Koistinen steals show in Europe opener
HELSINKI -- It surely wasn't the contract signing that drew the most attention on another crazy July 1 in the NHL:
"Florida Panthers sign defenseman Ville Koistinen to two-year deal."
No, we're pretty sure very few people took time to analyze that one.
Who could possibly have predicted the starring role Mr. Koistinen would play in a Hollywood-worthy script three months later in his native country?
"This game was unbelievable," said Koistinen, who had some 80 family and friends in the crowd Friday night. "First of all, to play here in Finland, then score a goal and a game-winner, I can't ask for anything more. This is more than a dream."
He said he couldn't possibly have dreamed of anything like this.
The crowd of 12,056 was on its feet when he tied the game, 2-2, 7:29 into the third period. They were delirious when he scored the eventual shootout winner in a 4-3 season-opening win over the Chicago Blackhawks. He gave an extra fist pump to the crowd after his shootout goal. Oh yeah, baby, it felt good to get it done in front of the home fans.
"Playing the first-ever NHL regular-season game in Finland a few hours away from his hometown, he scores a goal, scores the shootout winner … he couldn't have written it better himself," marveled Randy Sexton, a winner in his first game after being officially named GM of the team before the game.
Ah, but the devil is in the details when you're a GM. Signing a big star is obvious. Signing the smaller parts that make a difference in a salary-cap world is the key to building winning teams.
The 27-year-old Koistinen, a native of Tampere, just two hours north of here, was a spare part last season in Nashville, dressing in only 38 games, and he wanted a fresh start elsewhere.
"I wanted to get something new," said Koistinen, the game's first star. "Obviously, it's not nice to be in the media box with you guys watching games. I was hoping to get more ice time this year. Even though I wasn't on D today, it was a great night."
He dressed as a fourth-line forward instead of his natural defense position. Coach Peter DeBoer was concerned that his flu-ravaged blue-line corps might need an extra defenseman in the lineup. Koistinen also played one of the points on the first power-play unit alongside Bryan McCabe.
Sexton outlined three reasons why he decided to lure Koistinen to Florida with a two-year deal worth $2.4 million: 1) to add mobility to his back end, 2) to add help for the power play, and 3) to get a proven shootout specialist. (Koistinen led Nashville with a 3-for-4 ratio last season.)
"He kind of hit the trifecta tonight of things we're looking from him," Sexton said.
Not to be lost on this night, especially from an organizational point of view for Florida, is the performance of netminder Tomas Vokoun, who turned away 52 shots. That's right, 52 shots.
"I'm there trying to stop the puck, and sometimes you can't control how may pucks you face," Vokoun said. "Either way, we won, and that's all that matters to me."
The heat is on Vokoun this season to show more consistency. He stole this one for the Panthers.
"He was great," DeBoer said of his goalie. "Timely saves at key times. The shot clock was real high, but for me, it was the key saves he made. Chicago had a couple of opportunities to go up by two and game over, and Vokoun would make a big save and give us a chance to hang around and get two points, which is what we did."
The 33-year-old Czech veteran had good numbers last season (a 2.49 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage). But the sense in and around the organization was that he didn't always make the saves when it mattered most. That feeling was underlined when DeBoer benched Vokoun in favor of the now-departed Craig Anderson for several key starts during Florida's playoff drive late in the season.
At the other end of the ice, Cristobal Huet was dynamite in the first period, when the Blackhawks game out slowly but then allowed three goals on 16 shots over the final 45 minutes. You can't blame him on the opening two goals, but perhaps you don't want him to go down so quickly on David Booth's tying marker with 2:21 remaining in the third period.
Like Vokoun, Huet's start to this season is very important. The 34-year-old Frenchman is seen by most observers as the Achilles' heel on a club absolutely loaded up front and on the back end, as well. So losing your first start of the season when your team outshot the opposition 55-24 is hardly the way you want to open up 2009-10.
"I thought Huey played great," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "First period, he kept us in the game. There were a lot more chances than you traditionally see in a game at both ends of the ice and both goaltenders were sharp."
Still, Quenneville wouldn't confirm that Huet would start Saturday's game, leaving the door open for rookie backup Antti Niemi.
"We're going to talk about it. We'll see," Quenneville said. "Antti could play."
Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com.
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