In his first season of pro hockey, Vancouver Canucks’ prospect goaltender Aku Koskenvuo has been learning to roll with the punches.
He’s spent time between the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL and the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL.
“A lot of learning, a lot of travel, up and down with the Coast and AHL, so you never know where you're going to be the next day, but I’m enjoying every day, and I think it's a great opportunity,” Koskenvuo said.
He’s already carried a strong work ethic into the pro ranks, but the biggest lesson this year has been controlling what he can – his attitude, habits, and taking one shot at a time.
Over the past few seasons at Harvard, he began honing his positioning in the crease and using his long 6’4” frame to his advantage. Now, his focus is on reading how plays develop and getting to his spots early, while not making any extra moves.
“I started understanding it more this year, working on my depth [and] staying in the blue paint, not traveling outside of it, and understanding that less is more. It's something I'm working on every day,” Koskenvuo said. “Just calming the game and playing more reserved and reading the play again, letting it come to me.”
Abbotsford goaltending coach Justin Pogge spent time with Koskenvuo at the end of last season and has seen the rookie goaltender take big strides in the last year.
“There's been some big jumps,” Pogge said. “He put in a lot of work in the summer, tracking pucks and stuff like that. He's a big, athletic goalie, and he competes and battles, but now it's about harnessing that energy and using it in an efficient way. He's been great. He's very receptive, and he's an honest, hardworking kid, so I love that.”
Koskenvuo feels supported in his development by the Abbotsford coaching staff and has leaned on Pogge’s experience to develop both the technical and mental sides of his game.
“He's done a tremendous job helping me out,” Koskenvuo said. “He had a long playing career and has a great way of describing the feelings that you should look for when you're making saves – like calm hands and letting the game come to you. It's not just saying the technical stuff like, ‘You’ve got a T-push here, do a glove save here’, but really talking through the emotions or the feel that you have to have for the game.”
The Espoo, Finland native has also been inspired by the day-to-day environment in Abbotsford, where the coaching staff regularly puts in long hours and stays on the ice after practice for as long as the players like to help centres with faceoffs, run extra drills for the defencemen, or anything else someone wants to get better at.
“Getting extra work after the practice and having coaches really look after guys and push guys, it just makes me want to push myself more and want to show that I belong here and that I can compete with these guys and keep working. It really just motivates me to get better,” Koskenvuo said.
At the end of January, Koskenvuo recorded the first shutout of his pro career with a 33-save performance in a 4-0 win over the San Diego Gulls. While it was a personal milestone, the team’s third straight win meant more to him.
“Honestly, it made me hungrier, showing myself, I can do that,” he said.
“So, expecting more out of myself and keep going, and it's not about just having one great game here and there, but I think the next thing is stacking games in a row and performing at a high level. That's the next thing I'm working toward.”
Pogge noted the shutout was a reflection of Koskenvuo playing a simple game, and his puck tracking was on point.
“He had extremely good rebound control, and then when he needed to make the extra save, he's got that asset, as well as his flexibility and range. I thought it showed a lot of hard work coming into it, but the next game, it shows that you need to be consistent. It's always up and down, especially when you're a young goalie, and you learn a lot,” Pogge said.
He and Pogge are aligned on that next step. Koskenvuo is using practice time to build a foundation so that his preparation and game performance mirror each other and he’s focused on stacking good practices every day.
Koskenvuo has approached this season with a growth mentality and is trusting the process. He’s embraced the learning curve that comes with each new level, understanding that consistency is built through daily work and a willingness to push through the early struggles.
