Former Chicago netminder Antti Raanta -- traded to the Rangers at the draft after losing his backup gig to Scott Darling -- was apparently none too pleased with how his time as a Blackhawk ended.
From Finnish news outlet Ilta-Sanomat:Apparently @ARaanta31 wasn’t too pleased sitting in the press box during playoffs last year. Quite a stetement here http://t.co/FqHPXBO3Tu
— Vesa Rantanen (@vrantanen) September 2, 2015
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Says Raanta: “With fingers crossed I hoped NSH would beat us (CHI) in four so I could get back to Finland sooner. I was so pissed.”
— Vesa Rantanen (@vrantanen) September 2, 2015
Raanta had wanted to play AHL playoffs insead being black ace with big club. Yet he was really happy to hoist the Cup in Finland later..
— Vesa Rantanen (@vrantanen) September 2, 2015
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Raanta statement is, softly said, odd - even from a Finnish goalie.
— Vesa Rantanen (@vrantanen) September 2, 2015
Despite posting relatively solid numbers over parts of two seasons with Chicago -- 34-20-9, .912 save percentage, 2.41 GAA -- Raanta fell out of favor with head coach Joel Quenneville last year, and was eventually supplanted by Darling, who briefly took over the No. 1 gig during the playoffs.
In that same Ilta-Sanomat interview, Raanta touched on his relationship with coach Q.
According to Raanta, Blackhawks were suffering of weak team spirit and head coach Joel Quenneville didn’t seem to like him.
“I noticed that coach didn’t like me, in that position it is pretty difficult to fight the windmills,” Raanta said.
Last season, Raanta was demoted to AHL Rockford in February after allowing two goals on 16 shots in a loss to the Bruins, Chicago’s fifth loss in seven games on an eight-game homestand.
Darling was promoted, and the B’s game proved be Raanta’s last in a ‘Hawks uniform.