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***luke*** · 03-02-2024, 08:37 AM

Jakub Aittokallio
@JayWhy

Jakub Aittokallio has made a lot of 1sts for goalies. First goalie to ever win the Ron Mexico trophy(league MVP). First goalie to reach 300 wins. First goalie to reach 400 wins. One of the first of Edmonton goalie pipelines that produced multiple McBride winners, Hall of Famers, and Ron Mexico winners. Jakub was the OG. A career that spanned 17 seasons, Aittokallio was the beacon of what a goalie would be for the next generation. And with enough luck and time, could eventually overtake him.

For Jakub, the SHL came easy. His rookie season started in S14 with the Edmonton Blizzard. Putting up 22-18-4 with 1 shutouts. It was a good start to his SHL career. But the next season will prove why Jakub deserves to be on this list. Putting up 32 wins, 5 losses, 3 OTL, and 3 shutouts. Jakub also had a SV% of .925, Playing absolutely lights out, Jakub was rewarded generously. In addition to having regular season success, Jakub also carried Edmonton into the finals, winning the Cup and winning the Anton Razov for playoff MVP. But for the regular season, Aittokallio was the first goalie to win the Ron Mexico award for regular season MVP. Winning the McBride and Honcho as well.

S16 was disappointing for the regular season. Only going 19-17-8 Edmonton Struggled, and Aittokallio did as well. With regular season woes came postseason victories, as Edmonton went back to back Cups, and once again Jakub earned an Anton Razov nomination, but not the win. 3 seasons in the league, already won 2 challenge cups and the Ron Mexico. Is the SHL this easy? Soon he will find that answer

In the next couple of seasons Jakub had a couple more McBride nominations. In S18 and S19. With records of 31-8-5 with 5 shutouts. .9125 SV% in S18, Jakub was nominated again for McBride and a 2nd All Star. But did not win the McBride. S19 was a similar deal. With 20 wins, 16 losses , 8 OTL,with 4 shutouts. Sporting a .913 SV%, he was nominated again for the McBride, although not winning.

After that came the struggling times for Jakub in terms of awards/achievements. From S20-S26 he wasn't nominated for anything, wasn't on any All Star teams. He did continue to rack up wins though, having winning seasons for most of that time. Providing decent but not great save % for that time.

During the S26 season however, Jakub crossed the 300 career wins mark. Being the first goalie to ever hit 300 career wins, as Mike Honcho famously retired at 299.

Finally in S27, Jakub decided to have a 2nd wind in his career. S27 he had another monster season. Putting up a career high in wins, going 32-10-2 with 3 shutouts and having a .914 SV%. With that, he was again nominated for the McBride, and a part of the 1st All Star Team.
S28 was another great season for Aittokallio , going 23-14-3 with 3 shutouts .914 SV%. Earning his last McBride nomination, although not winning it. S28 also provided Jakub’s last Challenge Cup as well

S29 was the last season as the starter for Edmonton. Ending with a bang, Aittokallio went 29-8-1 with 7 shutouts, .914 SV%. Earning himself another 1st All Star team. Ending the season with 397 career wins, he needs just 1 more season before hitting the elusive 400 career win mark. With no other goalie even being close to that mark, and only 2 goalies in the 300 win range in Lauris Prikulis(318) and Edwin Ask(302).

But with a young goaltender in Brett Broadway needing minutes, Jakub resigned to the backup position in S30. With him winning 5 games that season Aittokallio crossed that mark, hitting the 400 career wins mark. A mark that held until McFadden broke it in S46.

So what is Jakub remembered for? He will always be the first goalie to cross the 300 & 400 win mark. A win mark would take McFadden 16 more seasons until he would take that record from him. He is also the first goalie to win the Ron Mexico as well. Leading the way for other goalies to argue themselves for the league MVP. Finally, he is one of the best goalies in the league ever. x3 Challenge Cup winner with the Edmonton Blizzard. A McBride win and another 4 nominations. In the 3 finals he went to, he won against Anton Razov and was nominated for another.

When he retired in S30, the next best goalie in wins was Lauris Prikulis who had 86 games played less, and 84 wins away from Jakub. The level of dominance in the net no one has not seen before. Jakub’s 53 career shutouts took until S60 where Kata Vilde tied Jakub for the shutout record, with 27 more games played than Jakub. It took 30 seasons for his record to be broken for shutouts. In a league with only 9 goalies to ever reach the 400 win mark. Jakub led the way. Which is why he is the highest rated goalie in this list. Is very deserving of being #15 of the best SHL players ever.

[Image: l3QjpH1.png]

Troy_McClure03 · 03-02-2024, 12:18 PM

Great pick!

spidey · 03-02-2024, 01:02 PM

Fantastic choice.

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