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Maple Leafs hire former NHLer as their new AHL goaltending coach

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Cooper Godin
September 7, 2021  (7:52)
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According to Lance Hornby of The Athletic, the Toronto Maple Leafs have hired Hannu Toivonen to become their new goaltending coach for the Toronto Marlies.

Toivonen, 37, was taken in the first round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins. He was widely considered one of the best goaltending prospects in the early-2000's but failed to pan out, only appearing in 61 career games with Boston and St. Louis. In those 61 games, he had a record of 18-24-10 with a 3.37 G.A.A, an .890 save percentage and one shutout.

For the remainder of his career, Toivonen spent time in the AHL, ECHL, Liiga (Finland), HockeyAllsvenskan (Tier 2 Sweden), and the ICEHL (Austria).

The announcement of Toivonen's hiring comes less than a month after the organization fired Dusty Imoo. A specific reason for Imoo's firing was not given, but it's more than likely due to his controversial takes on social media regarding COVID-19 vaccinations, the January 6th Capitol attacks in Washington, DC, and allegedly liking several tweets that were racist and transphobic.