Mikko Koskinen only played four games with the New York Islanders last season, but one of them was infamous: He was the goaltender in that brawl-filled game against the Pittsburgh Penguins that resulted in 346 penalty minutes and one strongly worded letter from Mario Lemieux.
Koskinen wasn't involved in the fights — Pens goalie Brent Johnson fought Micheal Haley instead — but that doesn't mean he isn't a feisty netminder when he needs to be. Here's the 23-year-old playing for KalPa in the SM-liiga playoffs, refusing to take any funny business from crease-crashing Tommi Huhtala of the Blues.
As Kevin Schultz of Islanders Point Blank put it: "I believe he is channeling his inner Garth Snow/Billy Smith."
Both players received one-game suspensions for their actions, which is a shame: Mikko Koskinen should have been given a special dispensation for using both the blocker kabong and the blocker judo chop in his arsenal of fight moves. Hextall would be proud.