Vesa Toskala
Vesa Toskala | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born |
Tampere, Finland | May 20, 1977|||||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | |||||
Weight | 198 lb (90 kg; 14 st 2 lb) | |||||
Position | Goaltender | |||||
Caught | Left | |||||
Played for |
Ilves Färjestad BK San Jose Sharks Toronto Maple Leafs Calgary Flames AIK IF | |||||
National team |
NHL Draft |
90th overall, 1995 San Jose Sharks | ||||
Playing career | 1995–2012 |
Vesa Tapani Toskala (born May 20, 1977) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender.
After initially playing for his hometown team
Early career
Toskala was selected by San Jose in the fourth round, 90th overall, in the
Toskala is the only San Jose Sharks goalie to record a multiple point game. He had two assists against Chicago on February 3, 2007.
North American career
In his first North American season in 2000–01, Toskala played for the
San Jose Sharks
In the 2002–03 NHL season, after Evgeni Nabokov and the Sharks could not settle on a contract, Toskala served as Kiprusoff's backup. When Kiprusoff faltered, Toskala stepped in and played admirably, going 4–3–1 with a 2.35 GAA and a 0.927 save percentage. He earned his first shutout in a 25-save effort against the Detroit Red Wings. After Nabokov was re-signed, however, Toskala was sent back to the Sharks' minor league affiliate in Cleveland, where he struggled, going 15–30–2 with a 3.21 GAA and a 0.903 save percentage. Nonetheless, at the end of the regular season, the Sharks recalled Toskala, meaning the Sharks now carried three goaltenders on their roster. Since Nabokov was the established starter, Kiprusoff and Toskala fought for the backup position; Toskala "won" the battle when Kiprusoff was eventually traded to the Calgary Flames. Although playing in 28 games and posting a 12–8–4 record with a 2.06 GAA and a 0.930 save percentage, Toskala did not make an appearance in the playoffs.
2005–06 proved to be a career year for Toskala. He began as the backup to Evgeni Nabokov, but after a start on February 8, he posted a record of 17–2–2, leading the team to a playoff berth. Toskala's goals-against-average fell from 3.25 to 2.55, while his save percentage increased from 0.872 to .900. This earned him the nickname "The Finnish Horse" from Sharks broadcaster Dan Rusanowsky. Toskala's play earned him several accolades and relegated Nabokov to the role of backup goaltender. On February 27, the Sharks re-signed Toskala to a two-year contract extension worth US$2.75 million. Toskala finished the playoffs with 2.45 goals-against-average and a 0.910 save percentage.
Since both Toskala and Nabokov were seen as number one goalies, the Sharks attempted to trade one or the other before the season began. No trade occurred, and coach Ron Wilson opted to alternate starts between the two. Through 71 games, Toskala played in 35 games, starting 31 and posting a 2.45 GAA, along with three shutouts. Nabokov received the nod after that, playing in San Jose's remaining regular season and playoff games.
Toronto Maple Leafs
On June 22, during the
The Toronto Maple Leafs subsequently signed Toskala to a two-year contract. He and goaltender Andrew Raycroft shared starts until late November, when Toskala's GAA and save percentage improved dramatically. He recorded two shutouts in December and the NHL named him best goaltender of the month.
On March 18, 2008, in a match against the
In the 2009 NHL regular season opener on October 9, 2008, the official scoresheet between the Toronto Maple Leafs and
On March 4, 2009, Toskala announced that he would be undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a torn acetabular labrum. The Maple Leafs claimed goalie Martin Gerber off of re-entry waivers to replace him.[4] For the first game of the following season, on October 1, 2009, Toskala was the Maple Leafs starting goaltender in an overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Toskala would lose his first four starts before being replaced as the Leafs' starting goaltender.
In late 2009, a prank he pulled on interviewer Zdenek Matejovsky received coverage from Finnish news and 424 000 views on YouTube (note: the original video was removed). Matejovsky, who doesn't understand Finnish, had been hired by the Finnish TV channel MTV3 to interview Toskala in English and have him respond in Finnish, but Toskala instead made a joke out of it and responded to the serious questions with humorous, unrelated answers. Matejovsky continued with the businesslike questions while having no idea what Toskala was saying.[5][6]
Calgary Flames
Toskala was traded to the Anaheim Ducks along with Jason Blake for Jean-Sébastien Giguère on January 31, 2010,[7]
The Ducks then traded Toskala to the Calgary Flames for backup Curtis McElhinney right before the NHL trade deadline on March 3, 2010, having never appeared in net for the Ducks in his short stint.[8][9] He was reunited with his former Sharks teammate Miikka Kiprusoff in Calgary. On March 7, in his first game as a Flame, Toskala stopped 27 shots en route to a 5–2 victory. In his second game, he backstopped the Flames to a 3–2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. On June 6, 2010, it was revealed by Flames general manager Darryl Sutter, that Toskala would not return with the Flames for the 2010–11 season.
AIK IF
On November 1, 2010, due to AIK IF of the Elitserien (SEL) suffering from injuries, Toskala signed a one-month contract with the club. Playing in two games, he posted a .898 save percentage and 3.07 goals against average.[10]
Ilves and retirement
In June 2011, Toskala signed a contract to return to his hometown team
Personal life
Toskala spent two years in Finland training to be a chef, although he claims that he was "not particularly good."[12]
Awards
- 2001–02: The Hockey News AHL Mid-Season All-Rookie Team
- NHL Goaltender of the Month – December 2007
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season
|
Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | OTL | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
1994–95 | Ilves | FIN U20 | 17 | 10 | 5 | 1 | — | 956 | 36 | 2 | 2.26 | .919 | 7 | — | — | 393 | 22 | — | 3.36 | .895 | ||
1995–96 | Ilves | FIN U20 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 180 | 3 | 0 | 1.00 | .960 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1995–96 | Ilves | SM-l
|
37 | 14 | 14 | 7 | — | 2072 | 109 | 1 | 3.16 | .902 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 78 | 11 | 0 | 4.46 | .771 | ||
1995–96 | KOOVEE
|
FIN.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 119 | 5 | 1 | 2.51 | .911 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1996–97 | Ilves | FIN U20 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 184 | 9 | — | 2.93 | .907 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1996–97 | Ilves | SM-l | 40 | 22 | 12 | 5 | — | 2270 | 108 | 0 | 2.85 | .906 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 479 | 29 | 0 | 3.63 | .881 | ||
1997–98 | Ilves | SM-l | 43 | 26 | 13 | 3 | — | 2554 | 118 | 1 | 2.77 | .906 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 519 | 18 | 1 | 2.08 | .930 | ||
1998–99 | Ilves | SM-l | 33 | 21 | 12 | 0 | — | 1966 | 70 | 5 | 2.14 | .916 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 248 | 14 | 0 | 3.39 | .899 | ||
1999–00
|
Färjestad BK | SEL | 44 | — | — | — | — | 2652 | 118 | 3 | 2.67 | .887 | 7 | — | — | 439 | 19 | 0 | 2.60 | .908 | ||
2000–01 | Kentucky Thoroughblades | AHL | 44 | 22 | 13 | 5 | — | 2466 | 114 | 2 | 2.77 | .911 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 197 | 8 | 0 | 2.44 | .928 | ||
2001–02 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2001–02 | Cleveland Barons
|
AHL | 62 | 19 | 33 | 7 | — | 3574 | 178 | 3 | 2.99 | .912 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2002–03 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 49 | 15 | 30 | 2 | — | 2824 | 151 | 1 | 3.21 | .903 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2002–03 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 11 | 4 | 3 | 1 | — | 537 | 21 | 1 | 2.35 | .927 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2003–04 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 28 | 12 | 8 | 4 | — | 1541 | 53 | 1 | 2.06 | .930 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2004–05 | Ilves | SM-l | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | — | 186 | 8 | 0 | 2.58 | .930 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 357 | 19 | 0 | 3.19 | .919 | ||
2005–06 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 37 | 23 | 7 | — | 4 | 2039 | 87 | 2 | 2.56 | .901 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 686 | 28 | 1 | 2.45 | .910 | ||
2005–06 | Cleveland Barons | AHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 65 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2006–07 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 38 | 26 | 10 | — | 1 | 2142 | 84 | 4 | 2.35 | .908 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2007–08 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 66 | 33 | 25 | — | 6 | 3837 | 175 | 3 | 2.74 | .904 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2008–09 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 53 | 22 | 17 | — | 11 | 3056 | 166 | 1 | 3.26 | .891 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2009–10 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 26 | 7 | 12 | — | 3 | 1393 | 85 | 1 | 3.66 | .874 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2009–10 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 212 | 8 | 0 | 2.26 | .918 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2010–11 | AIK | SEL | 2 | 0 | 2 | — | 0 | 120 | 6 | 0 | 3.07 | .898 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2011–12 | Ilves | SM-l | 22 | 1 | 15 | — | 5 | 1242 | 71 | 1 | 3.43 | .885 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
SM-l totals | 178 | 84 | 67 | 17 | 5 | 10,290 | 484 | 8 | 2.82 | — | 29 | 13 | 16 | 1681 | 91 | 1 | 3.25 | — | ||||
NHL totals | 266 | 129 | 82 | 5 | 25 | 14,767 | 679 | 13 | 2.76 | .902 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 686 | 28 | 1 | 2.45 | .910 |
International
Year | Team | Event | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | Finland | EJC
|
3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3.33 | .882 | |
1996 | Finland | WJC | 4 | — | — | — | 204 | 15 | 0 | 4.41 | .864 | |
1997 | Finland | WJC | 4 | — | — | — | 250 | 12 | — | 2.88 | .874 | |
2000 | Finland | WC | 5 | — | — | — | 299 | 15 | 0 | 3.01 | .850 | |
Senior totals | 5 | — | — | — | 299 | 15 | 0 | 3.01 | .850 |
References
- ^ "Toskala blunder gifts Islanders goal". National Hockey League. 2008-03-18. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
- ^ a b Vesa Toskala Captain? Luke Schenn Faces True Test Against Canadiensbleacherreport.com, retrieved on November 10, 2008.
- ^ Captain Vesa? Er, not quiteTheStar.com, retrieved on November 10, 2008.
- ^ Leafs Players Done for the Season[permanent dead link] Yahoo Sports, March 10, 2009
- ^ Huttunen, Sasha (September 29, 2016). "Suomalaisen NHL-tähden legendaarinen vedätys naurattaa - nyt puhuu huijauksen uhri: "Näytän täydeltä idiootilta!"". Iltalehti. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
- ^ "Tässä on Toskalan vedättämä toimittaja". MTV3. June 14, 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
- ^ "Ducks trade Jean-Sebastien Giguere to Toronto". Los Angeles Times. January 31, 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
- ^ "DUCKS SEND TOSKALA TO FLAMES FOR MCELHINNEY". TSN. March 3, 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ^ "Ducks Acquire McElhinney from Calgary". March 3, 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
- ^ "Vesa Toskala at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
- ^ "Vesa Toskala announces career over". iltasanomat.fi (in Finnish). 2012-10-02. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-02.
- ^ O'Connor, Joe (2008-04-02). "Leafs notebook: Sundin sits, Toskala cooks". National Post. Retrieved 2008-04-06.[permanent dead link]
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database