The negative comments Antti Raanta made about the Chicago Blackhawks in a Finnish publication were not the reason he was excluded from the team's 2014-15 season Stanley Cup engravings, a Blackhawks representative said Wednesday.
The Blackhawks submitted to the Hockey Hall of Fame their list of 52 names to be engraved on the Stanley Cup before Raanta’s comments were published, the team representative said, adding "there is zero truth" to Raanta's being left off because of the published comments.
Raanta was quoted in Satakunnan Kansa, a Finnish publication, in early September as saying he rooted against the Blackhawks in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs after he was recalled from the AHL to be the Blackhawks’ No. 3 goaltender during the playoffs. Raanta first refuted the quote and later explained he had tried to clarify how he felt at the moment. He has since repeatedly stated that he was grateful for his time with the Blackhawks. He was traded to the New York Rangers in June.
The Blackhawks would have had to petition to have Raanta’s name engraved on the Stanley Cup. Players are automatically included on the Stanley Cup if they appear in half of the team’s regular-season games or in one Stanley Cup finals game. Raanta played in 14 regular-season games and did not appear in a playoff game.
The Blackhawks did petition to include Daniel Carcillo and Joakim Nordstrom on the Cup. Carcillo played in 39 regular-season games and zero playoff games, and Nordstrom played in 38 regular-season games and three playoff games last season.
