Pekka Rinne NHL First Star of the Week

By Buddy Oakes

Speculation turned to reality March 22nd, when Pekka Rinne was named the NHL's First Star of the Week.

In four games, Rinne was 4-0 with two shut outs and a goals against average of 1.22 and a save percentage of .958.

On Tuesday, Pekka stopped 42 of 45 shots as the Preds beat the Flyers 4-3 in a shootout. On Thursday, Rinne was brilliant in a 5-0 whitewashing of Minnesota. He extended his shutout streak on Saturday with a 1-0 overtime win over Columbus.

Finally, Rinne's stellar work kept the Preds in Sunday's game with the Blues, until their offence could come through in a 3-2 win.

Last Monday, Rinne was named the NHL Third Star of the Week when he was 2-0 and had another shutout.

In December, Rinne seemed somewhat disappointed with not being named to the Finnish Olympic team, but the rest during the Olympic break seems to have turned his season around.

Pekka has mentioned several times that he felt rested after the break when he travelled back to Finland. He had the chance to relax and have some fun with friends and relatives.

"It was good to have a couple of weeks to have time off and think about things other than hockey. I feel like now everybody is more refreshed and energized."

The statistics speak for themselves. Rinne has turned his season around and taken full control of the Pred's number one goalie slot.

Since the break, he is 8-1 with a 1.75 GAA, and a .935 save percentage. No other NHL goalie has been as important to their team during the month of March.

This season Rinne has played 50 games and is 28-13-4 with six shutouts, all coming since the first of December. This follows a superb rookie year when many thought he should have been a finalist for the Calder Trophy, given to the NHL's Rookie of the Year.

As a rookie, Rinne played 52 games and was 29-15-0, with a 2.38 GAA and a .917 save percentage. He also had seven shut outs.

Last month, during the Olympic break, Rinne signed a new two year deal with he Predators so fans can feel secure that the big goalie will be in Nashville through 2012.

Congratulations to Pekka Rinne and his agent Jay Grossman for a job well done!