The Buffalo Sabers have a positive problem with three options between the posts. The Finnish veskari was the first to be sidelined from the lineup.
Despite the winning streak, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has to go back to the farm. PDO
The NHL club Buffalo Sabers made a surprising move on Monday and borrowed a goalkeeper Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen farm team to the Rochester Americans, where the Finn had started his season.
Before this, Luukkonen was making a breakthrough for the bucks. He won eight of the nine games he played and helped bring the Sabers back into contention for a playoff spot. On the other hand, in the last two games, the 23-year-old defender had conceded nine goals and the save percentage was slightly below 90.
The Sabers keep a veteran player by Craig Anderson in his roster and get him back from the injured list as a working partner Eric Comrie, whose shoes Luukkonen had to step into in November. The goalkeeper positions are therefore filled, and only Luukkosen has a valid two-way player contract that facilitates farm orders.
– We have three healthy veskars, each of whom we trust. We really like the way UPL’s game has looked lately and how he’s developed, Sabers GM Kevyn Adams boasts the NHL’s website.
It is still believed that Luukkonen will return to the NHL team very soon. Buffalo News news, that the 41-year-old Anderson is basically played once a week, which gives Luukkonen opportunities to play in the Sabres, who play in a rhythm of about four games a week. Andersson guarded the ice on Monday when the Sabers lost to the Philadelphia Flyers 0-4.
Next season, the situation will change in Buffalo, as it is believed that Anderson will either retire or move elsewhere, in which case Comrie and Luukkonen will form a permanent goaltending tandem.
History repeats itself in a certain way, because in 2005, a Finnish keeper was also involved in a similar sopa. Buffalo had three NHL level players at their disposal Ryan Miller, Martin Biron mixed Mika Noronen, and finally Noronen was selected out of the trio. In the same season 2005–2006, Noronen played his last NHL games of his career.
Buffalo’s decision to send Luukkonen to the farm did not get the best possible support behind it on Monday, when Andersson made a save with a goal and the team suffered a dull 0-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.