The best of Joonas Korpisalo ... so far

If I don't believe in myself, who will?

As NHL experts talked about the Blue Jackets coming into this season, the discussion around the team's goaltending was more about who was not there than who was.

Of course, it was always going to be a talking point that Sergei Bobrovsky left in free agency after seven seasons as the CBJ starter, not to mention two Vezina trophies, but included was a little bit of a dismissal of what the Blue Jackets had on hand.

Joonas Korpisalo heard the talk, but as the quote above shows, his faith in himself was never shaken (for the record, neither was the team's faith in the Finn who spent most of the last four seasons with the team). And as it turns out, that mutual faith in the goalie's talents was rewarded by the way Korpisalo played the campaign.

He was a bit up and down in October then caught fire after that, finishing with a 19-12-5 record in 37 games (35 starts), a 2.60 goals-against average, a .911 save percentage and two shutouts. He was particularly dominant after October, posting a 14-8-4 record in his last 27 appearances while posting a 2.31 GAA and .920 save percentage. Were it not for an injury that cost him all of January and half of February, he would have made his first All-Star appearance.

So what does Korpisalo think of his breakout season at age 25?

"I mean, I've always known I can play games -- I can play big games and a lot of games as well," he said after signing a two-year contract extension this spring. "Early on (this season), I think I had a little bit of a slow start, but after that I kind of picked up again and as a team we went forward a lot and started winning games and stuff like that. I think there were some steps that I took this season until the injuries. But that's sports. That happens. I bounced back from it, and yeah, I think I took some steps forward."

The NHL plans to resume the season in the coming weeks, but for now, watch the video above for highlights from Korpisalo's season.