Mailbag #65: Antti Raanta

Favorite moment as a Hurricane so far? How does he keep such a positive outlook at all times? Plus, a future in podcasting?

By Walt Ruff

@WaltRuff Hurricanes.com

September 01, 2023

RALEIGH, NC. -With the calendar flipping to September, a plethora of Carolina Hurricanes players are back in town, gearing up for this month's training camp.

One of those players is Antti Raanta, who is back with the club for a third season after signing a one-year deal on July 1.

He was kind enough to answer some of your questions after an informal skate at Invisalign Arena.

Most fun thing you did in the offseason? - @\_amdsoftball

Well, I bought a jet ski. Pretty much right when we got back to Finland, we got it.

We took it to our summer house and we were cruising it. The kids were able to get on it a few times and my daughter wanted to try and drive it. That was probably the most fun thing.

Those things can get up to pretty high speeds, huh?

Yeah, it can get up to about 110kmph (~68mph). It took like five seconds to get up that high and everything was moving so fast. (laughs) I had to try it.

What moments do you consider the best moments from your time here as a Hurricane? - @LikeFiftyNinjas

Either Game 7 against Boston or when we beat New Jersey in Game 5 of last year's playoffs to go to the Eastern Conference Final.

The Boston one was so big. I'll never forget it. Hopefully, there will be more games like that in the future.

Favorite save from last season? - @wjames3

Well, the funniest one was when I ripped my pants. That got quite the media coverage. I've had some good saves during my time with the Canes, but that's been the funniest one, for sure.

How about in your career?

Probably

from while I was in Arizona.

Are there any teams that you look forward to playing against? - @smb0693

It's always nice to play against former teams. It's always a good battle against the Rangers. Playing against Arizona is always a little bit special too after spending four years there.

Playing against teams like Boston is big too, especially since it's kind of become a little bit of a rivalry. Those games always get you going.

Who was your idol growing up? - @SoCalCaniac

My hometown goalie,

Petri Vehanen

. I was lucky that when I was 18, I got to be his number two for half of a year. We used to live right next to each other back home. I was always trying to see what he was doing and what I could learn from him.

When I started to really get into goaltending, Martin Brodeur and Dominik Hasek were other guys that come to mind. They weren't the biggest guys, but they were always on NHL Power Week, the highlights show that we had in Finland on Saturday mornings. I really looked up to them.

How did you reach your mandatory service time for the Finnish military? Balancing that and a professional career must have been difficult. - @GlepHockey

It actually wasn't that bad. I was playing U20 back home and we started it the first week of January. We had like seven guys from our team doing it. We went together and everyone was in the same room.

We had 10 bunk beds and we'd wake up every morning at 5:40 a.m. We'd go to breakfast at 6:20, then we'd have to learn things for a few hours, go to the shooting range, and had to do all of the obstacle course-type stuff. By 2 or 3 in the afternoon, we'd drive home, go to practice, then be back to the army base by 8 or 9.

That was a normal day. On weekends we'd have our hockey games.

It wasn't fun, but now when you look back, it's a lot of good memories.

Tweets by HannaRaeYates

Is it nice having a lot of countrymen and Jarvis playing on the same team to bring an extra sense of family on the team? - @smb0693

It's been a lot of fun. In my first eight years in the league, I only had Turbo for a brief moment in Chicago. In New York and Arizona, I never had a Finnish teammate.

It took a little while to get used to having Finnish teammates and to be able to talk with them. You can give your opinion on things in Finnish also. (laughs)

It's nice to be able to have guys over and people for my kids to play with too.

I will say, it was great that I didn't have Finnish teammates my first few years. It forces you to get to know the guys and to learn English. But now it's nice to have a few goofballs, it makes me appreciate it that much more.

Do you have a fairly positive outlook on life, and if so, how do you manage to keep it? You always seem to be walking around with a big smile no matter what's going on. - @canesgoalkeeper

Well, it's not always. It's something about how you grow up. My mom is the same way I am. She's super talkative and positive.

It's just easier to have a positive attitude on things, as opposed to being in a bad mood all the time. If you are, that's going to impact everyone around you.

Even if things aren't going your way, you still try and find the positive. I know that there are more years behind me than in front of me in hockey, so I'm just trying to enjoy every day and every game. I'm still trying to get better, but I'm also trying to have fun. It's a long season, so I'm always trying to keep that positive attitude and enjoy the moments.

What would you be doing job-wise if you didn't play in the NHL? - @cocowestcliffe

I've been thinking about that a lot recently.

I think I'd have to do something to use my talking abilities. Maybe a podcast? They're huge things now. Maybe I could even get on TV and do some commentary.

Every summer back home we do a charity golf tournament and I actually like getting sponsors for that too. I like getting involved with people.

Maybe not TV, actually, because you have to wear a suit all the time. (laughs)

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