When the Finnish national junior team announced its training camp roster Wednesday in preparation August's World Junior Championship, there was one glaring omission.
Penguins goaltending prospect Joel Blomqvist, the team's second-round pick in 2020.
The World Junior Championship is scheduled to be held Aug. 9 - 20 in Edmonton, and is going to be the second attempt at competing the tournament. The tournament was initially scheduled to be held from Dec 6, 2021 through Jan, 5, 2022 Edmonton and Red Deer in Alberta, but the tournament was postponed after just a handful of games due to a number of positive COVID tests within multiple teams.
Blomqvist was on Finland's roster -- albeit in a backup role -- for that first attempt at completing the tournament.
In the time since, Blomqvist put together a strong season in a backup role for his club Karpat in the top Finnish league. He led all goaltenders in both goals-against average (1.32) and save percentage (.940) in 20 regular-season games, recording five shutouts. Blomqvist supplanted his team's starter in the postseason, and posted an exceptional 1.10 goals-against average and .950 save percentage in seven games as Karpat was eliminated in the first round of the Liiga playoffs.
Blomqvist seemed poised to compete for Finland's starting job at the World Junior Championship after such a strong finish to the season. Instead, he was left off of the roster entirely.
"You can never expect anything," Blomqvist told me in a phone interview on Thursday. "Every time you have to earn your spot. But I am a little bit surprised that I'm not there."
When the camp roster was announced, Blomqvist said that he received a call from the Finnish coaching staff explaining the decision to leave him off the roster.
It wasn't due to his performance.
"The coaches called me and explained that it was because I -- in their eyes -- chose the NHL over the national team," Blomqvist said.
It's a curious explanation. Is he any different from any other player in that tournament?
"I think every player in the junior national teams has their dreams to play in the NHL," Blomqvist said.
Blomqvist said that he thinks one decision he made in April played a role in Finland leaving him off of the roster.
Team Finland participated in a smaller four-team European tournament in Czechia in the spring. Blomqvist wasn't available for the tournament, having joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an amateur tryout after his Finnish season ended after the Penguins presented him with the opportunity to do so.
Blomqvist practiced with Wilkes-Barre for a week before making his AHL debut on April 23 against the Springfield Thunderbirds, one of the top teams in the AHL's Eastern Conference, and stopped 25 of 27 shots faced in a loss. He remained in Wilkes-Barre for another week in a backup role, before being released from his tryout contract in order to return to Finland and fulfill his mandatory military service requirements.
SPRINGFIELD THUNDERBIRDS
Joel Blomqvist in his AHL debut.
"When I got the invite from Pittsburgh to come to Wilkes-Barre, I chose to come over and I saw it as a good opportunity to come and get to feel the North American game and get to know the place and the team and the coaching staff," Blomqvist said. "So I saw it as a good opportunity for me."
Blomqvist played just that one game for Wilkes-Barre, but he said the differences between the North American style of game and the European game were immediately apparent. The smaller ice surface means that the game happens faster and more pucks get through to the net. The high skill level of the AHL also stood out to him.
Blomqvist, who is listed at 6 foot 2, 183 pounds, said that he thinks his strengths are his speed and his movement, things that could help him when he does make that adjustment to the faster North American game.
That time in Wilkes-Barre was also Blomqvist's first real extended time in North America, and he thought he got a good feel of what the culture and off-ice life is like. He said his biggest takeaway is that cities in America aren't nearly as walkable as they are in Finland, and that he's going to make sure he has a car when he does come over to North America full-time.
It was a valuable learning experience for Blomqvist. And if that experience played a role in costing him his last opportunity at playing in the World Junior Championship, he doesn't look back and wish that he would have done anything different.
"I don't have any regrets about the decision," he said. "We made that decision, and you can't look back at it anymore. Of course I'm disappointed how it turned out when it affected my role in the national team, but at the same time I did want to make the decision to come over."
Blomqvist is currently still completing his military service training, mandatory for all men in Finland. He expects to be completing those obligations until August, though he did say that he's permitted to have time off to attend the Penguins' development camp this summer.
JOEL BLOMQVIST
The 2021-22 season was Blomqvist's first full year in the top Finnish league, and he served as backup to the team's veteran netminder Stanislav Galimov.
"The beginning of the season was a little bit hard," he said. "I didn't really get that much playing time. So it was hard to get a good flow in my game. I had to work hard at every practice and just try to improve my game and try to show the coaches that I deserve to play. Then during the season there came opportunities for me, and in my opinion I played well."
He played even better in the playoffs.
Galimov was the starter for Game 1 of the playoffs, but was pulled after allowing three goals on seven shots in the first 7:28 of the game. Blomqvist entered the game in relief, and stopped 18 of 19 shots to finish the game, a loss for Karpat. For Game 2, Karpat turned to Blomqvist as the starter. Blomqvist made 20 saves on 22 shots, but Karpat again only scored one goal in a 2-1 overtime loss. Blomqvist earned his first Liiga playoff win in Game 3, making 16 saves on 17 shots in a 2-1 overtime win.
Karpat went back to Galimov for Game 4. Galimov allowed two goals on four shots in the first 12 minutes of the game, and was once again pulled. Blomqvist was perfect in relief, stopping all 17 shots faced, as Karpat won 3-2 in overtime to tie the series. Karpat again returned to Blomqvist as the starter for Game 5, and he put forth a solid effort, stopping 24 of 25 shots. Karpat was shut out, however, and fell behind in the series, 3-2.
On the brink of elimination, Karpat started Blomqvist in Game 6, and he stopped 14 of 15 shots to force a Game 7. Blomqvist started in Game 7 and stopped 42 of 44 shots in an overtime loss.
Karpat may have lost the series, but Blomqvist had an outstanding individual run as he took over the starting role.
"It's nice to have that experience," he said of the playoffs. "It just shows that I'm able to play in the important and high-level games. It was a really nice experience."
Blomqvist and the Penguins keep in contact while he's in Finland, with goaltending coach Andy Chiodo and goaltending development coach Kain Tisi both having conversations with Blomqvist throughout the season. Tisi will regularly go through Blomqvist's game footage with him and offer pointers virtually.
Blomqvist said that he isn't sure how much longer he'll play in Finland before moving to North America full-time, but he's certain that he will return to Karpat for next season. He hasn't officially been told that he'll be the team's No. 1 goaltender, but the door is wide-open for him to do so after Galimov left in free agency. Asked if he's ready to take on that No. 1 role, his answer was brief.
"Yeah, I think so."
It'll be the next step for Blomqvist as he works toward his NHL dream.
