coaches we have here to be able to give him that support I think is really important. He's been really receptive as well."
Annunen has the opportunity to make his way up the organizational goalie ladder, and with what he has shown so far, he is working to make it a reality.