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Last season, 92 goaltenders played in the NHL. Eleven of them (12 percent) were from Finland. That was up from nine in the previous season and tied the record from 2009.Over the years, 30 Finnish goalies have played 4,411 regular-season games in the NHL. But only five of them played in the league before 1999.So why has Finland -- with a population of 5.5 million, one-sixth that of Canada -- been producing so many world-class goalies in recent years? One of the reasons for Finlands steady production of high-quality goalies -- there are seven Finnish goalies in Russias KHL, too -- is their tradition tracing back to the 1960s and 70s.Urpo Ylonen, Jorma Valtonen, Hannu Kamppuri, Kari Takko and Jarmo Myllys were among the Finnish pioneers, helping pave the way for a new first wave of true NHL goalies, such as Miikka Kiprusoff, Pekka Rinne and Niklas Backstrom, who have either retired or are closing in on the end of their careers.?Finnish club Pori Assat Assat produced Takko, one of the NHLs four Finnish pioneers. When Takko was 10, the Assat goalie was Valtonen, who was named best goaltender at the 1972 world championships.And when Jaakko Rosendahl, the 33-year-old goaltending coach of Assat, was 12, Finland won its first world championship gold with Myllys, who played 39 games in the NHL. Then there was Ylonen, best goaltender at the 1970 tournament who later became a goaltending coach for Finnish League powerhouse Turku, with students such as Kiprusoff, Antero Niittymaki, Fredrik Norrena, Jani Hurme and Joni Ortio.Role models are important, said Rosendahl, who doubles as Team Italys goaltending coach, in Finnish. Im sure a lot of kids wanted to play goal thanks to Myllys, and when Finns finally made their NHL breakthrough, they gained self-confidence.Winning begets winning, and goaltending heroes beget goaltending heroes.Of course, Finland has built up a great coaching training system, and the federations nine districts each have a dedicated goaltending coach who makes club visits to spread the knowledge. Rosendahls Assat is a midsized club, with 12 junior teams and the Finnish League team. The club has 18 goalie coaches.Also, with a functioning goalie factory in their own country, the clubs often have two good Finnish goalies on their roster, which creates a healthy competition. Only three non-Finns have won the Urpo Ylonen Award which goes to the best goalie in the league, the latest being Tim Thomas?in 1998.So is there a Finnish style then? Something others could copy?Its hard to say, not really, said the Vancouver Canucks Jacob Markstrom, in Swedish. When I was growing up, there was Niittymaki and Kiprusoff, and they had a similar style, but I dont see a Finnish style.Kiprusoff and Niittymaki both came up through Ylonens goalie school.Id say, generally speaking, that Finnish goalies have good hands, and we try to control the puck, use our glove a lot, said Nashville Predators No. 1 Rinne, in Finnish. I believe I can spot a Finn, but Ill admit that the styles are pretty similar everywhere these days.Everybody has his own style, which I think is great. There was a time when everybody looked almost the same. But one detail that still separates the Finns is the active hands.Rinne credits his own hands to the game of pesapallo, a baseball-like sport that was developed in Finland in the early 1920s.When I was a kid, I wore the glove all the time, and I still like to catch the puck if I can, he said. I think it can be traced back to pesapallo, but its probably not the whole explanation. I dont know any other Finnish goalies who have played pesapallo.Tuukka Rask, a goalie for Finlands World Cup of Hockey team along with Rinne, liked the pesapallo theory, even if he hasnt played the game seriously.Only at school ... but I think it makes sense, Rask said, in Finnish. Finns are good with their hands, and just look at Rinne. I think Finnish goalies are catchers more than other nationalities.Even if their national sport wouldnt explain Finlands success with goalies, Rosendahl wouldnt mind if more kids played pesapallo.Its good practice for your hand-eye coordination because you need to read the balls trajectory quickly, he said. A goalie has 0.3 seconds to make a move when somebody shoots from the point. Theres no time to look where the pucks going. You have to know it.The fact that theres no particular Finnish style is a testament to the way coaches like to start with an individual goalies qualities and then build on them.No coach in Finland thinks that his goalies should play a certain way, Rosendahl said. In Sweden, they trust their blocking style and teach it to everybody, even small kids, even if they cant really block the whole net.A big part of our coaching has to do with a way of looking at life itself. How you should only focus on the things you can control, not look at skaters mistakes, how to work every day, how to enjoy the work every day.Finlands goalie coaches have to work hard to keep the factory going. Of the 11 Finns in the NHL last season, four could be considered No. 1s -- although Antti Niemi (43 starts) and Kari Lehtonen (39 starts) split the season pretty evenly for the Dallas Stars. Rinne played 66 games and Rask, 64. Four other Finnish goalies made double-digit starts, including Ortio, who has signed with a Swedish League team, and Karri Ramo, who suffered a torn ACL in February and is currently unsigned. In the 2016-17 season, Rinne will turn 34 and Rask 30.Meanwhile, Finland has a group of young forwards on their way up in Patrik Laine, Teuvo Teravainen, Aleksander Barkov and Jesse Puljujarvi. Could change be in the wind?Maybe its not cool to be a goalie anymore, Rosendahl said. Custom Rashan Gary Jersey . 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First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Warriors skipper Ryan Hoffman pulled rising star Bunty Afoa aside after his NRL first-grade debut and gave him one key piece of advice.If youre going to take on the line, commit.The 19-year-old Aucklander has surprised many with his seamless transition to rugby leagues top flight, impressing in an unfamiliar second-row role.But Afoa, who has scored two tries in his three NRL games, remains in awe of his more established teammates.He told NZN his fellow Warriors back-rowers have helped him transition from running the ball straight as a prop to hitting defensive gaps as a No.11.It was a dream come true when I got on, and to have Hoffy and them giving me support in that back-row position, Afoa said.Because Ive got Shaun Johnson on my side, Ive just got to commit to whatever play he gives me and take that line on because its pretty hard out the back.Life in the first grade came with challenges on and off the park, according to Afoa, but he was putting his best foot forward.His starting XIII role depended upon successfully managing injuries and recovery.Im still young and Ive still got to do the extra work to earn that spot because theres a lot of boys here who deserve the spot too, Afoa said.Its the opportunity I wanted and I took it with both hands.Hoffman thought Afoa had excelled in his role as deputy for the injured Bodene Thompson, who is expected to return in the coming weeks.I jjust love his attitude, hes not resting on his laurels and hes always looking to improve for next week, Hoffman said on Wednesday.ddddddddddddIts not a position hes used to but his willingness to learn and get better is really pleasing to see.The ninth-placed Warriors head into Saturdays home match against Penrith reeling from three golden-point defeats in their past four NRL games.The Panthers, having re-signed veteran Peter Wallace and forward Trent Merrin over the week, sit in eighth on the ladder with six games to play.The match will go a long way towards determining which team squeezes into the NRL finals, with just two points separating the sides.Afoa, who made 34 tackles in his 70 minutes on the park against the Raiders last week, expects a front-row tussle at Mt Smart Stadium.Their forwards will come and play but for us, we have to play our game and put our team first, Afoa said.KEY STATS:* The Warriors have won just one of their past seven matches against the Panthers, with four of those losses by 12 points or more* The Warriors have made the fourth-most linebreaks in the NRL (5.4 per game) and also conceded the third-least metres (1358m per game)* Penrith have won just six of their 21 away games since the start of 2015Source: Fox Sports Stats ' ' '