Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen returned to practice with the Buffalo Sabres at LECOM Harborcenter on Thursday, following a lower-body injury that kept him from participating in the 2026 Winter Olympics. Luukkonen had been expected to represent Finland in their semifinal matchup against Canada at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, but his injury forced him to withdraw from both the semifinal and the subsequent bronze medal game.
Reflecting on missing the Olympics, Luukkonen said, “It was kind of devastating to know that you can’t make it. It’s something that’s been back of my mind for a long time.” He added, “The couple days after that were pretty miserable for me, to know that I’m gonna miss it, but the silver lining is that I’ve [had] time to rehab and be back when we start playing, hopefully.”
Luukkonen suffered his injury during a game in Toronto last month. Colten Ellis replaced him during that match, which ended in a 7-4 win for Buffalo. For Team Finland, Boston’s Joonas Korpisalo took over goaltending duties at the Olympics.
During Luukkonen’s absence, Ellis and Alex Lyon shared goaltending responsibilities for five games and posted a combined .904 save percentage. The Sabres’ three-goalie system provided flexibility during this period. Before his injury, Luukkonen had gone 7-2-1 since December 21 with a .922 save percentage and a goals-against average of 2.41. He allowed two goals or fewer in six out of ten decisions.
Sabres forward Josh Doan commented on Luukkonen’s importance: “Obviously, he’s been a huge part of our team this year,” Doan said. “When he’s on, he’s one of the best goalies in the league. We have a lot of trust in all of our goalies, but seeing him back on the ice is really nice.”
While recovering from his injury and taking some time off mentally with friends and family, Luukkonen followed Finland’s progress at the Olympics closely. His friend Juuse Saros led Finland as they reached the medal round after an overtime victory against Switzerland in the quarterfinals.
“That’s the Finnish for you; they’re never out. I’ve been in that situation in World Juniors, Under-18s, all that; you can never count us out,” Luukkonen said. “I’m really happy for them. I kind of knew that they were gonna pull through in that game.”
With Buffalo currently holding an Eastern Conference wild card spot and aiming for their first playoff appearance in years with 25 games left to play, Luukkonen shifted focus quickly from international disappointment to club ambitions.
“Mentally for me, it’s always that what happened, you can’t change that,” he said. “Go through it for a couple days, and then you start to look forward. You start to be positive about the fact that we have a huge playoff push coming here.”
“I’m really happy that I’m part of the team here. We have something special going on right now, and being healthy for that again, I think that’s what, mentally, has gotten me through it.”
Other updates from Friday’s practice include defenseman Rasmus Dahlin’s expected return from Italy later this week and ongoing evaluation of forward Zach Benson due to an upper-body injury.
Alex Tuch also spoke about not making Team USA’s Olympic roster despite attending orientation camp last August: “I’m friends with a lot of those guys, and I’m always gonna be rooting for Team USA,” Tuch said. “I missed it this time. Maybe there’s a next time for me. I’ve represented our country in the past, I’m always honored to do so, and I’m always cheering for Team USA.”
The Sabres will continue preparations Sunday morning ahead of their final stretch of regular season games as they pursue postseason qualification.
