Hall of Famer Pekka Rinne wasn’t just an elite goalie – he was an elite teammate

The Hockey Hall of Fame held its induction ceremony on Monday night, and included among the class was a rare breed in goaltender Pekka Rinne, who spent his entire career with the Nashville Predators and left as a clear-cut goaltending legend.

During his time in Nashville, Rinne finished in the top three of the voting for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie on three different occasions, including when he finally broke through and won the award in his age-35 season in 2017-18.

For his career, Rinne posted a 369-213-75 record with a sterling save percentage of .917, a 2.43 goals against average and 60 career shutouts.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton, who served as Rinne’s backup for three seasons discussed what made the legendary Finn special both on and off the ice.

Tyler Yaremchuk: On the player side, Hutts, you obviously have a connection to this class because you were teammates with Pekka Rinne.

Carter Hutton: The way that he carried himself throughout his career, Pekka Rinne, a guy for me who I could honestly say you could put a lot of… It’s hard to say one guy helped you out more than anybody, but the way that he treated me when I started my career there and being able to watch him carry himself firsthand as one of the best goalies in the league, and how he brought his energy every single day, and the way he was as a person. I think back to my first training camp when I was very green, and I had a chance to be on the team, I don’t think I went for a meal without him where he wasn’t taking me under his wing and showing me around and teaching me the good things of the game. I remember before some of my starts, my first ever start with the Preds was up in Winnipeg where I won my first ever game, and I remember sitting down before the game with Pekka, which became a habit that we used to do all the time, he’d go over every single guy in their lineup and who was a shooter, and what they liked to do. He took me under his wing, and I guess sitting here now as I’m retired and watching and thinking how much value that brings outside of just the stats. You pull up his numbers, it’s amazing. He’s a Hall of Famer, but also just a world-class person, and everyone in Nashville who’s ever had a chance to meet him knows that, Ty.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…