Building Blue: Aku Koskenvuo Discusses Harvard and Finding His Flow State as a Netminder

Coming into his third NCAA season, goaltending prospect Aku Koskenvuo was set to take a big step in his game and take on the workload that comes with being a starting goaltender.

Taking on a tough workload is nothing new for the 21-year-old, who is now settling in at Harvard.

Koskenvuo has enjoyed his time at arguably the most prestigious university in the world. When deciding on a major, he chose economics and has taken a liking to learning a bit of psychology on the side.

“During my 17-year-old season, when I started thinking about playing in the NCAA, we started looking for potential schools, and Harvard was one of them,” said Koskenvuo.

“Academics play an important part in my life. I believe it's important to combine both athletics and academics and once my family and I realized that Harvard also has a great hockey program, it seemed like a no-brainer for me.”

Born in Espoo, Finland, the netminder knew about Harvard from watching movies where the smart kids would talk about wanting to go to the crimson-covered university.

Following a freshman season where he got into just two games and a sophomore year where he got into 17, Koskenvuo is now in a role where he is going to be relied upon to be the workhouse starter if he continues to hold the confidence of the coaching staff.

“My hard work is paying off and I feel like it's just providing me with extra motivation and reason to keep on pushing because I’m showing myself that hard work pays off,” said Koskenvuo. “It's just been a rewarding feeling and pushes me even harder. I want to see where this all can go, and how far we can take this. But I realize while it's been rewarding, this is still only the beginning, and we are just getting started.”

Koskenvuo has made three starts this season and has a 2-1-0 record with a .931% save percentage, a 1.64 goals-against average, and one shutout.

“Once you start feeling that you can play in this league, confidence comes, and you find yourself mentally calm and from there the physical aspects start looking a lot calmer too. It's a combination of getting calmer in the net, but also, I feel like I've gotten stronger over the past two years too.”

When a goaltender finds confidence in themselves, they often talk about being in the zone. Koskenvuo described the feeling that he’s found a couple of times this season.

“Being in the zone is pretty much being in a flow state – that is the best way to describe it. You're in the present, and there's no past or future in that moment. I almost feel like I have an unconscious mind sort of take over my conscious mind. Everything is almost happening automatically happening from the repetition. When I'm in the zone, it just feels like I know what's going to happen. When I’m in the zone, I’m not chasing the game, but instead, I’m on top of it," said Koskenvuo.

Koskenvuo gives credit to fellow Finn, and current Canucks goaltending coach Marko Torenius for their work at Canucks’ development camp over the past few summers.

Torenius spent a lot of time with Koskenvuo during the past couple of years at development camp and continued to speak during the hockey season. The two would review his game tape and Koskenvuo joked that they had to break down every single movement from his freshman season due to him only playing two games.

At 6’4”, Koskenvuo has the size that goalies desire. He is also very athletic and flexible and that was a big reason the Canucks drafted him in the fifth round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

After a couple of years of demanding work, Koskenvuo is beginning to feel better in how he has evolved as a goaltender but knows that there’s a lot of work to be done before he takes the step toward becoming a professional.

“I think reading the game is one of the things that has definitely improved. I'm happy with being able to take steps every week and feel I'm progressing steadily. Some of the core things for myself are being athletic, competing for every single puck, and being able to be reactive in tight situations,” said Koskenvuo.

“I'm blessed that I've got into these few games, but I think it's only the beginning. Right now, I’m focusing on doing everything that I can to play as well as I can. The focus is on getting better every single day, going one day at a time, one practice at a time, a game at a time, and seeing where we end up. I'm just doing everything and trying to give everything that I can every single day to move myself toward the vision that I see that I can be in the future.”

His goal for this coming season is to just continue improving and building confidence in himself as a netminder. The raw tools are and have always been there for Koskenvuo but the strides he has taken over the past couple of years have come to fruition so far in this early portion of the season.

The 21-year-old will continue to play for Harvard as he studies economics and enjoys the life of a Harvard student-athlete. He’s happy that he has a lot more game film to review with Marko Torenius this season and wants to continue proving to his coaching staff that he can be a top-tier starting goaltender in the NCAA.