Wilkes-Barre Watch: Larmi moves past health scare taken at PPG Paints Arena (Penguins)

Emil Larmi. -- WBS PENGUINS

Penguins

Wilkes-Barre Watch: Larmi moves past health scare

By Taylor Haase

Nov 25, 2019 • 1:43 am

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Penguins Finnish goaltending prospect Emil Larmi had a serious scare in the third start of his professional career.

It was Oct. 25, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was playing host to the San Antonio Rampage. Through two periods, Larmi had stopped 25 of the 29 shots thrown his way and the Penguins were trailing the Rampage, 4-3.

Toward the end of the second period, a Rampage player ran into Larmi's head. He was briefly down on the ice, but was able to get up and finish the period.

When the Penguins returned to the ice for the third period, Larmi, 23, wasn't on the ice or on the bench, out with what the team called an "illness."

I asked Larmi what happened during that intermission.

"It was the end of intermission, I just started to faint," he recalled to me this week. "I didn't ever totally pass out, but I was fainting. It was really scary. (Niclas) Almari was the most scared guy in the locker room, though. He was sitting next to me. Then after that, the team had to leave me because the period was starting. They had to go. Almari, he had no idea if I was even alive anymore. We were eating dinner together after the game and he was really scared."

Larmi said he had never experienced anything like that moment.

"Probably it was because of a concussion, because I got hit in my head at the end of the period," he said. "We tested all of those tough things like that, everything was good. Probably it was just a concussion, you never know."

Larmi was cleared to return to practice on Nov. 6, and was cleared to play on Nov. 8, although he didn't dress until Nov. 16, when he was a backup to Dustin Tokarski. The plan moving forward, according to Mike Vellucci, is to rotate Larmi, Tokarski, and Casey DeSmith.

Those are two pretty good goaltenders to learn from in his rookie year. DeSmith, of course, is fresh out of the NHL, and Tokarski is an 11-year pro who just won a Calder Cup last season. Larmi has especially been spending time with DeSmith, on and off the ice.

"Being with Casey, he has helped a lot," Larmi said. "He's such a good guy and a good goalie. I think I can call him a friend, we are spending a lot of time together. He's helping me as a goalie and as a person. I like it."

Through Larmi's first three starts, he's posted a 1-1-1 record, a 4.05 goals-against average and a .882 save percentage. The numbers aren't great, but he had some great moments:

"The first games I played, they were okay but they weren't so good," he said. "I'm still trying to get used to the game and then (the injury) happens. I just want to play. It was so tough to watch the games without being on the ice or even on the bench. Then after that, both Tokarski and DeSmith played so good. I'm happy for them, but of course it's not so much of a good thing for me. It's the biggest thing that the team is playing well and we're winning games — that's always the biggest thing. I'll try to do my best to help the team."

In the limited action Larmi did see, he said the biggest difference he sees in the style of the Finnish game compared to the AHL is the speed.

"You never know what is going to happen," he said. "That's one of the biggest things, things happen much faster. I still like it, it's just different and I have to get used to it."

Another thing Larmi is getting used to is the English language. He speaks it very well, but some words are tricky. He spent some time with Tristan Jarry over the summer, and according to Jarry, Larmi had a lot of questions about the language.

"He's funny," Jarry told me. "The whole time we were in the car, we were in the car for like two hours, he was just asking about English, asking about sentences, which was grammatically correct. It was pretty funny."

Larmi said that he does frequently ask his teammates for English help.

"I just try to speak English," he laughed. "Pretty often I have to ask, like, how to say a word. The names of the towns or cities are the worst. You just can't know how to say those without asking. I just have to ask how to say that. ... I have no idea how to say, 'Uh-tica? Oo-tica?' I have no idea. I don't even know how to say, 'Wilkes-BARry ... Wilkes-Berry ... Wilkes-Bar ... Wilkes-BarAY ... Wilkes-Bear.'"

I told Larmi that there are actually a few accepted ways to pronounce Wilkes-Barre, but that I think "Wilkes-Berry" is the pronunciation used most often by the team itself. But, because he's Larmi, he has other plans.

"Actually, Casey told me the same. I'll say what I want, maybe try to make a new way to say it. No one will know what I'm talking about."

During camp, Larmi said his first impressions about the cultural differences are that Americans talk too much and that the desserts here are way too big. Now that he's been living here for some time, he's noticed another.

"Most of them are like small things. People can't drive a car here," he laughed. "That's one thing. Everything is a bit different, but there's still some similar things to Finland. It's not that different. Everything is just a bit different."

Yeah, speaking of the car. If you follow Larmi on Twitter, he was providing live updates on his struggles just trying to buy a car:

Then, once he got the car:

Larmi was pleased to confirm that, yes, the car is working again.

"The first two weeks it wasn't working. The first time I took it to the local BMW service. I got it back, I drive away and the engine light came back after 30 seconds," he laughed. "I made a U-turn right back. Now it's working, I'm happy with it."

The last thing I had to ask Larmi about was his attempt to score. Back in the Penguins' development camp championship scrimmage over the summer, he tried shooting into the empty net twice. At the time, he told me, "Someday I will do that. I tried it (in Finland). It’s been close a few times, but not yet.”

In Larmi's second start of the season, he was presented with his first opportunity to score. It didn't go well. It didn't even make it out of the Penguins' zone:

"That was the WORST. Try. Ever. In the history of hockey," he laughed. "But at least I tried. If I have a chance, I'll try."

Larmi said he figures that he'll try to score one more time on his own, and if he doesn't get it then, he'll reach out to Tristan Jarry for advice since he scored for Wilkes-Barre last season, the first ever Wilkes-Barre goaltender to do so. I wouldn't be surprised to see Larmi become the second.

____________________

THE ROSTER MOVES

• Defenseman Zach Trotman was recalled by Pittsburgh on Nov. 21.

• The Penguins traded forward Joseph Cramarossa to the Blackhawks for 22-year-old former second-round pick, forward Graham Knott. Cramarossa did not have a regular spot in Wilkes-Barre's lineup due to the AHL's veteran rule, so a veteran needed to be moved. I'd expect Knott to end up in Wheeling at some point soon.

• Forward Joseph Blandisi was re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre on Nov. 24.

THE INJURIES

• Forward Ben Sexton has been dealing with an upper-body injury since camp.

• Forward Jamie Devane is out with a lower-body injury. As of Oct. 11, he was expected to be out four to six weeks. He has not yet played this season.

• Forward Kasper Bjorkqvist is out until May after undergoing knee surgery, effectively ending his season. He last played on Oct. 19.

• Defenseman Niclas Almari sustained a middle-body injury on Nov. 6.

THE NEWS

• The Penguins' Hockey Fights Cancer night will be held on Nov. 30. Details are here, and the online game-worn purple jersey auction is here.

THE GAMES

• Nov. 22: at Springfield, 4-2 win

Andrew Agozzino opened the scoring on Friday with his seventh goal of the season. Thomas Di Pauli scored his first of the year midway through the period to extend the lead.

Agozzino recorded his eighth of the season and second of the game -- a power play goal -- to open the second period. Former Penguins prospect Blaine Byron scored a power play goal 61 seconds later to get the Thunderbirds on the board.

Henrik Borgstrom scored a power play goal for the Thunderbirds to cut the Penguins' lead to one at 5:21 of the third period. Stefan Noesen put the game away with 50 seconds left with an empty net goal, his 12th goal of the season.

DeSmith earned the win with 40 saves on 42 shots.

The Penguins went 1-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-5 on the penalty kill.

• Nov. 23: vs. Charlotte, 1-0 loss

Wilkes-Barre had an awful start against the Checkers, held to only eight total shots over the first two periods while allowing 22.

The Penguins outshot the Checkers 14-5 in the third period, but the Checkers scored the only goal of the game -- a power play tally -- 15:37 into the third period.

Tokarski took the loss with 26 saves on 27 shots.

The Penguins went 0-for-6 on the power play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.

THE LEADERS

• Goals: Noesen, 12 in 19 games

• Assists: Warsofsky, 12 in 19 games

• Points: Noesen, 18 in 19 games

THE COMBINATIONS

Sam Miletic — Andrew Agozzino — Stefan Noesen

Adam Johnson — Joseph Blandisi — Anthony Angello

Andreas Martinsen — Oula Palve — Ryan Haggerty

Thomas Di Pauli — Chase Berger — Jake Lucchini

David Warsofsky — Macoy Erkamps

Pierre-Olivier Joseph — Jon Lizotte

Matt Abt — Kevin Czuczman

THE STANDINGS

• After this week, the Penguins’ record is 11-6-1-1, falling one spot to third place in the eight-team Atlantic Division. They trail the first-place Hartford Wolf Pack (11-4-0-5) by three points.

• The power play sits at 18.7 percent, 13th in the 31-team league. The penalty kill is operating at 78.6 percent overall, 22nd in the league.

THE SCHEDULE

• The Penguins will have a home-and-home with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (8-6-1-4) on Wednesday and Friday, opening at home. They'll host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (6-11-3-1) on Saturday.

THE PODCAST

• Chase Berger joined Nick Hart on the podcast this week:

WILKES-BARRE FUN THING

Captain David Warsofsky played against his brother Ryan Warsofsky, now head coach of the Charlotte Checkers:

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