Read Aloud the Text Content

This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.

Text Content or SSML code:

Goldman: Can you give us a real brief background on how you got involved in goaltending in Finland? How did you develop the passion for becoming a goaltender? Rinne: “I think it all started with my cousin, who is seven years older than me. He was a goalie in my hometown and he was playing on the junior team, and I always looked up to him. So I kind of always thought it was cool to watch him play. We would always play street hockey, so when I was big enough, maybe five or six years old, they started putting me in the net, and that’s ultimately how it started. It all started just playing street hockey and I grew pretty passionate being a goalie. I always wanted to be a goalie when we would just play on the streets every single day, so then I joined a team when I was seven years old. At first I was just a regular player, but soon after, the team didn’t have a goalie, so it was a pretty classic story. They asked me if I wanted to be the goalie and obviously I wanted to do it, so since then, I’ve always been a goalie. At the same time, I do enjoy playing out as a player in street hockey or just for fun, goofing around. But I started at a pretty early age, and my cousin was my first idol, so I always looked up to him. He was the one that would pass his old gear down to me, and that’s how I got started.” Goldman: What really started to motivate you to become more competitive as a goalie? Rinne: “I think for myself it took a while. I was always passionate about playing the game and being a goalie. I would always watch a lot of other goalies on the Finnish national team and in the pro level of hockey in Finland. Once a week we would also get a little NHL news on a Finnish TV show and that’s how I got to know a lot of NHL goalies. So it slowly became more and more competitive for me I guess, but it still took me a while to start working on my game. I didn’t do that for a while because I played for fun for a long, long time. I always played on really good teams in really small cities, so it wasn’t anything like a major level of hockey, it was just fun. But for myself, it got more serious when I was maybe 15 and I realized I wanted to take it seriously when I didn’t make the first National Team. I didn’t make any of those teams, so I think around that time when I was 15 or 16, I kind of realized that if I ever wanted to do anything with this game as a hockey player, I needed to work on things. So around that time, I started to really focus on hockey and take the training a little more seriously, and around then I got my first goalie coach. So it was 15, 16, and age 17 when I really turned it around. I had some good coaches for the most part of my junior hockey career, and even my first few years in pro in Finland. I had the same goalie coach, and that helped me to create a lot of consistency. I still talk to him today and work with him during the offseason.” Goldman: So when did you start to really focus on improving your skills and your mental game? Rinne: “I think it took me a while to really start working on my game, but I was always passionate about hockey. There were a lot of other things going on as well, as I played a lot of other sports and took them seriously too, so I always dreamed big. Growing up, I always dreamed of playing professional hockey, but I never really thought that it would happen. Maybe if I made the Finnish league that would have been my dream and goal, but as I grew older, I set my goals higher, and once you reach some level, you set new goals, and that’s kind of how my junior career went. I never really thought I would build up any huge expectations for myself, but I always knew that if I worked hard enough, I’d have a chance. Eventually, when I got a little bit older, a lot of good things started happening.” Goldman: Can you talk about how dreaming big helped you to stay focused on elevating your goals? Rinne: “Well, I think it’s huge. I thought that where I was from, there was no way I could end up being in the NHL. But you think you’re so far away from the NHL and it wasn’t realistic. But those things were always being dreamed about. I think it’s huge when you set goals for yourself and you have to challenge yourself always. When I was around 16, I switched to a more competitive team, and it was one of my goals to be able to play for that team. Once I joined that team, I realized how weak I was, and all of those things became an eye-opening experience for myself on how much I needed to work on the ice and off the ice, too. I was really just a tall, lanky kid, and I never had even lifted weights or done any of that stuff. Even though I was always athletic because I played a bunch of different sports, it was a big eye-opening experience to see just how much work needed to be done. I guess during those years, dreaming big was a big step. I became a better athlete and I started living a more athletic lifestyle, basically playing more competitive hockey. The practices were tough and the summertime included tough training. So I think during those years, dreaming big and setting goals was huge. Even at that time, especially when I noticed my weaknesses, I really thought that, oh man, this is going to be hard for me to get anywhere and I have a lot of work to get done. But without the goals and without the big dreams, I don’t think it would have been possible.” Goldman: You talked about how it was a real eye-opening experience during the years when you changed teams and started to realize you had a lot to work on. How important do you think that experience is for young goalies, to realize they have a lot to work on and they’re not as good as they thought? Rinne: “I think it’s a little bit of a humbling experience, and if you take it the right way, it makes you work harder and makes you really appreciate the chance you have at that moment. You start learning from the other goalies and start looking up to the guys that are ahead of you. You learn what they do right to be successful, so I think for everybody, it doesn’t matter how good you are, regardless of the junior or pro level, everyone is going to face adversity and everyone is going to have moments where they realize there’s a lot of work to be done. Nobody is perfect, so I think overall it’s a good experience when you face those moments. I feel like even though I’m in the NHL, I still battle with those thoughts, and at the same time they keep you grounded, they keep you humble, and they keep you honest and hard-working.” Goldman: On that same note, in terms of it being a humbling experience, can you point to maybe one thing mentally or emotionally recently where you’ve had that experience? Rinne: “At the NHL level, I think my first couple of years I just tried to establish myself and get more ice time. There’s not too much pressure because you just learn as you go. But yeah, the last few years, especially this year, as a team and myself included, we had some success in the past, so my expectations grew and I feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself on the inside to perform. This year, at the end of the season, you expect so much more from yourself, even though as a team we went through some tough times with a lot of injuries. We had a really rough last part of the season, and so I think it’s at those times when you think in your head you can always help the team, and in the tough moments, put them on your shoulders. But when it’s not happening, you start second-guessing yourself, so it’s a good reminder that you have to do the best you can and you can’t try to be a superhuman being. You can’t change the way you are or the way you play and all of those kind of things. So I think even today, I’m always learning things about myself and you learn ways to handle different situations. I believe after the season, when you reflect back, I think there’s always things to learn from it, and there’s also a lot of positives to take with you. Obviously when you get to play in the playoffs, it’s the best thing in the world, but when you lose out, it’s just a tough moment, but every single time you learn new things about yourself. At the same time, if you have success, you have to realize you’re just one part of the team and you have to do your job. You can’t change the way you are or the way you play the game or the way you react to things off the ice. I think all of those things that happened to me the past few years was a little bit of a humbling moment, especially at the end of the season when we didn’t make the playoffs. I think we lost nine out of the last 10 games, so it was a good chance to look in the mirror and get back to working hard. It’s just one of those humbling moments.”