Ville Husso (born 6 February 1995) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also played for the St. Louis Blues.
| Ville Husso | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Husso with HIFK in 2015 | |||
| Born |
6 February 1995 Helsinki, Finland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) | ||
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb) | ||
| Position | Goaltender | ||
| Catches | Left | ||
| NHL team (P) Cur. team Former teams |
Detroit Red Wings Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) HIFK St. Louis Blues | ||
| National team |
 Finland | ||
| NHL draft |
94th overall, 2014 St. Louis Blues | ||
| Playing career | 2013–present | ||
Playing career
editHusso started his career in the youth setup at HIFK in his hometown of Helsinki. He made his debut with the club's men's team during the 2013–14 Liiga season. He reached the Liiga finals with HIFK in the 2015–16 season, where they fell short to Tappara. Husso excelled with a SVS% of .927 and a GAA of 1.91 that season, while receiving the Urpo Ylönen Award as the Goaltender of the Year.[1] He also competed in the Champions Hockey League with HIFK.[2]
St. Louis Blues
editOn 10 May 2016, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL).[3] After attending the Blues 2016 training camp, he was reassigned to AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, on 29 September 2016.
Husso made his North American debut with the Wolves against the Grand Rapids Griffins on 15 October 2016 to begin the 2016–17 season. It was the first of two games he started in with the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League (AHL). Through the two AHL games, he posted a save percentage of .914 and a goals against of 2.53. He was reassigned to the Missouri Mavericks of the ECHL on 26 October 2016.[4][5] Husso thrived in net for the Mavericks, where he was fifth on the St. Louis Blues’ organizational goalie depth chart.[6] On 23 December 2016, Husso earned his first pro shutout with 33 saves in a 4–0 victory over the Wichita Thunder. Husso returned to the Chicago Wolves in late December 2016, where he had continued success, posting a save percentage of .925 and goals against of 2.21 through five games played for the Wolves.[7][8]
On 20 July 2019, the Blues re-signed Husso to a one-year, two-way contract extension.[9]
In the pandemic shortened 2020–21 season, on 31 January 2021, Husso recorded his first win in the NHL, in a 4–1 game over the Anaheim Ducks.[10] On 12 May 2021, Husso recorded his first NHL shutout in a 4–0 win over the Minnesota Wild.[11] The 2021–22 season was a breakout for Husso, who began it as the backup goaltender to Jordan Binnington, but then saw his role expand as Binnington struggled.[12] By the end of the regular season he had taken over the starting position, which in turn raised questions about the future of the team's goaltending, as Binnington was signed to a lengthy and expensive contract while Husso was to become a free agent. He finished the regular season with a 25–7–6 record and a .919 save percentage.[13] The Blues qualified for the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, entering the first round as underdogs against the Minnesota Wild, with Husso starting in net.[14] However, Husso did not perform well in the early games, and with the Blues down 2–1 in the series Binnington reclaimed the net and led the team on a three-game winning streak to clinch the series.[15][16] Husso served as backup until Binnington was injured during the second round series against the Colorado Avalanche, at which point he reclaimed the net.[17] The Blues were defeated by the Avalanche in six games, while Husso recorded a .890 save percentage in the postseason.[18]
Detroit Red Wings
editOn 8 July 2022, Husso was traded at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a third-round draft pick.[19] He was immediately signed by the Red Wings to a three-year, $14.25 million contract.[20] He made 29 saves in his regular season debut with Detroit on October 14, 2022, earning a shutout in a 3–0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
International play
edit| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ice hockey | ||
| Representing Finland
| ||
| World Junior Championships | ||
 |
2014 Malmö | |
Husso was a member gold-winning of Team Finland at the 2014 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, serving as a back-up goalie to Juuse Saros. He made two appearances in the tournament.
Career statistics
editRegular season and playoffs
edit| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | ||
| 2011–12 | HIFK | Jr. A | 27 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 1618 | 65 | 3 | 2.41 | .913 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 604 | 18 | 0 | 1.79 | .933 | ||
| 2012–13 | HIFK | Jr. A | 41 | 24 | 17 | 0 | 2459 | 108 | 7 | 2.63 | .909 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 322 | 12 | 0 | 2.23 | .926 | ||
| 2013–14 | HIFK | Liiga | 41 | 19 | 14 | 5 | 2355 | 78 | 2 | 1.99 | .923 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 144 | 3 | 0 | 1.25 | .935 | ||
| 2013–14 | HCK | Mestis | 6 | — | — | — | 364 | 13 | 0 | 2.14 | .937 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | HIFK | Liiga | 41 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 2338 | 92 | 3 | 2.36 | .915 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 159 | 6 | 0 | 2.27 | .897 | ||
| 2015–16 | HIFK | Liiga | 39 | 25 | 8 | 6 | 2328 | 74 | 5 | 1.91 | .927 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 889 | 23 | 4 | 1.55 | .935 | ||
| 2016–17 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 22 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 1267 | 50 | 1 | 2.37 | .920 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 535 | 30 | 0 | 3.36 | .898 | ||
| 2016–17 | Missouri Mavericks | ECHL | 13 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 688 | 37 | 1 | 3.23 | .910 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 38 | 15 | 14 | 5 | 2130 | 86 | 4 | 2.42 | .922 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 27 | 6 | 17 | 1 | 1421 | 87 | 1 | 3.67 | .871 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 42 | 16 | 17 | 8 | 2438 | 104 | 4 | 2.56 | .909 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 17 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 918 | 49 | 1 | 3.21 | .893 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2021–22 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 40 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 2342 | 100 | 2 | 2.56 | .919 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 410 | 25 | 1 | 3.67 | .890 | ||
| 2022–23 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 56 | 26 | 22 | 7 | 3220 | 167 | 4 | 3.11 | .896 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 19 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 1012 | 60 | 0 | 3.55 | .892 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2023–24 | Grand Rapids Griffins | AHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Liiga totals | 121 | 60 | 33 | 21 | 7,021 | 244 | 10 | 2.09 | .922 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 1192 | 32 | 4 | 1.61 | .930 | ||||
| NHL totals | 132 | 69 | 40 | 16 | 7,491 | 376 | 7 | 3.01 | .902 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 410 | 25 | 1 | 3.67 | .890 | ||||
International
edit| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SO | GAA | SV% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Finland | WJC | 
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 90 | 7 | 0 | 4.68 | .854 | |
| 2015 | Finland | WJC | 7th | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 183 | 7 | 1 | 2.29 | .923 | |
| Junior totals | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 273 | 14 | 1 | 3.08 | .899 | ||||
Awards and honours
edit| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Liiga | ||
| All-Star Team | 2016 | |
| Urpo Ylönen Award | 2016 | [1] |
| AHL | ||
| All-Rookie Team | 2018 | [21] |
References
edit- ^ a b McGregor, Rob (10 May 2016). "Blues Agree Terms With Goaltender Ville Husso". Todays SlapShot. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ "Statistics | Champions Hockey League". www.championshockeyleague.net. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ "St. Louis Blues sign Goaltender Ville Husso". Twitter. 10 May 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
- ^ "Blue Ville Husso sent to Missouri Mavericks of ECHL". bleedinblue.com. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ "Husso re-assigned to Missouri". Chicago Wolves. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ "Blues' goalie Husso beginning to thrive in ECHL". archauthority.com. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
- ^ "Mavericks cruise past Thunder for shutout victory in Wichita". The Kansas City Star. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
- ^ "Wolves push winning streak to 6". Daily Herald. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
- ^ "Husso agrees to one-year, two-way deal". St. Louis Blues. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
- ^ "Ville Husso wins his first NHL game". Twitter. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ @jprutherford (12 May 2021). "Huge applause @Enterprise_Cntr as Husso is named the No. 1 star. His first-career shutout comes in his 15th career start. #stlblues" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Rutherford, Jeremy (11 February 2022). "With Jordan Binnington still struggling, it's time for the Blues to turn to Ville Husso". The Athletic. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- ^ Richardson, Lyle (12 April 2022). "What will the St. Louis Blues do with Ville Husso?". The Hockey News. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- ^ Luszczyszyn, Dom; Goldman, Shayna (30 April 2022). "2022 playoff preview: Blues vs. Wild". The Athletic. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- ^ "Blues advance to second round for first time since 2019, defeat Wild in 6 games". The Athletic. 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- ^ Rutherford, Jeremy (13 May 2022). "Ten reasons the Blues beat the Wild, starting with vintage Jordan Binnington". The Athletic. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- ^ "Blues' Binnington knocked out of Avalanche series with lower-body injury". CBC Sports. 22 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
- ^ Gentille, Sean (28 May 2022). "NHL playoffs results daily: Darren Helm calls game over, Avs solve second round". The Athletic. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
- ^ "Red Wings acquire goalie Ville Husso from Blues". Detroit Red Wings. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
- ^ "Husso signs three-year contract with Red Wings after trade from Blues". NHL.com. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
- ^ "2017-18 AHL ALL-ROOKIE TEAM NAMED". theahl.com. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
External links
edit- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database