Dream Debut for Joel Blomqvist

After Joel Blomqvist was awarded the player of the game helmet following a victory in his NHL debut on Thursday in Detroit, the calls to action came: “SPEECH!”

He obliged.

“Dream come true to play for the Penguins, and first NHL game, thanks for helping me get the win,” the rookie netminder said to a chorus of whooping and hollering.

After the game - where he made 29 saves in a 6-3 win - Pittsburgh’s 2020 second-round pick reflected on what it was like achieving this career milestone he’s been working towards.

“Of course, it feels good. Maybe a little bit weird, because it's something you've always been dreaming about and looking forward to,” Blomqvist said with a smile. “But yeah, happy it ended up this way.”

Across the locker room, Evgeni Malkin had to smile and shake his head when asked about his goaltender’s play.

“Wow, he's amazing. I mean, first NHL game, first NHL win – I just want to say keep going, work hard,” Malkin said. “Just work hard every night, every practice and you deserve tonight. He stayed on his game every shift, and made some unbelievable saves. We’re lucky he played tonight.”

After Alex Nedeljkovic sustained a lower-body injury with a prognosis of week-to-week on Sep. 28, and with the Penguins playing on back-to-back nights to open the season, Blomqvist playing had been probable for a while.

It allowed Blomqvist’s parents, Anders and Nina, enough time to travel from Finland to Pittsburgh earlier this week to be present whenever the time came.

“It came as a surprise for us on Sunday evening, because we didn’t know,” Anders said. “Joel called us and asked if we could come over. Nina [a nurse] got it arranged it with her work, and I also got it arranged with my work, too [he is an engineer].”

They were at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday as Joel backed up Tristan Jarry, and then the Blomqvists flew to Detroit during the quick turnaround to watch their son’s dream come true.

“We are proud, yeah,” said Nina, on her first-ever trip to the States. “We are of course very glad, but it’s very hard, too! We are so nervous,” Anders added after a first period where Joel allowed just one goal on 13 shots, giving the Penguins a chance to get their legs.

“He had a lot of shots on him, and that’s good for him. Because standing in his goal, if he doesn’t move all the time, it’s hard if you have a couple of breakdowns.”

Mike Sullivan couldn’t say enough about Blomqvist’s play, especially early.

“I thought he had a big impact on our ability to settle into the game,” the Penguins head coach said. “He was a huge part of it. I thought he was terrific.”

Before the game, Sullivan’s message to Blomqvist focused on continuing the momentum he had built during training camp.

“I think his training camp's got stronger and stronger with each game that he's played,” Sullivan said prior to puck drop. “He's a quality goaltender. We're not asking him to do anything that he's not accustomed to doing. He's got to go out and be himself and embrace the moment. We believe in him. We believe he's going to give us a chance to win."

The Penguins were extremely encouraged by Blomqvist’s first professional season in North America. The 2024 AHL All-Star went 25-12-6 with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. For his efforts, Blomqvist was also named to the 2024 AHL All-Rookie Team.

“His game really evolved over the course of that season,” Sullivan said. “My observation of him is I think he's technically pretty sound, and he has good size. He’s tall, he’s rangy. By nature of that, he takes up a lot of net. So, when you combine some of his technical game and how sound he is with his size and his physical stature, I think it really sets him up for success.”

When Joel first told his parents he wanted to be a goalie – “I found the equipment the goalies wore was really cool, and wanted to try it out myself,” he said – Nina had a hilarious reaction.

“I was like, nooo!” she laughed, covering her face with her hands. “More money, nooo!”

But she truly couldn’t have been more supportive of her son, with Anders saying, “actually, it was Nina that was with Joel a lot more when he was small, because I was with our older son a lot. We were a hockey family, at hockey all the time.”

Emil Blomqvist was watching from back home, which is what Anders usually does, even though the games start at 2 AM in Finland and he still works full time. Sacrifices like that made this milestone night even sweeter for the Blomqvists, and it meant a lot to Joel that they were here.

“Since I was a kid, obviously, my parents, they always drove me to the rink. So yeah, big thanks for them,” he said. “Just all the teammates I’ve had during the years, and good coaches. I'm really happy, I think I've been lucky with coaches, too, that have helped me to this point. So, appreciate all of them helping me to this point.”