Kevin Lankinen likes to make the most out of his days, especially as a professional goaltender in the National Hockey League.
He has an infectious attitude that permeates the locker room. Lankinen sits next to Juuse Saros and often carries on a conversation with his fellow countryman while unraveling their equipment after practice.
However, Lankinen’s warrior mindset and love for the sport stems from his childhood street hockey battles back home in Finland.
“For myself, I always loved the battle,” Lankinen said. “We would play hours and hours of street hockey and I would be in the net. I would be in scrambles doing whatever I could to keep the puck out of the net. It reminds me of what we do here when we end warmups.”
The passion Lankinen had since he was a young boy propelled him to where he made his professional debut in the SM-liiga at 18 years old.
“You can never be sure but I always had that fire from within ever since I started playing and moving up to juniors,” Lankinen said. “I always had that vision and fire that I knew I wanted to work harder than anyone else in order to reach my dream and play in the NHL.”
Four years in Helsinki was good for Lankinen as he got a taste of what it meant to compete with more people who shared the same desire as him at the highest level.
Kevin Lankinen during a stoppage against the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 18, 2023.
“Those were good years to prepare for the professional and business side that’s here and play for the biggest club in Finland under the brightest lights,” Lankinen said. “It developed me into who I am now. It’s funny looking back, I always felt like I had that fire and vision that one day I would be here.”
On the way over to the NHL Lankinen caught an unfortunate break as he was about to start his fourth season over in Finland. He felt like he was one of the best goalies in the league at the time but he suffered an injury on the first day of training camp.
“I had an accident where two guys fell on top of me and I had a serious injury that kept me out for five months so I didn’t play another game until New Year’s,” Lankinen said. “That was kind of a fork in the road where I knew if I ever came back I’d come back stronger and I did.”
Through the tribulation he had in that experience he became stronger mentally as a goalie. He went on to play in 15 games going 10-3-2 before signing with the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2018 offseason.
As a personable character on the Predators roster, Lankinen takes the time to greet others no matter their status and set aside time to take questions.
“It’s something you’re born with, it’s part of your personality,” Lankinen said. “I think a big part of this too is being a goalie you have to be pretty humble. If you’re not the game is going to humble you. Keep an open mind because there’s only so much you can control.
“Being a good teammate goes a long way, stick with your teammates and do all you can for them and they’ll do the same back. In the long run that’s going to bring success for everybody so that’s part of my mindset and part of me that I’ve always had.”
Taking accountability with himself is one of the things he established early on and that’s been no different in Nashville. No matter how he feels at any given moment in time he can look at a card he keeps handy in his locker stall. A laminated square that reads “MTMOTD”. The acronym means “Make The Most of The Day.”
GREAT chat with Lanks today. Saw him put a little dot on this paper, so I asked him about it.
“Make The Most of The Day”
He puts a dot on the paper every time he comes off the ice as a reminder that no matter good or bad day, he is putting in the work and always getting better. pic.twitter.com/YFGUZUerro
— Chris Mason (@cmace30) January 9, 2024
“It was me and Benny’s motto going into last year and I kinda stuck with that and kept that growth mindset,” Lankinen said. “Focus on the process instead of the result, or just have a picture in mind coming in every day with an attitude every day that you’re going to make the most of the day and whatever it is.”
Then while Lankinen wasn’t playing he would watch various NHL goaltenders growing up. His favorite was Kari Lehtonen in Dallas during his time with the Stars. He also watched Pekka Rinne, Niklas Bäckström, Tuukka Rask, and Antti Niemi.
Additionally, Lankinen is a huge fan of how former New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist carried himself as a professional. The character of Lundqvist was particularly something Lankinen paid close attention to.
“We were lucky with all the Finnish guys we had to kind of pave our way through and see how anybody could make it,” Lankinen said.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of Nashville Predators
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