Kevin Lankinen

Kevin Lankinen (born 28 April 1995) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).[1]

Kevin Lankinen
Lankinen at the 2020 AHL All-Star Game
Born (1995-04-28) 28 April 1995
Helsinki, Finland
Height 187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 84 kg (185 lb; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Chicago Blackhawks
Jokerit
HIFK
KooKoo
National team  Finland
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2014–present

Playing career

Lankinen has played primarily for HIFK of the SM-liiga, from 2014 to 2018. He also played one match for Jokerit and two for KooKoo, and ten for Kiekko-Vantaa of Mestis.[2]

In 2014, Lankinen signed a three-year contract with HIFK.[3] In the 2015 playoffs, he participated in the longest game in SM-liiga's history, lasting 134 minutes and 14 seconds. His team won 2–1 and advanced to the quarterfinals.[4]

During the 2015–16 season, Lankinen played alongside Ville Husso, playing 22 games in the regular season, as well as three in the playoffs as his team won silver medals.[5] During the 2016–17 season, Lankinen was a secondary goaltender alongside the more experienced Niklas Bäckström, but due to Bäckström's injuries, he became the primary goaltender and played in 42 games, seven of which were shutouts, the most in the league that season.[6]

During the 2017–18 season, Lankinen was injured and unable to play for a large portion of the season.[7] However, he made a successful comeback by playing 15 games in the regular season with four shutouts and a save percentage of 94.58 percent. His goals against average (GAA) was 1.33, the highest in the league that season. During the playoffs, he played as the primary goaltender for 13 games with a save percentage of 93.56 percent,[8] helping his team win bronze medals. He was in the running for the Urpo Ylönen trophy, which is awarded to the best goaltender of the season, alongside Veini Vehviläinen from Oulun Kärpät and Dominik Hrachovina from Tappara,[9] but the award went to Vehviläinen.

On 21 May 2018, Lankinen signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).[10]

In his second season with the Blackhawks affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs in the 2019–20 season, Lankinen made 21 appearances, earning 8 wins and represented the IceHogs as the teams' lone representative at the 2020 AHL All-Star Game. On 5 March 2020, Lankinen was ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery, with a recovery period of 5 months.[11]

On January 19, 2021 Lankinen made his NHL debut, losing in overtime to the Florida Panthers. [12]

International play
Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing  Finland
World Championships
2019 Slovakia

In 2019, Lankinen represented Finland in the Ice Hockey World Championships, winning gold. Throughout the tournament, he had the second highest save percentage (after Andrei Vasilevskiy) of 94.20% and a goals against average of 1.50. He served as the goaltender for each playoff game.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2011–12 Jokerit Jr. A 2 — — — — — — 1.00 .950 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 Jokerit Jr. A 23 — — — — — — 2.92 .910 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Jokerit Jr. A 36 — — — — 83 — 2.33 .917 4 — — — 9 — 2.09 .931
2013–14 Jokerit Liiga 1 0 0 0 17 2 0 7.16 .667 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 Kiekko-Vantaa Mestis 10 — — — — — — 3.29 .906 — — — — — — — —
2014–15 HIFK Liiga 24 8 10 5 1307 50 0 2.29 .911 6 3 2 414 12 0 1.74 .933
2015–16 HIFK Liiga 22 12 5 4 1294 51 0 2.36 .906 3 1 2 180 10 0 3.33 .891
2015–16 KooKoo Liiga 2 0 0 2 128 5 0 2.34 .919 — — — — — — — —
2016–17 HIFK Liiga 42 13 19 9 2443 87 7 2.14 .920 13 6 6 768 32 0 2.50 .906
2017–18 HIFK Liiga 15 10 3 2 900 20 4 1.33 .940 13 7 5 756 25 0 1.99 .934
2017–18 Ketterä Mestis 2 — — — — — — 1.50 .924 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 Rockford IceHogs AHL 19 7 8 4 1151 48 0 2.50 .910 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 Indy Fuel ECHL 6 4 2 0 358 19 0 3.18 .893 — — — — — — — —
2019–20 Rockford IceHogs AHL 21 8 10 2 1190 60 0 3.03 .909 — — — — — — — —
Liiga totals 105 43 37 22 6,073 213 11 2.10 .918 35 17 15 2118 79 0 2.24 .921

International
Year Team Event Result GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2019 Finland WC 8 7 1 0 481 12 2 1.50 .942
Senior totals 8 7 1 0 481 12 2 1.50 .942

Awards and honours
Award Year
Jr. A
Jorma Valtonen Award 2014
First All-Star Team 2014
AHL
All-Star Game 2020
International
WC Best GAA (1.50) 2019

References
  1. "Tilastot – #30 Lankinen, Kevin – Liiga". liiga.fi.
  2. "The Internet Hockey Database". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  3. "Michael Keränen into HIFK (in Finnish)". 30 April 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  4. "HIFK's Partanen ended the longest game in SM-Liiga's history (in Finnish)". 15 March 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  5. "Liiga's goalie statistics 2015–2016". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  6. "Liiga's goalie statistics 2016–2017". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  7. "Atte Engren to tend HIFK's goal – Kevin Lankinen unable to play for a long time (in Finnish)". 4 August 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  8. "Liiga's goalie statistics 2017–2018". Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  9. "Best goalie 2018 – the winner is one of these three (in Finnish)". 30 April 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  10. "RELEASE: Blackhawks agree to terms with four players". NHL.com. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  11. "Blackhawks goalie prospect Kevin Lankinen undergoes season-ending shoulder surgery". NBC Sports. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  12. "Blackhawks' Kevin Lankinen: Making NHL debut". cbssports.com. January 20, 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
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