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Raanta denies wanting Blackhawks to lose: 'I'm not that kind of guy'

Sergei Belski / reuters

Former Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Antti Raanta denied saying he wanted his team to be swept in the first round of the playoffs last season.

The rebuttal came after the sports editor of Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat, Vesa Rantanen, reported that Raanta said he wished the Blackhawks had been eliminated by the Nashville Predators in four games so he could return to Finland sooner.

"I never said anything like that," Raanta told Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Raanta, who now plays for the New York Rangers, was reportedly "frustrated" by his lack of playing time with Chicago, but said he would never root against his own club.

"I'm not that kind of guy that I would say something like that, and hope my team to lose, even if I'm not playing goalie," he said.

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