In his freshman season with the organization, Harri Sateri proved to be a helpful piece to the Florida Panthers and Springfield Thunderbirds.
On July 1st, 2017, the Florida Panthers decided to sign Harri Sateri to a two-way, one-year contract. Dale Tallon did his research and decided to sign Sateri to a deal for not only to fill the void of a starting goalie for the team’s affiliate, Springfield Thunderbirds, but also for a perfect candidate for an emergency goalie for the Cats.
Sateri spent most of the season in Springfield with the Panthers’ affiliate team. He had a mediocre season in the minors, recording 14 wins, 9 losses, and 3 overtime losses. This wasn’t good enough for a playoff berth, but the season was still exceptional for Sateri himself. Even though his season was lackluster in Springfield, fans probably take more recognition to how he contributed towards the Panthers’ campaign.
When it came to the Panthers, Harri wasn’t only an essential piece to the team, but also to the destiny of their season. When goaltenders Roberto Luongo and James Reimer went down injured, they’d turn to their emergency goalie, Harri Sateri. This was a reason why Tallon made the original signing, and now the possibility of Florida’s starting goalies both being injured at the same time became a reality.
When Luongo and Reimer went down with injury, people counted the Panthers out of the playoff race immediately, considering that Sateri had no NHL experience. This situation soon proved to be a blessing in disguise, as this was just the start of the turnaround for the Panthers’ season.
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To start his NHL career, Sateri’s first pro game was against the Minnesota Wild as a substitute for the struggling yet injured James Reimer. This started as a string of 4 consecutive losses for Sateri, which isn’t the best way to start an NHL career. But at an instant, it seemed that the success for the Finnish netminder in the big leagues was about to begin.
Then came a game for Sateri that sparked his monumental run. He’d start on January 30th, 2018, meeting at Barclay’s Center against the New York Islanders. Sateri came out and shut the door, marking a meaningful 4-1 win for Florida, which was the first of many for the season’s second half.
This win was one of the next three in a row, making it a four-game win streak for the Cats, driving some momentum. Sateri was playing phenomenal between the pipes, looking like a first-class NHL goaltender from the spectator’s eye. After a visit to New York, he’d lead the Cats to wins against the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, and the Vancouver Canucks. It seemed that in just a week, the play of Harri Sateri had sparked a turnaround for the Panthers’ season.
But like all great things, the win streak and time in-goal at the NHL level had come to an end for Sateri that season. In a pivotal game against the Los Angeles Kings, it seemed like all of the momentum just went away. Florida lost 3-1, marking the return of the normal goalie tandems for the Panthers. Even though his time at the NHL level was short-lived, Sateri made great contributions to the team in the time that he was playing in.
Next: Mark Pysyk’s 2017-18 Season Recap
In his first season in South Florida, goaltender Harri Sateri split his first North American season with both the Florida Panthers and the Springfield Thunderbirds. While his time in Springfield didn’t lead to a playoff run, his time in the NHL ended up proving to help the Cats tremendously.