17th year Finnish-born goaltender Hannu Toivonen(30) appeared in only one game for HIFK of Liiga, where he has spent 5 full seasons in his home country’s top hockey but decided to leave heading back to North America for the first time since 2013/2014 inking with Maine Mariners.
After 3 super successful campaigns in Finland with Ilves, he almost weirdly departed for lesser leagues in Austria and Denmark, where his numbers slipped badly.
Originally a Boston Bruins‘ 1st round pick in the 2002 draft (#29 overall), he has played 61 NHL games and 214 in the AHL with 5 different clubs.
The big 6’3″ 209 lbs. net minder returns to the ECHL after spending time with Orlando Solar Bears and Toledo Walleye in his last stints that included a pair of loans up.
The 34-year old has seemingly made a bit of a strange decision to come back to these shores but it could also be to get a bit of a better footing prior to signing one final deal before he decides to officially retire, or it’s a bid for a championship that’s been elusive in his career.