#let’s go desbiens

[pwhlmontreal]

me whenever desbiens makes a save

[jackhues]

on a lighter note, what hockey influences (like in term of her playing style) do you think peanut gets from like aus, mat, and the hughes brothers?

also what hockey influences (playing style) do you think lila gets from matt, brady, keith, & any other goalies that impact/ speak to her)?

ooh i like this one!

okay so peanut tries to score. she loves passing, but she grew up watching mitch pass, so in her eyes, her passes are never that good. she can never replicate those. so she goes for her dad's shot, or barzy's shot. or she'll go for jack's flair with her cellies. and sometimes she'll put on a burst of speed the way she's seen her uncles do when they all play against each other. she can replicate those things and be satisfied with the result, but to her - mitchy's passes are too good and she can't try to copy those, so she doesn't pass like he does.

lilah gets most of her inspiration from bob. she adored him as a kid (always will) and she just replicates his style in her game. surprisingly, her playing style isn't like anyone in her family - they like to chirp a lot, while lilah would rather let her plays do the talking. she stared down someone once, and then began giggling bcz it was so stupid. she talks to a few pwhl goalies - and kristen campbell, nicole hensley, and ann-renee desbiens are the three that sort of stuck out to her. like they were very cool in her eyes and she studied their game to try to replicate it. she also finds jeremy swayman really cool and he offered her some advice once, so she gets some inspo from that too.

[the-physicality]

We know why bestie i am not versed in Montreal knowledge i do not know why

ok. so fun fact you get 2 answers today. this is what another anon said:

"when your goalie is one of your three first signings you’re kind of forced into it….even if the other one is playing better

(i kind of wish we could have seen a minnesota goalie situation with chuli)"

I agree and would like to expand upon this a bit. obv We're not going to talk about the playoffs bc that is a totally different conversation.

prefacing all of this with I am not a coach i am not an athlete I only know from sports what I see and what I read so use this as you will. [i got into hockey January 3 2024]

I do think Kori has a tendency to rely on canadian national team members even when they aren't necessarily being productive.

I also think the data isn't fully representative of the situation. Chuli has a much smaller sample size and many of her games occurred before our injury troubles.

She played against every team except ottawa, which is interesting, because we usually [except that one game] did well against ottawa. and Kori seemed to prefer to play Chuli against teams that we did well against.

It is also interesting that she played 4 of 5 against minnesota, starting after the 0-3 first meeting with ARD. Chuli was 3 wins and 1 shootout loss against them.

Interestingly enough, it took until the 4th meeting for her to play against toronto, and saved 30 of 32, second only to ARD saving 36 of 39 in january. We always let in 2 + goals against tor, with the closest regulation game being 2-1 and having a 3-3 OT and 3-3 shootout [guess what happened lol]

Chuli before worlds would regularly only have one goal allowed, as opposed to desbeins who would let in 2. [this is very clear looking at the goals against avg]

I think it's hard to look at the Min game after worlds because 1. it was the team's first game after worlds and 2. it was her first game in nearly a month.

The argument for ARD [aside from the FA thing*] is that if we're still mostly winning [aside from toronto] it's not a bad record so why not play the "#1 goalie"

the argument against is would it not be easier to win if we were scored on less? [the answer is yes]

You of course have to look at how the goals were scored too. I could have gone back and looked at every goal against but I didn't feel like doing that so this is my recollection.

Chuli had some issues with rebounds I think and goals in the top corner on her stick hand [which i'm sure is where people are trained to shoot]. Desbiens to me, seemed to let in more "oopsies" that kind of snuck in or were lower to the ground. "she's gonna want that one back" is what all the announcers say.

the team also played better with Chuli in net, and you have to wonder if they are more aware of not letting as many shots through because "the best goaltender in the world" isn't in net. Though Desbiens faced on average 29.8 shots per game [inclusive of OT] and Chuli faced 31.6.

I think if you don't have the worlds break, Chuli plays more in the last 5 games. I do think the biggest mistake was not playing her in the last boston game but what do I know.

desbiens' save % was .923, which is 5th among qualified goalies, but her goals allowed against was 2.28, which puts her above only schroeder and Maschmeyer. 2.28 also means that the team has to score more to win. [and as we all know montreal has a mentality problem and difficulty coming back from being down/ shut out]

we went to OT [not shootout] 5 times, and desbiens was in net for 4 of those, with a 2-2 OT record [one of these OTs was against boston and we had a goal called back with a long review so that was rough on all involved]. Chuli won in OT against Boston, facing 3 shots on goal.

We went to Shootouts 3 times and honestly i'm not even going to talk about that because I blame the skaters for not sniping the puck/kori for playing poulin a bunch even though her record was not good. lmao [other goalies you're welcome for giving you better shootout save %]

If I were montreal, I would want to lock her down by offering more playing time or at least more opportunities to play. If I were Chuli, I'd see if Ottawa or New york wanted me [honestly I think those are the only places she'd get playing time even though toronto/boston are probably also looking for #2s jk she might get more times in boston but idk] . If I were Kori cheverie this season, I would have played her until her #s matched desbiens'.

There is something to be said about consistency in playing which is a reason to have a #1 goalie [if you look at save %, both Minnesota goalies [who played pretty close to an even number of games, came in 6 and 8 of 8 on save % from qualified goalies [masch came in 7] But rooney and hensley came in above desbiens on Goals against avg [2.08 and 2.19 vs 2.28]

of course we have to acknowledge that all of these stats come from a very small sample - desbiens only played 16 games, Chuli 8. But head to head, I think [not know] that their stat differences are statistically significant.

*the FA thing [which we can combine with the national team thing bugs me a lot because why wouldn't you just play whoever is playing well the most. The most obvious examples of this are hilary knight and kristin o'neill [not a FA but a high draft pick] who while I understand are important leaders, probably could have been moved down a little more.

[pwhl-mybeloved]

DONT TOUCH DESBIENS

GLOVES OFF LETS GO

[gayverlyearp]

let’s go desbiens

[iliketodothethings]

BBDiscord on 10/9 @ 8ct/9est

Hiii besties!

I’m scared. Why? Because I still have 5 open slots for my bbdiscord game this week! I’m co-hosting with the awesome @vetoslut​. I’ve played several times before but have never hosted. Please let me be a cool host!

I’m nervous. Why? Because I don’t really have a set theme, whoops. All I do is ask that you guys sign up as any player from the BB Universe. As you see, we have several BBUS and BBCAN. 😏 This game is as newbie-friendly as I could make it. I tried to make it to where even vet plaeyrs wouldn’t have the easiest time winning HOH or Veto~

I’m excited! Why? Because I know that this is going to be a lot of fun! And I’m happy to answer any DM with questions.

My game will be on Friday night. 8 CT/9EST. I’m aiming to end before midnight so you’ll have plenty of time to play Among Us. 😉

Houseguests:

1. Elissa Slater

2. Sarah Hanlon

3. Ika Wong

4. Suzette Amaya

5. Renny Martyn

6. Jackie Ibarra

7. William Desbiens

8. Josh Martinez

9. You!

10. You!

11. You!

12. You!

[artwalktv]

Diplo & TSHA - Let You Go (feat. Kareen Lomax) Written and Directed by: Jodeb Produced by PRETTYBIRD & COLOSSALE Creative Director: Lola Son (Mad Decent) Exec Producer (Prettybird): Candice Dragonas Exec Producer (Colossale): Alexandre Auray Guatemala Line Production: The Bigger Picture Pictures Line Producer, Guatemala: GG DOP: Alex Nour 1st AC: Jonathan Auger Sound Man: Jose Jacob Jimenez Bonilla Drone operator: Alex Auray Post Producer: Miles Barfield Edit & VFX: Jonathan Desbiens Assistant editor: Simon Benoît Sound studio: Cult Nation (François Bélanger, Théophile Porcet, Rene-Pierre Guerin, Gino Visconti) Director’s rep: Benjamin Bernard @ Lark Creative Cast Athena: Athena Glover Theron: Theron Glover Sofia: Ana Sofía Páramo González Fatima: Fátima Ortíz Miranda Mother: Sara López Father: Peter Glover Sister: Tleyotl Banus Priestess: GG

[gotham--fc]

There’s more games? Bro when 😭😂 Canada Hockey please just tell us when the girlies play please. and yeah campbells probs gonna be the third if she didn’t get a us game (did she get one in the two In usa?)

Oh yeah hope kills you off that’s why I have 0 expectations cause if they’re sh*t like the Habs are rn then it doesn’t hurt.

Ooo bro You can’t say that and not show the coin. 😂 but yeah omg both teams winning in 2010 in Canada must’ve been wild. Like crosbys goal looks wild. And I’ve seen reactions to mpps gold gwg in 2010 and 2014 and those seem boss too.

Fair enoug, I’m partial to a black jersey or like any jersey that has black in it so the red and black ones are my vibe. Tho Finland has won in the jerseys by miles 😂😂(is it bad I want them to get gold in one of the teams so I can see it with that medal😂). Also a really nice jersey (and I’m bias here) are the new iihf GB ones like the 2019-2021 ones like those are clean . And yep the USAs is disappointing but given they usually just slap USA on a blue jersey and be done with it I’m not surprised, like bro the vertical USA one from the juniors is nice us that design or do an eagle or something😂.

Wait wait wait there was a fight?? That’s amazing! Who won ? Did they get sent to the box? And ouch that American player is mean don’t touch fillier she’s like 12(?) (I have no clue how old she is I just know she’s one of the younger players (I think ))

Aww that sounds mad, that sound like a game I was in where the puck goes behind the goalie and it’s like ages waiting for it to go in.

Omg that’s amazing that’s some boss tactics there, make the coach and the equipment managers waddle to the bench across the ice 😂😂😂 I think I played in a rink like that but I was the away team 😢(my rinks like that too but for both teams so both managers have to waddle)

And it’s so fun to watch live right!! I haven’t watched one in ages (ones I play don’t count) so I can’t wait to start going again). I also feel like being in the crowd Live is so fun too cause of all the chants (a game I went to the crowd chirped the other team, our team, the refs and people in the crowd cause of the team on their jersey)

😂😂the fans look boss , team Canada fans for team Canada fans !🏒 which goalie we’re you behind ?

Yeah I think they play 2 more times in Canada and then I think 3 games in the US, I think you can find the schedule online? If you google hockey Canada women’s rivalry series schedule hold on let me just

There we go! There’s no times but at least you’ll know days

Campbell didn’t play at all in the last 2 games, it was maschmeyer in Kingston and desbiens in Ottawa, it’s disappointing because I wanted her to get a shot and yeah there’s more games but they said the final rosters will be announced mid December so it’s pretty obvious she won’t be on it 😔

And you’re so right how dare I not include a picture

You’ll have to zoom in to see details but !!! My coins !!! If you want to see the other coins I have I will readily share I’m always down to talk about my coins

Even though it’s expected for us to do good in hockey because cmon we invented it it’s still crazy when we win

Okay yeah gb’s jerseys are sick they should go to the Olympics just for that jersey enough of these boring ass jerseys give me spice!! Give me cool designs!! The Canada ones aren’t bad….. but they’re boring to me like it’s all one colour and just a single maple leaf like they could do better, I also thought it was funny that they were hyping up the reveal at the game and they were like it isn’t like anything we’ve ever done before and as soon as the reveal happened I was like well maybe there’s a reason you’ve never done it before 😂

Yes!!!! Fights!!! The one in the first period was right at Canada’s net, it was the kinda thing where desbiens had the puck and the us players poked at her you know as they do but it was funny because Jenner was the one who started the fight like she threw herself on top of the us player but it was Clark who took her gloves off and actually threw punches with the us player so she got the pen, the us player got one too so it was 4 on 4, but if you ask me Clark was innocent!! But the us player literally threw her gloves like they went flying I think it was either knight or stecklein who had to pick up her gloves and bring them to the penalty box because she threw them so far

But I don’t know for sure who went after fillier but she was tall af and my heart says stecklein but that’s only because she took a lot of pens, I think fillier is a year older than me so 22, but it was crazy because there was 4 us players around her and the refs tried to break it up but the us player just put fillier in a headlock through the ref and as soon as they got split up all the Canada players just left so it was like tiny fillier surrounded by 4 giant us players but as soon as they split up they were both laughing and joking with each other I was like umm ma’ams you just tried to kill each other but now you’re bffs?? But there was a lot of hits in the game like a shit ton like they were out for blood

It just seems like a design flaw because the way to get to the visiting bench without going on the ice is from the opposite end of the rink than where the locker rooms are so the visiting coaches have to either waddle across the ice or walk all the way around the entire stadium but I won’t complain I enjoyed it 😂

And yes it was so awesome to watch it live!! The crowd was in to it!! We were cheering or booing every hit every time the us had the puck we were booing every time Canada had it we were cheering, we were letting the refs know what we thought about some of those calls though some of them were bs

I was behind the Canada net!! So thankfully all the goals were scored in the second so none were scored in front of me 😂 but that was also where the ice entrance from the locker rooms was so the players came on the ice right in front of me, but I’m so disappointed in myself because I don’t own a hockey jersey (yet Christmas is coming) but my dad does and I was home for Halloween and already had the tickets so I knew I was going but I completely forgot to borrow one of my dads jerseys so I just had to wear red and white but I felt like a fool because I could’ve had a jersey like my dad has multiple team Canada jerseys I’m disappointed in myself 😔

I don’t think or I don’t know if they aired the anthems on tv but in case they didn’t, the us was lined up for a while but Canada huddled around their net for a bit and then everyone skated past desbiens before going to line up and mpp and daoust were waiting to be the last ones but daoust realized very quick that they were starting the anthems so she just quick pat and then whipped it to get in line but mpp and desbiens didn’t realize so they stood there talking until the anthem actually started playing and I saw the “oh shit” look in mpp’s eyes and they both sprinted to get in line and get their helmets off but mpp couldn’t get hers like she was rushing to get it off so she wasn’t unclipping it right so she didn’t get her helmet off until well into the star spangled banner and I just thought that was funny 😂 captain Canada disrespecting the anthem

But for real like when her and desbiens realized what was happening like mpp had a moment of panic before it turned into laughing you know when you and your friend do something wrong and get caught and you both at each other and laugh because it’s like oh shit I can’t believe that just happened like that was mpp and desbiens it was *panic* *wait this is actually kinda funny* *now sprint* and you could tell everyone was giving mpp shit for not being able to get her helmet off 😂

[tristanjohnson]

This week, we're going to celebrate the Canadian Province Quebec's birthday by doing a quick history of the strange place. SUBSCRIBE and join us! https://goo.gl/7vUgh0 Step Back is made possible by the generous contributions of viewers like you, consider helping at https://ift.tt/2bR9Kw6 If you liked this video and want to leave a one-time tip: https://ift.tt/2CJwBBG Check out a collection of books that are either Tristan's favourites or used to research Step Back videos at: https://ift.tt/2AC7WkV Step Back is a history channel releasing videos weekly that endeavours to go past the names, dates, and battles you might find elsewhere. It invites you to take a step back, consider the past and how it connects to today. We search for the quirky, unconventional, and just plain weird parts of our collective story. I have a curious cat account for anonymous questions for me: https://ift.tt/2BhhM9T YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Let's Do Some Theory: Why Net Neutrality Is like Ice https://youtu.be/6nzWxXujyBs Did Columbus Really Discover America? https://youtu.be/PfcOf7-elRs What is a Paladin? https://youtu.be/j_vkLO-8e0k Connect with Step Back: Facebook: https://ift.tt/2mQlpvy Twitter: https://twitter.com/TristanPEJ Sub-Reddit: https://ift.tt/29gUtiF Slack: https://ift.tt/2G8MaZu Special Thanks to Kelly Barnes, and Benny Tan Music by 12Tone. Check out their channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTUtqcDkzw7bisadh6AOx5w Music from Jukedeck - create your own at http://jukedeck.com Photo Credits: Zorion BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives Tamm et al. Mauricio Antón James St. John Michael Charron-Plante Roke James Steakley Cleduc Hoodinski Jon Platek Michel Rathwell ??o??ia? t ¢ AgnosticPreachersKid Harryzilber Women Deliver DrRandomFactor Peter Van den Bossche Ansgar Walk Sources: Desbiens, Caroline. Power from the North: Territory, Identity, and the Culture of Hydroelectricity in Quebec Dickinson, John A., and Brian Young. A Short History of Quebec Fyson, Donald. "Between the Ancien Régime and Liberal Modernity: Law, Justice and State Formation in colonial Quebec, 1760–1867," History Compass 12#5 (2014) pp 412–432 Linteau, Paul-André, and Peter McCambridge. The History of Montreal: The Story of Great North American City Moogk, Peter. La Nouvelle France: The Making of French Canada a Cultural History Vacante, Jeffery. "The Posthumous Lives of René Lévesque," Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d'études canadiennes (2011) 45#2 pp 5–30 -~-~~-~~~-~~-~- Please watch: "Canada and America's Weird Relationship" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EywlpCwhQew -~-~~-~~~-~~-~-

[thecatvanzyl]

The French Connection: Montreal, Quebec’s’s Dre Gwenaelle and William Laprise Desbiens from Trois-Riviere, Quebec were victims of the infamous BBCAN “triple eviction.” An already hectic week in the house lead into the wildest eviction night of the season. The houseguests had barely said their goodbyes to Jackie before news of the triple eviction sent the BBCAN Odyssey into the stratosphere.

“We are in shock right now,” said William with Dre seated next to him.

“We are! I honestly feel like I’m going to be able to go back into the house,” Dre said. “I don’t know how this happened to us.”

Q: Was speaking to each other in French ever strategy? (BOTH)

A: Definitely! We definitely used speaking French as strategy, we could talk about whatever we wanted. (D) Definitely! it was the most perfect thing as we could talk about the game right in front of the house guests, you could look right at them and say “I’m coming after you.”

Q: Did you ever consider NOT using either of your POV’s as Ika “ordered?” (William)

A: At one point it came to my mind, but I told myself, “no, don’t do that…I won this secret power of veto and want to use it.” I also got to use it in secret so there was no reason not to use it. I wanted to put it into play.

Q: Why do you think Ika was so upset with you last night? (Dre)

A: She has no reason to be upset at me, I don’t get it. I don’t know, I don’t understand it, she was the one who did anything. Maybe it was part of her strategy to scare people. Dillon must have snitched out everything to everyone and in the end she (Ika) must have decided to trust Dillon.

Q: Out of the remaining 5 house guests, is there anyone who you wouldn’t vote for to win BBCAN5? (BOTH)

A: Dillon, I didn’t like his game, not at all. There is no one that I wouldn’t want to vote for, but there are some far more deserving than others. Karen to me is not as deserving. (D)

High resolution official images from last night’s episode of Big Brother Canada:

DRE GWENAELLE, AND WILLIAM LAPRISE DESBIENS TAKEN DOWN BY THE DREADED BIG BROTHER CANADA TRIPLE EVICTION

Following Jackie’s eviction, the BBCAN Odyssey was rocked by the news that the evening’s events were far from over with the dreaded triple eviction set for that night. During the HOH competition, one of the house’s biggest targets, Demetres, eagerly took the title and nominated Kevin, Dre, and William for eviction, while simultaneously keeping the house’s second biggest target, his Queen, Ika, safe for another week. The POV competition, “Off the Block,” may have looked like fun and games to the houseguests, but their lives in the house depended on it. Having been evicted in Big Brother Canada’s first ever triple eviction in Season 3, BBCAN vet Kevin was determined not to let history repeat itself and savagely beat out to the competition to win the POV and remove himself from the block. Having to name a replacement, HOH Demetres put Dillon up in Kevin’s place, next to Dre and William.  The house unanimously voted to keep Dillon safe, leaving Dre and William to join Jackie on the road to the Big Brother Canada jury house.

While the BBCAN Odyssey is now three passengers lighter the remaining crew must continue their journey into the unknown, beginning with the next Head of Household competition. Tune in to see who is safe and who is in danger on Monday’s episode of Big Brother Canada at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global. And for the next week, fans can go to BigBrotherCanada.ca to watch clips and cast their vote for the moments they want to win in this year’s BBCAN Awards, airing May 15th at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Full press release can be found here.

The French Connection Says “Au Revoir” as Dre and William Disembark the BBCAN5 Odyssey

The French Connection Say "Au Revoir" as Dre and William Disembark the #BBCAN5 Odyssey & WHO they WILL NOT vote for: The French Connection: Montreal, Quebec’s’s Dre Gwenaelle and William Laprise Desbiens from Trois-Riviere, Quebec were victims of the infamous BBCAN "triple eviction." An already hectic week in the house lead into the wildest eviction night of the season.

[furimmerfrei]

Title image credit: Panthers Images

Miika Wiikman is in his second season with the GMB Nottingham Panthers and is arguably one of the best net-minders in the Elite Ice Hockey League. This season he has won silverware for the club along with the rest of the team and secured the Continental Cup for the Panthers, making them one of the first British clubs to ever do so as well as qualifying for the Champions Hockey League for next season. Though as always, this interview seeks to take you Behind the Mask and into the mind somewhat of the man who wears it.

Wiikman was born in Sweden to Finnish parents. He actually has dual citizenship, but it was in Sweden that he grew up. He went to school there but once he’d finished with school he went to Finland to play hockey back in 2003 . I asked him what made him leave Sweden and move to Finland in order to pursue his career. 

“This was back in 2003, the goalie coaching in Sweden wasn’t really at the same level as it is today. I knew Finland was the leading country for goalie coaching and I pretty much get a better offer from a better league in Finland, Mestis. It’s their second league and I didn’t really have any good offers after Juniors in Sweden so I thought I might as well try it and it’s also my Mum’s hometown actually, so we spent a lot of summers there so it was a place that I knew and it was pretty easy to go there. I knew they had a really good goalie coach with a really good reputation so there was really nothing to think about. Just sign and go there. I only stayed one season there, I had a really good season and then I got a contract with a really good league, with the SM-liiga. I played three seasons there for HPK.” 

I asked if he had a favourite team from the Liiga. “Not right now, though of course the first team I played for HPK, great memories. I won the championship there and everything, It’s a smaller club, they don’t have the same money as those big teams like IFK or Helsinki. So yeah, HPK is probably the closest to my heart. I was also with Saipa for a couple of months and that was a really, really nice club, good club, great people around the team and it was fun to play there for a few months.” Miika explained.

Photo credit: Panther’s Images

Next we move on the the Panthers and talking about the Elite League. Claire Bentley wanted to know if he would he want to play again next season with the Panthers? “Yeah, absolutely.” No hesitation in his answer. “I mean if I don’t have any really good offers from like KHL or the Swedish Elite League or Finnish League then I don’t really see any reason to go anywhere else. I mean, I like it here, my family loves it here too.”

The move to Nottingham, how was that for him in comparison to where he was before? “Well I played in Slovakia and Slovenia the year before and it was a horrible experience.” He still hasn’t been paid for his time there and this doesn’t sound like he’s an isolated case in that repect, as Desbiens of the Steelers has also played there and didn’t get paid both with the Olimpija Ljubljana. “I’m close to giving up on that too.” He comments when I mention that it might take a while and possibly won’t ever come his way.

Photo credit: Panthers Images

Back to Nottingham; and we talk a bit about his family life here, thank you for Audrey Davis for the question. “My son he goes to school here and he’s there for more than half of the day.” I asked him about if there were any places he liked to go with the family in Nottingham.”He loves to go out and search for Pokemons, but he’s so tired when he comes back from school that we don’t go out much. When we do that’s pretty much what we do. It gets us outside and walking everyday and we go to parks and do stuff, like play football. Actually we just came back from the rink just now since he’s got half term so we went skating for an hour and a half. He’s a really active boy and there is a lot of stuff to do here in Nottingham so that’s good, but we don’t have any particular places we like to go or anything.”

How does he enjoy the crowd in Nottingham? It’s one of the biggest arenas in the league. Does it have an effect on his game? asked Panther’s fan Pippa Morley. “Oh yeah of course. Especially when we’re winning. When we’re losing it’s pretty quiet in the arena.” He begins and it’s interesting when he begins to compare to places he has played around Europe. “It reminds me of Finland a little bit, it’s pretty quiet in the rinks. In Sweden it’s completely different. People are happy and cheering for their team and it doesn’t matter what the score is, it’s always nice and loud. Here sometimes it gets so quiet, I mean we got a big arena and a big crowd and it’s so quiet, it’s just weird sometimes but these are probably some of the best fans I’ve played in front of but then again I’ve played in Finland and North America and in Slovenia we had like 50 people at the game, so here it’s a little bit different.”

And now for the obligatory, did you always want to be a goalie question. I always like to hear the different stories on how they moved from wanting to play hockey in general to wanting to play goalie. “Ah, not really. I did a lot of different sports when I was a kid, football, wrestling everything. I started as a player in hockey and I think I was nine or ten when I started playing goalie. Every guy on the team got a chance to try it and I guess I was the best at it, I got stuck there pretty much.”

Miika preparing to make a glove save, his favourite when he was a child. Photo credit: Panthers Images.

“I always wanted to make glove saves and catch the puck, the was the big thing. I remember when I was a kid, every practice I counted how many glove saves I made. It was my favourite way when I was a child, now it doesn’t really matter so much.”

Routine is something that I’ve found to be crucial for goalies specifically, as it helps them get into the zone or head space they need to be in to be able to play their absolute best. Miika is one who takes his routine incredibly seriously as he describes. “Obviously it’s a bit different between home and away games as you have to take a seat on a bus for a couple of hours. It takes a lot of time and energy to prepare for a game for me at least. I know a couple of goalies and they don’t care, like they can do whatever they want, do grocery shopping or whatever but I can’t do that. I can’t leave the house pretty much. I try to stay in and do the same thing every time, it’s kind of like an OCD,  it was way worse when I was younger though. I’m a bit different now I got the kids and stuff, I can do more stuff with them, be a little bit more relaxed and it doesn’t have to be that strict but I still have to eat the same breakfast, try and do the same things in the morning. Like if I have a morning skate I do the same things. If I don’t have a morning skate I still try to do some of the things. It’s almost overdoing it and a bit OCD. I try not to let it stress me out though if things don’t go to plan.”

His main example of this was in Italy during the Continental Cup campaign and the fact that the breakfast wasn’t even close to what he would normally eat. He had it anyway and then got a shut out in the first game. It seems to take the pressure off if he can break his routine and still be okay in games. “Oh yeah.” He continues. “Exactly, when I was younger it was a disaster, if even one thing went wrong it threw me off completely, now stuff like that doesn’t really affect me anymore.”

So does he have a favourite NHL team? “Not anymore really, when I was younger I was a Vancouver fan.” Why Vancouver? I ask, with a small grin. I wonder what it is about the team that drew him in. “Oh, the jerseys.” He says with a small laugh. “And the logo, I just loved it and Kirk McClean was my favourite goalie when I was a kid.”

Team Russia and Columbus Blue Jacket’s stating goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky. 

“Of course I watch the NHL goalies, there is always something you can try and I’m always open for new stuff and I’m a pretty quick learner too so it’s pretty easy for me to put that into my game. One guy I’ve been watching recently is [Sergei] Bobrovsky in Columbus. Obviously Holtby.” That makes me chuckle, Holtby is my favourite goalie and when I mention it, Miika makes a comment about seeing my twitter. Consider me busted! “I actually played against him in the East Coast, I beat him 7-0. I’ve played against a lot of those guys who are in the NHL right now. Halak, Rask. I played against Rask a lot in the Finnish league. Quick, all those guys and it’s just crazy how I have actually been when I start thinking about it. You just have to be in the right place at the right time and making good choices I guess.”

So what advice would Miika give to an aspiring netminder? “Learn how to skate, without gear and then try the gear on. That’s where everyone starts.” He says, like it’s the most obvious answer in the world. I ask him about the weight of the gear and if it’s really as heavy as I’ve heard. “Well it’s getting lighter every year, those Bauer pads are real light, CCM’s are a little bit heavier. Some guys like that a little bit more, like me. I’ve just had CCM all my career and I tried the Bauer stuff and I just didn’t like it. It’s really just individual. How you like it, working out what gear you want. I feel comfortable in mine. I’ve been thinking about trying some other brand but I don’t know if there’s any point because I really feel comfortable in what I’m wearing now.” If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

I had to ask him about the inspiration behind his mask design as it has become quite the talking piece this season, I wanted to know why he chose to make it the way he did.

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Thank you to Juha Peltonen of Paint It Black in Finland for the images of Miika’s mask. 

“I kind of forgot about the whole Pokemon thing, coz I played it when I was a kid, with my brother and then Pokemon GO came up and me and my son started playing it, then we started talking about maybe putting it on my mask and he was all ‘Yeah, we should do Pikachu on mask’ So I said let’s do it then, so it was pretty much my son’s idea. On the other side I have Megaman, remember that? From the old Nintendo? I’m just a huge fan and I love those games, I still play them on the Wii back home. The back plate is the logo and I think there is a smaller logo in the front somewhere too.”

___

This is not all that we spoke about in the hour, but I wanted to break it down into more manageable chunks for those of you reading it. The other topics we spoke about are:

His time with the New York Rangers organisation

Continental Cup experience and the CHL

Junior Hockey in the UK

Moving to the Elite League.

Team that taught you the most about yourself.

Best goalie in the league besides yourself.

Who do you not like taking shots from?

Movies, Books, Podcasts and other on the road trip entertainment.

Discussing the league and how the goalies should be used according to Miika.

If you want to me to post more of this interview with Miika, leave me a comment on my Facebook page @chasingthepuck or tweet me @freiheit_1989 with which one you’d particularly like to read about next.

I want to take a moment to say thank you to all those who have helped me in providing images and also permissions to do this interview and to the Panther’s organisation as well.  Thank you so much to Adam Gouldson and Karl Denham of Panthers Images for the images of Miika Wiikman that have been used in this article. 

Behind The Mask 4 | @miikawiikman : @panthersIHC Title image credit: Panthers Images Miika Wiikman is in his second season with the GMB Nottingham Panthers and is arguably one of the best net-minders in the Elite Ice Hockey League.

[gotham--fc]

Oooh lol you’re getting the tea. Lol sounds dead fun to be like knowing all the drama.😂

And damn yeah equipment is way too expensive, I’m like 80% sure I needed to buy a new helmet after the first time I hit my head (like properly hitting it 😂) but I still haven’t cause they’re £70 so they’re way to expensive and ya girl don’t got that money, plus it’s fine it’s been working well 😂.

The engine lesson does not sound fun I won’t lie 😂 I always hated the tudors cause in comparison it was so much more dull than the war periods. Like the tudors bro go fight france or something please.

Yeah I’d love to see Campbell get a start in net against the US, especially in these low risk games (always scared of using new tendies in high risk). I wanna say 3 tendies go but 1 is an alternate and doesn’t get a medal unless they play (I may be wrong) just cause Injuries innit.

Nah your analysis is good, I’ll take ur word in the game cause I didn’t watch cause I was way to tired 😂 lol we love that for you, tbf I watched a game over discord with my mate whilst tipsy and that was so funny. But I’m pretty sure it was a nhl game not womens, cause we were like let’s video call and see what leauges are live (there was none ) so we watched a nhl game from the last night.

Also bro did you see Sweden qualified for the Olympics I’m buzzing I have a soft spot for team Sweden 🥺🥺.

Also lol my game at the weekend was so funny I swear the other team was gonna try fight me 😂😂🏒

I love getting all the tea 😂😂 when all the swimmers were at my house all the roommates just huddled and my swimmer roommates were like okay that’s this person we don’t like them and that’s that person and we like them 😂

Like I’ve said I didn’t play hockey but my cousins do and I’ve been to some of their games and once one of their teammates was fully inside the lost and found bin and my aunt asked him if he lost something and he was like no I just don’t have a helmet so I take one from the lost and found every game like kids shouldn’t have to do that why is everything so expensive 😫

I liked the tudors tbh but I like learning about the politics or the social aspects of society more than wars and stuff, and all the tudors were was politics and social stuff 😂

Ahh yeah that sounds right, I never know what the roster limits are for stuff I just find out when they’re announced 😂 but yeah I’d love to see Campbell especially if she’s fighting for a spot on the main roster because if she doesn’t play against the us during this rivalry series then it’s basically confirmed who the goalies are and who the alternate is and I’d like for her to get a real shot at earning a place even if I think logically she’ll probably be an alternate anyway unless knock wood something happens to maschmeyer or desbiens

I love watching games tipsy 😂 I watched the Chicago sky win the championship tipsy and it was a lot of fun, honestly I’m just so stressed all the time with sports that getting a lil drunk during games is better for my mental health 😂 only afternoon or evening games tho I don’t morning drink but day drinking is fine (responsibly okay know your limit stay within it alright I have one drink when I watch sports I don’t go crazy also don’t drink and drive)

But that’s exciting for Sweden!! Ngl I’ve been bogged down with men’s hockey (ugh🙄) recently because of the whole China thing where they might get kicked out because they’re not good enough or are going to get embarrassed? Idk I say let them play they’re the host like that’s part of hosting is you’re in and if you’re worried that other teams will be stacked with nhl players and other teams will get embarrassed then just don’t let the nhl players play? Like it’s not that hard? Or perhaps just leave it because you never know what could happen and maybe they do get embarrassed but at least they showed up? I saw an argument that you won’t get more Chinese people to play hockey if they get demolished at the Olympics but how are they gonna wanna play when you tell them they can’t? Noah fence if someone said yeah your national team sucks too much to even participate it’s not gonna make me wanna play, I got really revved up about this anyway justice for the China men’s hockey team

Oh love that for you 😂 try to keep all your teeth okay? 😂😂