Finnish goaltender Joni Ortio, 33, has signed a short-term contract through to the end of November with Ässät, the Finnish Liiga club announced on Monday.
Ortio was brought in to replace Niklas Rubin, the team’s starting netminder who was injured in Ässät’s first game of the season and is expected to return by the time Ortio’s contract runs out. He had his first practise with the team on Tuesday.
“The Liiga schedule is tight and we needed an experienced top goalkeeper to join our crew,” said sports director Janne Vuorinen. “We are extremely satisfied that we got Joni Ortio signed. He brings a lot of international experience to our team and we welcome him to Pori.”
Originally from Turku and a product of the TPS club, Ortio was the Calgary Flames’ sixth-round draft pick in 2009. He had a couple of brief stints with the team’s AHL farm club in Abbotsford before heading to North America in 2013 and spending three seasons there. While most of his time was in the AHL, he played 37 NHL games with Calgary, going 15-15-1 with two shutouts and a 2.66 goals-against average.
Since returning to Europe in 2016, Ortio has played in Sweden with Skellefteå AIK, in the KHL with Vityaz Podolsk and Barys Astana, in Switzerland with the ZSC Lions, and the last two seasons back in Sweden with HV71.
Ortio has never played for Ässät – which translates to “Aces” in English – but has memories of entering the hostile environment in Pori as a visiting player.
“It was never fun to play here and I bet it still isn’t,” Ortio said in a video interview after practise. “It’s nice, in a way, to be on the other side now and to have that support on my side.”
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