Antti Raanta still hoping for another chance to face shots in the NHL
The Hurricanes goalie, now in the AHL, discusses his difficult season.
ROSEMONT, Illinois — It’s hard to ignore signs that Antti Raanta’s NHL career might be over.
The 34-year-old goalie has struggled with both his play and with his healthy. Amongst qualified goalies, he’s last in NHL save percentage with a .872 showing this season.
He was waived and unclaimed in December by the Carolina Hurricanes, made an AHL cameo and returned to the NHL. His play improved slightly, but also coincided with an injury.
Around the same time the Hurricanes claimed Spencer Martin and for better flexibility around the trade deadline, Raanta was once again waived, and unclaimed, before the NHL trade deadline.
He’s now dealing with another minor injury in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves, effectively exiled as the Hurricane’s fourth goalie while Pyotr Kochetkov and Frederik Andersen split the net, with Martin serving as the full-time backup and practice goalie in Raleigh.
On top of that, Raanta could also be part of a three-goalie rotation in Chicago once healthy again with Keith Kinkaid and Adam School.
An unrestricted free agent this summer, Raanta can see what’s happening here.
“You know, you’re hurt and you miss time and it’s been pretty much just trying to get back to play over and over again,” Raanta said. “You also are at the time of year where you don’t have a lot of time to practice, so it’s really tough. I’m just trying to do my best to figure out how to be a goalie again, it’s much easier said than done.”
Raanta says this matter of factually. There’s disappointment in how the season has gone, but he’s not angry nor holding any grudges about being in the AHL right now.
“"It’s been one of those years where nothing is really going your way,” Raanta said. “When you kind of find the rhythm, you get hurt. So it’s just been kind of up-and-down, I haven’t really been able to find that happy place on the ice. You go from struggling to playing good to something else happening.”
Adding to the human side of this, Raanta has been away from his family in the AHL. His wife and kids are back in Raleigh while he’s living in an apartment by himself in Chicago.
“It wasn’t easy because my daughter goes to school already and we didn’t want to move her for something like this,” Raanta said. “So it’s rough when you kind of have to stay away from your family. We have the FaceTime and we do that as much as we can, but there can be some boring days where you come for morning skate, and then just have long day at apartment by yourself. I would love to have my family with me right now, but it’s part of the job and it’s a great job. But part of the travel is something that impacts you and there are tough parts about it.”
For every demotion and roster transaction, there’s a human side that doesn’t end up in the box score or press release.
For Raanta, as cliche as it sounds, he said his hockey career is truly back to the one shot-at-a-time mentality.
“You have to keep working, finding those ways to be a goalie again, I think you have to take stuff like this, the injuries, and act like it’s a goal against, you can’t do anything about it, move on, stop next shot,” Raanta said. “I think you also have to find positives, like I could be in Carolina right now, not playing as the No. 3. Instead I’m going to get that next chance here (in Chicago) to face the next shot.”
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