A Tale of Two Finnish Netminders

When he was a youngster growing up in Hameenlinna, Finland, goalie Juuse Saros kept track of his fellow countrymen in the NHL by watching YouTube clips of them.
One of his Finnish favorites was goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who was in the midst of a sparkling 12-year career that would see him pile up more than 300 victories.
Another happened to be some guy named Pekka Rinne, a tall, slender netminder who was just coming into his own between the Predators' pipes.
"I really liked to watch [Rinne]," Saros said. "He was very big and also very athletic."
Fast forward about 10 years and the 5-foot-11 Saros now finds himself the understudy - literally and figuratively - to the 6-foot-5 Rinne, whose highlights he enjoyed as a youngster.

Together, the two made the Predators' organization all but airtight in goal at both the NHL and American Hockey League levels during November.
Though both Preds keepers lost games over the weekend, it hardly dimmed the numbers they'd posted in preceding weeks.
Rinne was named the NHL's top star of November after posting a 9-1-2 record, 1.49 goals-against average and .949 save percentage in 12 contests. Saros earned the AHL's goalie of the month award after going 5-0, with a 1.37 goals against average and .955 save percentage in five games.
"It was pretty cool when we both heard that news about the same time," Rinne said. "I think our fans in Nashville are going to see him a lot in the future. He's going to hopefully step into my shoes one day."
Just which day that is, of course, remains to be seen.
If Rinne can keep anywhere near his November pace - one that saw him allow two or fewer goals in 10 of 12 contests - that transition won't be taking place anytime soon.

It's also fair to say the eventual changing of the guard is the last thing on the mind of the two Finnish keepers, who are not only happily sharing the same locker room, but also the same roof.
The 34-year-old Rinne has been housing the 21-year-old Saros, who was recalled by the Predators from Milwaukee just over a week ago and doesn't have a permanent place to live in Nashville. It's the same setup the two shared in training camp, when Saros spent two or three weeks at the Rinne residence.
"Pekka has taken great care of me," Saros said. "He didn't have to do that, but it just shows what a great guy he is."
Adds Rinne: "He's a great kid. We've become really good friends off the ice, and we spend a lot of time together. It's fun to have him around."
So just what do a couple of Finnish goalie roommates do with their free time?
Rinne is an avid outdoorsman, one who regularly makes offseason fishing trips to the far northern reaches of Scandinavia. So he's been working on getting Saros closer to Nashville nature, taking him on hiking trips to Radnor Lake and Percy Warner Park.
"I'm not sure he's a big outdoors guy quite yet," Rinne said with a smile. "Even when we go to the parks here, he's walking around in his jeans and his Converse."
The two do have at least a couple of things in common off the ice.
One is watching Finnish television, which, thanks to today's technology, the two can stream through Apple TV.
The other is Rinne's cooking, as the veteran netminder is apparently as comfortable in the heat of the kitchen as he is on the cool of the ice. Rinne's specialties are lamb chops - served with a side of couscous (and plenty of spices) - and Thai food, featuring beef tenderloin, a red curry sauce and rice.
"That's one of Juuse's favorites," Rinne said.
Added Saros: "Pretty much anything he does is good. He has a lot of skills in the kitchen. I think he should write a cooking book."
On the ice, the two say they are learning from one another.

Though Rinne is in the midst of his 11th season and has played 466 career games, there are still things he picks up by watching Saros, who's played all of four NHL games. Because Saros is smaller than the average netminder, for instance, he has to be especially technically sound.
"He has to be very precise," Rinne said. "So he's really an efficient goalie. He plays what they say is a very quiet game. He doesn't scramble around a lot out there. One of the things I've been working on this year is quieting my game."
Saros, meanwhile, soaks in lessons of a different sort.
"I think it's been good especially to see how he plays the puck and how he helps out the defense," Saros said of Rinne. "And it's incredible how he can pretty much catch the puck anywhere."
It would be easy, of course, for Rinne to turn a chilly shoulder toward Saros, since the two goalies - at least in theory -- are competing for the same position.
But Rinne feels a responsibility to mentor Saros, the same way now-retired veterans like Tomas Vokoun and Chris Mason did for Rinne when he was coming up through the Predators' ranks. Rinne also feels an obligation to look after his countryman, much like former Nashville defenseman and Finnish native Kimmo Timonen did - even when Rinne was miles away in Milwaukee.
"He was always a guy that would take care of me - he would ask how I was doing and if I needed help," Rinne said.
"He was somebody I could really look up to. So I try to take good things like that from guys who came before me and pass that on."