Earlier this season, Coachella Valley play-by-play man and communications director Evan Pivnick asked rookie goalie Nikke Kokko what first name he preferred on the American Hockey League website. He was drafted by Seattle as Niklas Kokko in the 2022 second round (No. 58 overall). The 20-year-old Finn told Pivnick he prefers “Nik” but decided it was too big of a jump to move from Niklas to Nik. So Nikke it is, at least for this season.
What’s fitting about Kokko switching names step-by-step is it mirrors the approach the Kraken organization is taking and Firebirds goalie coach Colin Zulianello is carrying out with the 6-foot-3, 184-pound goaltender. For the first half of the season, Kokko was working hard with Zulianello daily and getting fewer games in net compared to teammate Ales Stezka. The concept was to indoctrinate Kokko to the differences between the AHL game – more net-front traffic, tighter rink dimensions, a wealth of talent from North America and Europe – compared to Finland’s top pro league in which Kokko starred in the postseason for his Pelicans club, falling just short of the league title.
The plan is working. Kokko leads all AHL rookie goalies in wins with 14, which is the fifth-highest total among all goaltenders in the top developmental league. What’s more, his win percentage, .777, is No. 1 in the league. Every wins leader ahead of him has played in 25 to 28 games. His save percentage of .912 and 2.37 goals-against average are top 10 among all AHLgoalies. He’s helped the Firebirds to second place in the Pacific Division and tied with two other squads with the second-most points in the conference going into Friday’s matchup at San Diego to open post-All-Star break play.
“If you look at his body of work from the start of the season, even right from development camp and the rookie tournament in LA, he’s had some great moments and wins,” said Firebirds head coach Derek Laxdal. “You’ve got to give credit to Colin [Zulianello], the way he isolated with Stez being number one and then controlled Kokko’s starts. Part of the plan was if we had back-to-back games [two-game series against the same opponent], Stez would get the first one and Kokko would get the second one, so he had a chance to see the other team.”
“Some of it is the development of plays, how the offensive attacks happen, how the opponents distribute the puck,” said Zulianello, explaining what Kokko or any goalie can look for when not playing that night. “Where he’s needed to make adjustments, he's done an excellent job of it. He's eager to learn and wants to learn. He's an extremely competitive kid. That serves him very well. He wants to play. The evolution that we've seen, it's a credit to him and his willingness to work at it and to want to learn.”
Playing more in the season’s second half and postseason has been earned by the rookie goalie. With Stezka recalled by the Kraken, Laxdal said “Going forward Kokko's going to get a little bit more responsibility as the next step of his progression.”
Kokko and His ‘Mojo’
“When the season starts, I know I need to do a good job and get better,” said Kokko in a phone conversation Thursday after the team’s first post-break practice. “I’m playing now how I want to play. I’m happy about that.”
Kokko said he feels he’s improved from early in the year with both handling “lots of net-front traffic” and being “a little better with the different language [English] to better know what my teammates mean” during in-game communication.
“As the season's gone along, he's really grabbed the role,” said Laxdal. “Like any goaltender, he has moments [a loss or goal he would like back], but Zuli’s done a great job of managing Kokko’s expectations [and not being too hard on himself]. It's great to see he's having a lot of success. His personality is part of his success. He's got such a calm demeanor. He's got good energy. The guys love playing for him. He’s got that mojo you love in a goaltender.”
Kraken defenseman Cale Fleury played most of this season at Coachella Valley, being named a 2024-25 AHL all-star and proving a cornerstone player with the Kraken affiliate franchise that has won the Western Conference championship in each of its first two seasons. Fleury both enjoys and appreciates what he sees in Kokko.
“He is a very interesting guy,” said Fleury, smile wide, eyebrows raised. “He's not afraid to be himself in the dressing room. He's very out there. He's a very nice kid, though, and always wants to work hard and learn. That’s not a bad thing for a goalie to be himself ... I feel like he makes saves at the right time. When you need a big save, he's been making them this year, really keeping us in a lot of games.”
Zulianello said Firebirds veterans and young prospects alike are impressed with Kokko on and off the ice: “In conversations with players and just my observations, the players all respect how competitive he is. They respect how much he hates to lose at anything ... he’s certainly a confident kid but he has a jovial side to him. He’s fun-loving and likes to joke around with his teammates.”
Kokko and his roommate, fellow Finn Jani Nyman (who replaced Fleury as the team’s All-Star), have benefitted from countryman and second-year CVF defenseman Ville Ottavainen, who helps familiarize with the American culture and getting around Coachella Valley.
“I spend a lot of time with Nicky, but sometimes I can go to Otto and just check in, just to make sure we are not missing anything,” said Zulianello. “Otto has a good pulse on what's going on with the two younger Finns, as we sometimes call them.”
Getting Stronger, Achieving Best Version of Self
Another plus for Kokko is working with Firebird's head athletic trainer, Brandon Wickett, gaining strength in the gym, and learning optimal habits for nutrition and sleep.
“There is a difference in the cultures [between southern California and Finland],” said Zulianello. “There’s all the stuff away from the arena where you're also learning to be a pro, such as cooking for yourself. You've got to organize your day. You have structure within the day at the arena and training center, but then how do you structure your day outside of that to ensure that when you get to the arena the next day, you're the best version of yourself? With Nikke he’s adjusting to all those things with a lot on his plate here with the team.”
The Firebirds goalie coach said at this point in the AHL year, all of the team’s rookies – this a way younger team than the first two seasons – are now “players and not rookies” via lots of game experience, working through the adversity of injuries and call-ups to the Kraken putting prospects on the ice for more minutes and at key times in games. Kokko, of course, is part of that rise as young professionals.
Once you get to the halfway point in the season, they've all experienced enough game situations, enough practice situations, enough life away from the arena as pros here in CV, we can consider of each them another teammate contributing,” said Zulianello. “At the start of the year, we didn't have a lot of games, so Stez was getting more games ... in the last little while, Nikke’s playing time has increased. He's demonstrated he's a very capable goalie at this level. He’s had some success and it's continuing to just get better. Then part of it is playing more games so that the games are less spread out now. He's found himself in the net more frequently.”
Kudos to the Goalie Coach and ‘Grubi’
Kokko is grateful to work with Zulianello: “Every day in the States I am learning something new [on and off the ice]. Over the past few months, I like how I am playing with confidence. Zuli very much understands me. He’s very smart with what input he gives me in games and at practice.”
From his view, Laxdal said Kokko has gained another mentor in Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer arriving in Coachella Valley after clearing waivers a week ago Thursday. Grubauer played last Saturday in a 3-2 overtime at Austin facing the formidable Texas Stars with Kokko winning in OT Friday night for a weekend sweep.
“You know what? I give Grubi a lot of respect,” said Laxdal. “He did a great job coming in. I know it's hard for the situation he went through, that's part of pro sports. But he's come in with a great attitude and he's been awesome. That will only help us. He can be kind of the next mentor for Kokko. Grubi did a good job [in the Texas win] I think early in the game there he didn't go out and play any rims, then you get settled in and we get settled in the game there as a team. We battled back and found a way to win [with Grubauber making pivotal saves in the second and third periods]. It was great to see him smile and have some fun."
