Congratulations to PuckAgency client Riku Helenius, who earned the CHL co-goaltender of the week award this week! Riku has been impressive for the Seattle Thunderbirds; his .917 save percentage and 2.37 goals against average are good for 5th and 9th respectively in the Western Hockey League. Helenius will go for his sixth straight victory tonight when Seattle hosts Kamloops. Tampa Bay has high hopes for Helenius, who Hockey’s Future rates as Tampa Bay’s #2 prospect in the organization, and has said it is happy to let him continue his development at the Junior level. Most recently, Riku starred in the nets for Finland at the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic; Helenius posted a shutout against Kazakhstan on December 29th.
Published: February 6, 2008
The Tampa Tribune
Erik Erlendsson
GOALTENDER PRAISE: Tampa Bay’s top pick in the 2006 draft, G Riku Helenius, was named the co-goaltender of the week for Canadian junior hockey. In two games with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League last week, Helenius went 2-0 with a 0.50 goals-against and .980 save percentage while pitching a shutout in a 4-0 win against Portland.
Helenius entered Tuesday having won five consecutive starts to improve his record to 15-9-6 with a 2.37 goals against average and .917 save percentage in 30 games. The 19-year-old is in his first year as a pro in North America and was signed to an entry-level contract with Tampa Bay in the summer that will begin next season.