The netminder, who joined the Checkers at the conclusion of his senior season at Merrimack College, signed a one-year, entry-level deal with the Hurricanes and will more than likely spend next year here in Charlotte.
Tirronen has spent the last few weeks practicing with the team and getting to work one-on-one with Carolina goalie coach David Marcoux, who wanted to make sure that the young goalie had plenty of preparation before jumping into the pro game.
“It’s a situation where we wanted to give him a lot of mileage and a lot of practice time to get comfortable,” said Marcoux. “With a defenseman, you can filter him in and play him a few minutes. For a goalie, you’re either in or you’re out.”
Tirronen’s journey from practicing with the team and not dressing to making a start was a carefully calculated process, designed to ensure the greatest chance of him succeeding on the ice.
“For us it was important to give Rasmus the opportunity to go through the game day routine on Saturday and not play, but just figure out where he stands and the intermissions and the game day preparations and the morning skate,” said Marcoux. “Then for day two, Sunday, that part is taken care of, he’s comfortable, he knows what to expect and he just goes out and plays. That is a big component of what we controlled and he responded quite well.”
The 24-year-old had a slow start to his debut, with the opposing IceHogs netting two goals in the first eight minutes of play. But despite the early trouble, Tirronen was not rattled and fought back to earn the win with 32 saves, including 19 in the third, matching the most saves in a period by a Charlotte goalie this year.
Marcoux was pleased by Tirronen’s play as well, and knew that throwing him into a game situation would be a good barometer for the young netminder.
“I thought his demeanor and his body language and his composure, even after a rocky start for the team, I thought he did very well,” said Marcoux. “It’s like a student in school. You can be studying and doing your homework, but if you never have the chance to take an exam, you don’t quite know where you’re at. He had his exam [Sunday] and got the win and played very well.”
Tirronen now heads into the offseason with several months to prepare for his proper rookie campaign. Marcoux, who spent six years as the goalie coach for the Calgary Flames and helped Miikka Kiprusoff win a Vezina Trophy, left the Finland native with plenty of tips on what to work on.
“Big guys can tend to have big-sized holes on angles,” said Marcoux. “They have big triangles behind their knees, openings are there. So you really need to seal those. You look at the goals that are deflating for a hockey team, they’re the bad angle goals, the bank shots that go off of you. So just taking away the major things. But you don’t want them to overthink the game. Go out, play, compete. If things don’t go well for a segment of minutes, re-focus and battle for 60 minutes.”
The Checkers made another pair of roster moves today as well. Defenseman Brett Pesce, who appeared in four games and recorded one assist, was also released from his amateur tryout contract, while goalie Daniel Altshuller was returned to the Florida Everblades of the ECHL after spending the week practicing with the Checkers. Altshuller did not dress for a game during his stint.
