Goalie Duo Has Bonded Over Disc Golf

As an avid disc golf player, Casey DeSmith is always looking for teammates to accompany him on the course. So this past season, he asked his fellow goaltender Emil Larmi if he or any of the other Finnish players wanted to come out one day.

While Larmi likes playing traditional golf, he had no idea how to play disc golf. But he's a fun-loving, easy-going guy, so he agreed to give it a try.

DeSmith brought him some discs to use, and while Larmi said the first time was tough, he enjoyed himself immensely. So Larmi went and bought his own discs and backpack to carry them in.

"And the rest was history," DeSmith laughed.

The goalie duo has bonded over disc golf ever since. They played a lot during the year in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, along with defenseman Niclas Almari. The two Finns would actually team up against DeSmith, who's been playing ever since taking up the sport on his uncle's advice back in 2014.

"Almari and I knew what we were doing, but we weren't really good," Larmi said. "But the games were actually pretty tight."

That's mostly because DeSmith would give them throws, as the gist of the game is that the player with the lowest number of total throws wins. One throw, or stroke, is counted each time the disc is thrown and when a penalty is incurred. The goal is to play each hole in the fewest strokes possible. The player with the lowest total strokes for the entire course wins.

So when Larmi returned to the U.S. in June after spending the pause period back home, he wasn't sure what to expect going up 1-on-1 against DeSmith without his Finnish partner.

But practice - and even more throws given up by DeSmith - has helped make Larmi…well, not perfect…but certainly much improved.

They've gone to a lot of courses around Pittsburgh, mostly the ones at Deer Lakes Park, Moraine State Park and Knob Hill Park. Sometimes they'll go to ones in Slippery Rock and North Boundary, but not as often since those are more difficult.

"Ever since I came back to the States for playoffs, we've been discing like every day," Larmi said. "I've gotten a lot better."

"Now we just go Larms against me with some throws," DeSmith agreed.

"Now I really can play, I know what I'm doing," Larmi said with a laugh.

Larmi also has some added motivation to continue his progress.

"We play for ice cream," DeSmith said. "Loser buys."

There are two courses they go to that have ice cream stands nearby, and DeSmith has to laugh when he thinks of what Larmi ordered the first time they went to one of them.

"I either get an orange dreamsicle milkshake, which is unreal, or a tangerine and vanilla soft serve twist at the other place, which is also phenomenal," DeSmith said. "And then the first time we go, Larms gets a banana-flavored snowcone. It was the grossest thing I've ever seen."

"I got it because of the calories!" Larmi said.

"He was watching his waistline," DeSmith said, cracking up. "Professional athlete. Unbelievable."

DeSmith tends to buy the ice cream more, since he still gives Larmi those throws. "I'm a generous guy," DeSmith said with a laugh.

He also bought Larmi his most beloved disc after a particularly rough day at the course for the Finn. He struggled to make a single putt, and after Larmi got home, he texted DeSmith a picture of the Soul Fish meme.

"I told him that's me after I'm missing my putts," Larmi said.

"Because it's got like the funniest face on it," DeSmith said.

"Yeah, like a flat fish with a really weird face," Larmi said before jokingly adding. "It actually looks like Case, but that's a different story."

DeSmith laughed and told Larmi he would get him a putter with the Soul Fish face on it if he just stuck with it, and followed through on his word, getting one custom-made by Dynamic Discs.

"But I still can't make a putt," Larmi laughed.

While there aren't any disc golf courses in the Toronto secure zone, DeSmith and Larmi packed some discs anyway, planning to throw them around the hotel if they had to.

But once they arrived, the goalies were delighted to find that they could play disc gold on nearby BMO Field, home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.

"There's plenty of room," DeSmith said. "My favorite part so far is throwing off the stands. It's very rare that you get to throw from 300, 400 feet in the air down. That's been my favorite part. Something different."

But while dining options are limited in the bubble, hopefully they can still get that ice cream.