DETROIT – Goaltenders are a special breed of hockey players.

You have to have a certain mindset to be one and each has their own routine and personality.

Northern Michigan University has a triple threat with Scandinavian netminders Atte Tolvanen, Mathias Israelsson and Mathias Dahlstrom. Each is different in their own way.

Tolvanen, who hails from Finland, primarily stays separate from the team with his pregame rituals, but interacts with the other players well. While the forwards and defensemen play soccer and joke around in the halls, Tolvanen will stand off to the side and stretch.

“Personally, I like taking care of my body before practice, so I don’t get any stupid injuries,” he said. “I used to play soccer sometimes, but I take care of my body.”

In Ann Arbor last Sunday, Tolvanen interacted briefly with Dahlstrom before practice, but for the most part kept to himself. However, he chatted with his other teammates after the session and seemed to enjoy the experience downstate.

Tolvanen, a freshman, entertains everyone with his talents on the ice and to the team, his antics before each game.

Tolvanen has an intense pregame routine. He blasts music in his headphones, closes his eyes and gets into what appears to be a Zen-like state.

As a song wraps up, he loudly says the final lyrics and leaps into the air. After a few jumps and a couple spins, he plops onto the floor. He then grabs a ball and bounces it rapidly between his hands and the floor. After a minute or so of that, he hops back up, jumps a couple of more times and then quietly leaves the room.

Tolvanen came to Northern hoping to get playing time, but didn’t expect to get it this soon as Dahlstrom has unexpectedly been plagued by injuries for all of this season so far.

Tolvanen says his greatest attribute is his ability to see the ice well and not get rattled in net.

“I think it’s probably reading the play and seeing what’s happening and just being calm out there,” he said. “I feel pretty good and I feel more confident every game. It’s getting easier all of the time.”

Israelsson, who is from Sweden, is the opposite of Tolvanen. In Ann Arbor, while Tolvanen was off to the side, Israelsson was joining the rest of the team in their soccer games and is probably the chattiest of the threesome.

That doesn’t mean that he’s not focused. After having some fun, though, he gets down to business and gets himself into a zone just like Tolvanen.

“If you follow us before the games, I’m a little more loose than the other two,” Israelsson said. “I usually like to hang out with the guys and stay loose before the game, while Atte and Dahlstrom are solo a little more.

“I don’t like to talk much to people before the games, but I’m still really loose. I laugh if someone cracks a joke, I play soccer and listen to music.

“When the puck drops, though, I get more focused. If you start preparing for the game too early, it takes a lot of energy away from you. It takes the fun part out of the game”

Finally, there’s Dahlstrom, another Swede who has been with the team the longest. He was the starter last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury last January. Dahlstrom’s knee appears to have healed, but now he’s been plagued by a nagging back problem.

He practiced with the team in Ann Arbor as well as at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, but didn’t dress for either game.

Dahlstrom is an interesting guy. Not that the other two aren’t, but it’s just how he goes about things. On the surface, he may seem like a loner as he’s sometimes by himself with headphones on and just seems to be in his own world sometimes.

At the mall in Ann Arbor, while the other guys went off to the other end of the mall, Dahlstrom left the area, but he said that he didn’t do it to get away from people.

“I asked, but nobody wanted to come with me,” he said. “They just wanted to eat and then they wanted to take off. I wanted to look for a phone case. On game days, though, I’m by myself.”

At other times, he can be seen talking to his teammates and having a laugh with his friend. At practice last Sunday, Dahlstrom played a quick game of soccer with the guys before going off to the side with Tolvanen and stretching against the wall.

“I do one round (of soccer) and then I’ve got to warm up the real way,” he said. “You have to be warmed up as a goalie. I couldn’t imagine going out there and not doing anything before.”

When asked if there was a difference between the three goalies, he says there is and part of that is how they were trained growing up.

“We are different and I think it’s hard to find two goalies that are identical,” he said. “I think as a kid, you might see a goalie you like and then you play like him.

“Then you get a goalie coach and he wants you to change some things. Try this and try that. If it works, go with that.”

Dahlstrom and Israelsson also shed some light on how Finnish goalies are different than Swedish ones.

“I like how Pekka Rinne (of the Nashville Predators) plays,” Dahlstrom said. “I think he has a good stance and he battles for his life for that puck. With Antti Niemi (of the Dallas Stars), I think he has a bad style, but he stops the puck. Those two guys are Finns.

“Then you’ve got Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers) who is way different. I’ve always seen Finnish guys as more flexible. They’re good at making that sick save off a rebound.”

“In general, Swedish goalies are very good technique-wise and we practice a lot of details and technique,” Israelsson said.

All three will be fighting for playing time in the second half of the season.

“It brings out a competitive side of you during practice, but it also makes you pissed off sometimes when you think you’re going to play and then they play someone else,” Israelsson said.

When asked what he thought of his talented trio, NMU head coach Walt Kyle said they’re all talented and that it is good the Wildcats have them.

“All three of them are structurally pretty sound,” he said. “They’re all pretty stable tactically and they’re all good athletes. None of them are happy-go-lucky guys. They’re focused on their job and I like that. They’re competitors and at that position, you have to be We’re fortunate to have all the goaltenders that we have.”

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.