Vesa Toskala arrived in Toronto in 2007 as the starting goaltender the Maple Leafs had paid three draft picks for, and he is remembered for a goal he allowed from the other end of the rink. He played his last NHL game with Calgary in 2010 and finished his career at home in Finland. He still shows up at the rink, just not in the crease.
What happened to Vesa Toskala?
Vesa Toskala became an entrepreneur and investor in his hometown of Tampere, and he spends time on the ice with a youth group at Ilves as a hockey parent. NHL.com’s Finnish edition reported in February 2024 that he is officially a business owner, with his work spread across investments, real estate and shares, and that he helps coach his son’s age group at Ilves, a group with almost 100 players and around 20 coaches. He told the site it was nice to be home again, and that he follows the NHL mostly through highlights.
| Vesa Toskala: then and now | |
|---|---|
| Known for | Toronto’s starting goaltender from 2007 to 2010, the 174-foot goal |
| Position | Goaltender, catches left |
| Born | 20 May 1977, Tampere, Finland |
| Drafted | 1995, fourth round, 90th overall, San Jose Sharks |
| NHL career | Eight seasons, 266 games, 129 wins, three teams |
| Last pro season | 2011-12, Ilves, Finland |
| Current role | Entrepreneur and investor, youth coach at Ilves, as of February 2024 |
| Home base | Tampere, Finland |
The business is not new. Toskala started a capital and property investment company soon after his playing career ended in 2012, with most of the properties in the Pirkanmaa region around Tampere, Yle reported in October 2015. At that time he lived in Helsinki and was trying goalie coaching for the first time, without formal training, at Kiekko-Vantaa in the second-tier Mestis league.
Vesa Toskala’s road from the Sharks to the Leafs trade
San Jose drafted Vesa Toskala 90th overall in 1995, and his NHL debut came on 24 November 2001 in Los Angeles, when he replaced Evgeni Nabokov with about 12 minutes left and stopped every shot he faced. He called it the finest moment of his career in the 2024 interview. He spent five seasons in San Jose as Nabokov’s backup and part-time starter.
On 22 June 2007, draft day, the Sharks traded him to Toronto with forward Mark Bell. The Leafs gave up first, second and fourth-round picks for him, a price the CBC recalled in 2010 when it listed him among the moves that did not meet expectations.
The exit came in two steps. On 31 January 2010, an hour after the Dion Phaneuf trade with Calgary, Toronto sent Toskala and Jason Blake to Anaheim for Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Sports Illustrated reported. He never played for the Ducks. On 3 March 2010 Anaheim moved him to Calgary for goaltender Curtis McElhinney, and he won two of his six games as a Flame.
READ MORE: How to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs
Vesa Toskala’s bad goal from 174 feet
The goal that follows Vesa Toskala was scored on 18 March 2008 on Long Island. Toronto was on the power play when Islanders defenceman Rob Davison cleared the puck from beside his own net at 13:48 of the first period. The puck traveled about 174 feet and hopped over Toskala’s glove. “It just took a bad bounce right in front of me,” Toskala told reporters afterward, as the CBC reported. Toronto still won 3-1 with three goals in the third period.
Was Vesa Toskala good?
In San Jose, yes. Vesa Toskala posted a .914 save percentage and a 2.35 goals-against average in 115 games for the Sharks; in the 2006 playoffs, he played 11 games and won six. In Toronto, the numbers fell to .894 and 3.08 over 145 games, and the Leafs missed the playoffs in all three of his seasons there. Before the 2009-10 season, coach Ron Wilson said he wanted no excuses from anybody, “most of all from our goaltender,” The Globe and Mail reported.
| Season | Team | GP | W | L | T/OTL | SV% | GAA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-02 | San Jose | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 0 |
| 2002-03 | San Jose | 11 | 4 | 3 | 1 | .927 | 2.35 | 1 |
| 2003-04 | San Jose | 28 | 12 | 8 | 4 | .930 | 2.06 | 1 |
| 2005-06 | San Jose | 37 | 23 | 7 | 4 | .901 | 2.56 | 2 |
| 2006-07 | San Jose | 38 | 26 | 10 | 1 | .908 | 2.35 | 4 |
| 2007-08 | Toronto | 66 | 33 | 25 | 6 | .904 | 2.74 | 3 |
| 2008-09 | Toronto | 53 | 22 | 17 | 11 | .891 | 3.26 | 1 |
| 2009-10 | Toronto | 26 | 7 | 12 | 3 | .874 | 3.66 | 1 |
| 2009-10 | Calgary | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .918 | 2.27 | 0 |
| Total | 266 | 129 | 82 | 30 | .902 | 2.76 | 13 |
Figures are from Hockey-Reference.
Vesa Toskala won 56.5 percent of his 115 games with San Jose and 42.8 percent of his 145 games with Toronto. He played more games for the Leafs than for the Sharks, but more of his wins came in San Jose.
READ MORE: How to watch the San Jose Sharks
The Vesa Toskala interview that became a legend
The other clip fans search for is an interview. After a Toronto win in Montreal, Vesa Toskala answered an English-speaking reporter with jokes about getting his driving license, flooring it on the main road of the Hervanta district in Tampere and collecting speeding tickets. He told Yle in 2015 that none of it was planned, and that the mood after a win simply got the better of him.
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