The Man, The Mask...The MYSTERY.

Aleksi Toivonen has been instrumental in the CBR Brave’s success this season. His goal saving abilities and cool head in pressure situations has been a highlight as Brave Fans hold their breath for Aleksi to inevitably save that shot we could barely see.

Growing up in Finland, ice hockey was a given for any kid. “I lived in a town in Finland and everyone plays hockey there. In my neighbourhood, they all played hockey.” But Aleksi also had a more personal reason for getting into the game. “My dad was a hockey player and I think that’s why I started to play hockey, to follow in my father’s footsteps.” He was just four years old when he started to skate and five when he joined his first team.

Aleksi had a few best moments to reflect on. “Probably when I played backup goalie in the domestic competition in the second highest league game in Finland. Also when I won the under 18s domestic championship, that was pretty cool.”

As for a worst moment, Aleksi noted a particular event as his worst moment and worst injury. “I was 18, I hurt my shoulder. I had to take a one year break from hockey that was pretty hard for me. To make it worse, when I first hurt my left shoulder, one year later I hurt my right shoulder, so it became two years without playing hockey. So that was pretty hard for me.”

When he’s not at hockey, Aleksi is hanging out with friends, family and his girlfriend. He’s hoping to start studying Physiotherapy when he gets back home from Canberra. Other than his Mum and Dad, he also has an older sister and a cat.

So how did Aleksi wind up playing for the Brave? “I was born in Canberra actually. I was a year old when I moved back to Finland. My dad use to play for the Canberra Knights in the middle of 90’s so that’s why I came here. I wanted to come here to play ice hockey and there was one guy in my team and he played here in 2014. He knew I was from Australia and so I’m not an import player so the coach sent me an email and I was like “whoa.” It was a good opportunity to come here.”

Aleksi is positive about the Brave season and his goals for the future. “This year I think is better than last year but we’ve had some ups and downs but the season’s going pretty well.”

“My number one goal is definitely to win the AIHL Championship.”

To get there, the Brave will need his awesome goalie skills. Aleksi tossed around the idea of pressure as a goalie. “Sometimes it’s a lot of pressure but I think I have a bit of a cool head, so when it’s like 0-0, I don’t feel too much pressure. I don’t know, sometimes I feel a lot of pressure.”