Luukkonen wants to play in Buffalo, be Sabres' starting goalie

Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR) - After Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff put the team through a grueling training camp practice on Friday, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen addressed the media for the first time since last year ended.

The goalie trio in Buffalo of Luukkonen, Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis finished last season with the third-best save percentage in the NHL. Luukkonen ended up going 22-9-3 with a 2.49 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.

From Dec. 9 until the end of the season, Luukkonen went 18-4-2 with a 2.36 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage.

Over the offseason, many NHL insiders said the Sabres were very close to trading for Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who struggled last season with a 23-23-11 record, a 2.86 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage. He has also struggled throughout his playoff career with a 24-34 record - 8-15 over his last 23 postseason appearances.

Those numbers aren't even close to Luukkonen's, but if the reports are true, Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen feels it's a big upgrade in net. Hellebuyck also carries with him an $8.5 million hit against the salary cap.

Luukkonen understands all the Hellebuyck talk is out of his control.

"It's business. I've been part of those conversations before, and you can't really do anything about that," said Luukkonen following Friday's practice. "You focus on the moment, and I'm really happy to be here. I'm really happy to be with these guys, and just be ready to win.

"I want to be here. I've grown up here, and helped the team win here."

Prior to the start of the new league year this past July 1, Luukkonen didn't have any trade protection associated with his contract. However, he now has a modified no trade clause, where he can pick five teams that he can't be traded to.

Luukkonen says nobody ever came to him in June about any trade.

"I never heard anything about it. Nobody called me about it, there was never anything serious to me that it would happen. But, of course, you always think about that, and that's the business side of it," Luukkonen said. "You focus on your own stuff, you focus on getting better."

Luukkonen has been through a lot in his pro career, including competition. Former Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams twice passed by Luukkonen and handed the starting goaltending job to Devon Levi, only to have Levi fail.

"You grow up, even going through the minors system, playing in the East Coast (Hockey League) and the AHL. I kind of grinded through that, and learning how nothing else matters other than what you did today and how you make yourself better today," Luukkonen said. "There's things you can control and there's things you can't control, and it's easier to focus on the stuff you can control."

Luukkonen has told me many times he wants to play as many games as he possibly can, but Ruff alternated him and Lyon last season, and it worked very well. Luukkonen says if it helps the team win games, he's all for it.

"In the end, we made a decision there that nothing else matters other than winning. That's the only way to get to the playoffs," he said. "Every goalie wants to play as much as they can, but in the end, it's about winning, and is the best goalie the best thing you can have to win games. That's what matters in this business is to get to the playoffs."

Luukkonen seems to have a very good outlook on things like this. He says it's not a distraction, and he's just happy to be back in Buffalo.

The 27-year-old has always used the summer to train and find the places that need improvement in his game.

"I try to find basics that you can build your game on, and from there, I feel it's easier to build consistency to have something you can rely on for the games," Luukkonen said.

"It's a lot of post play, a lot of edge work, just simple, simple stuff, because you can never do too much of it. So I just focus on that."

Like many of his teammates, Luukkonen participated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in his career this past spring. Luukkonen and some excellent playoff games for Buffalo, and some awful games in other playoff contests. He played in six of the 13 games, while Lyon participated in 10 of the 13 games.

Luukkonen says he took a lot away from the experience of playoff hockey.

"Every second, every inch, everything just matters that extra much," he said. "There's no room for mistakes, there's no room for off shifts. One shift, one shot can turn a series around."

With only four preseason games this year, there's a good chance each of the three goalies will get just one game. Once the preseason is over, there will only be four days until the regular season starts.

On a side note Friday, Ruff and the players were in attendance for Thursday night's Buffalo Bills home opener at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. Ruff understands the passion in this town for both the Bills and Sabres, and he loved being there for the first game in the new stadium.

"The stadium was electric. The atmosphere was unbelievable," Ruff said after practice Friday. "Everything about it was just top notch. Just how loud the stadium got, it was just incredible. So you've got great memories from the old stadium, but I think those are going to fade pretty fast, because it's a pretty special building."