His successful and headline-grabbing recent stint in Calgary might have

taken some people by surprise, but a couple of the first Flames coaches

to work directly with Joni Ortio could see signs of this as a possible

outcome years ago.

Jamie McLennan was director of goaltender development for the Flames in

2008 when he first crossed paths with a young and talented Finnish

netminder during a trip overseas to work with Miikka Kiprusoff in the

offseason. On the ice with legendary goalie coach Uri Ylonen, Kiprusoff,

Saku and Mikko Koivu and some other NHLers was a 17-year-old Ortio.

So impressed with the raw skills he witnessed, McLennan made sure the

Flames knew about the kid who idolized their superstar starter and got

Ortio on the team’s radar.

“I think Joni at the time was like 17 years old and he was practicing

with all the NHLers — and hanging in there,” recalls McLennan. “Joni was

good. He’s got a ton of skill.”

Ortio impressed the Flames scouting staff enough over the next year for

them to scoop him up in the sixth round of the 2009 draft, after which

head coach Brent Sutter called McLennan to let him know they got his

guy.

It’s taken a long time for Flames fans to see the same promise McLennan witnessed almost seven years ago.

His first foray into North America in 2011 wasn’t what anyone would call

attention grabbing. At least not for the right reasons. Ortio got a

harsh welcome to this side of the Atlantic after signing an amateur

tryout contract with the Abbotsford Heat at the end of the 2010-11

season. He was lit up in his only game — giving up six goals on 30

shots. Still, the team inked him to an entry-level NHL deal and he took

part in the summer development camp before heading to Penticton for the

Young Stars tournament with the San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks,

Edmonton Oilers and Flames prospects facing off in the (pre) pre-season

showcase.

His first game there was equally disappointing on the scoreboard.

Another six goals against in his first game against the Sharks. The

potential wasn’t shining through. At least not to those looking at the

result rather than the individual.

New goaltending coach Clint Malarchuk entered a post-game meeting with

Flames staff and walked into a mess of frantic questions at the time.

“Everybody was up in arms that this kid can’t play. ‘Oh my God, what the

hell did we do?’” Malarchuk laughs. “I kind of walked into the meeting

after the game and they were like, ‘What’s up with this guy?’ “

Malarchuk put the brakes on.

“He’s going to be fine,” he told them. “I saw a lot that I really liked in him. They were looking at me like I had three heads.”

His theory was that Ortio just needed to play a little more out of his net on the North American ice.

“I liked his quickness, I liked his movement, I liked everything about him,” Malarchuk says.

With a backlog of backstops in Abbotsford that year when Danny Taylor

emerged as a guy pushing former first-round pick Leland Irving for the

starting job, Ortio was the odd man out. He was shipped back to Finland

with the hope he could develop with more playing time back home. In his

nine appearances for the Heat, he posted an .890 save percentage and

2.94 goals-against average, winning just one game.

“He was immature,” says McLennan, not referencing Ortio’s personality,

but his game. “He needed some experience. I think we brought him over at

20 and it didn’t work out a ton. I’m still a firm believer in

goaltenders don’t get good until they’re 23, 24. And they don’t hit

their stride until they’re 25, 26. Joni’s really following that path.”

The Flames didn’t know for sure if that path would ultimately lead to the NHL at the time.

“It was a bit of a gamble but we were pretty sure he’d get more ice time

over there,” says Malarchuk, who got to work with Ortio again when he

returned to the Flames last season after the team — maybe surprisingly —

chose to re-sign their prospect after his entry-level deal ended.

That move looks shrewd now. Ortio took over the top spot in Abbotsford

and finished second behind Jake Allen with a .926 save percentage,

winning 27 of his 37 games.

He won four games in the NHL as a call-up, too, and although his

individual numbers were not great, his mental game impressed Malarchuk.

“He’s so calm. He’s able to stay in that focused zone,” he says. “When

he got called up, he wasn’t a nervous guy at all. He’s very confident.

He’s not overwhelmed by the NHL. His demeanor is great for a goalie.”

It reminds some of Kiprusoff. McLennan is among them. But he’s felt that way for a while.

“I think he emulates Miikka, and he looks a lot like him — the way he

carries himself; the way he tries to catch pucks,” McLennan says.

Most importantly, he thinks like his hero.

“His demeanor, he’s built like all the other Finnish goaltenders. Their

lateral movement is excellent, their demeanor is just unflappable. It

just rolls off of them. He handles the puck well. All the details of his

game are really strong. A lot of young goaltenders come up from junior

or come over from Europe and they have the skillset, but they don’t play

the same way every night. We watched Miikka for many years — he played

the same way every night. That consistency in your game comes with

physical and mental maturity. You can’t rush that.

“Joni’s finding that. It’s through development. It probably hasn’t been the perfect path, but how he’s playing now … “

A four-game winning streak was finally derailed on Thursday

in Anaheim, a hostile place for any Flames goalie. A mercy pulling at

the pond is nothing new for a Flames team that simply doesn’t win

against the Ducks there.

And that blemish on Ortio’s stunning stat line is just another bump on what looks like the road to a bright NHL future.





