Man of the Week: Frans Tuohimaa
KHL.ru continues its weekly column with Frans Tuohimaa. The Finn goalie had a fantastic showing last week, helping Neftekhimik returning to the right side of the playoff line and being awarded best goalie honors.
Neftekhimik’s season has been up and down, but when Frans Tuohimaa is between the piping, things are easier on the Nizhnekamsk side. The Wolves are currently the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference — to put it in simple words, with Tuohimaa, Neftekhimik are a playoff-bound team. When Tuohimaa was out of the lineup, Neftekhimik struggled and ended up on the wrong side of the playoff line. However, save after save, win after win, Tuohimaa helped his side returning up in the standings and battling for a playoff spot for the second time in three seasons. The Finn goalie posted more than 30 saves in five of his latest seven games, and where he stopped fewer than 30 shots, it was just because he stepped up as a substitute, like in Dec 23 Neftekhimik’s win over Amur. With the Wolves down 4:1, Neftekhimik’s head coach Oleg Leontyev decided to bench Alexander Sudnitsin. As a result, Neftekhimik rallied back in the third period and win on OT, with Tuohimaa saving all six shots by Amur.
Early years
Frans Tuohimaa was born on Aug 19, 1991, in Helsinki, from a family of athletes. His father, Pasi, played professionally in Finland and Spain, while his uncle, Harri Tuohimaa, was a top-scorer in the SM-Liiga in the 80s and represented Finland at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo. Frans started playing for HIFK, like one of his brothers — HIFK is where his uncle Harri had the most success. Tuohimaa played in the different HIFK junior teams, even winning national titles, before moving to Jokerit in 2010. After a one-year tenure with Jokerit’s U20 team, Tuohimaa made his debut with the Jokers the next season, when he lined up for 18 games before returning with the U20s for the playoff. He then spent the next couple of seasons with different SM-Liiga and Mestis teams before moving to North America in 2014. In the meantime, Tuohimaa was picked up in the seventh round of the 2011 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers.
Move to North America and return to Europe
After an encouraging start of his career in Finland, propelled by excellent numbers in the Finnish junior league, Tuohimaa then moved to North America in the late 2013-2014 season, having his debut, and only, game in the AHL with the Oklahoma City Barons. He spent the whole following season in North America, splitting time between the Barons and the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL, where he played the most games. However, unable to make an impact in the Oilers’ depth chart, Tuohimaa opted to return to Europe after the season, and inked a deal with Swedish Hockey Allsvenskan club Leksands IF in May 2015.
Tuohimaa was excellent with Leksands, and helped the Swedish side win a promotion to the SHL. However, despite the achievement, Tuohimaa didn’t return for the next year, signing back home in Finland instead. The Finn goalie spent the next three seasons with SaiPA, then he signed with his native HIFK for the 2019-2020 season. Then, the following year, he helped HIFK winning the Liiga’s bronze medal in the 2020-2021 campaign. Moreover, representing Team Finland, he scored a goal to Team Sweden in the 2019 Channel One Cup in Moscow.
Following five further seasons in the Liiga, Tuohimaa signed to a one-year KHL contract with Neftekhimik on May 16, 2021.
Move to the KHL
In his first season in the league, Tuohimaa showed excellent poise and an ability to steal games for his team. He soon recorded his first, and so far, only, shutout of the season in a Sep 29 4:0 win over Admiral, with 33 saves. That 33-save performance wasn’t a record for Tuohimaa, however, who rejected 38 shots in Neftekhimik’s losing effort on Nov 28 against Ak Bars (2:3 SO).
With Tuohimaa in top shape, Neftekhimik can count on a postseason qualification, and perhaps moving to the second round for the second time in its KHL history — the Wolves swept Avangard 3:0 in 2009-2010). And maybe he will also score another goal while playing in Russia.
