Pasi Nurminen was born December 17, 1975 in Lahti, Finland. The 6th round choice, 189th overall selection of the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Nurminen spent three seasons in the Finnish Elite League before making his North American debut in 2001-02.
In over three seasons in the Finnish Elite League, Nurminen sported a 78-34-21 record with a 2.37 GAA and 17 shutouts in 148 games. Named a Second Team All-Star at the 2001 World Championships, Nurminen earned the Urpo-Ylonen Award as the Finnish League's best goaltender and was named to the league's All-Star Team in 1999-2000.
In 2001-02, Nurminen spent the majority of the season with the Thrashers AHL affiliate in Chicago, and was instrumental in their Calder Cup victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Nurminen finished the 2002 AHL playoffs with a 15-5 record and a 1.91 GAA and .935 save percentage while playing in nine games with Chicago's parent club.
Coming off a championship year in the AHL, Nurminen spent the entire 2002-03 season with the Thrashers, seeing lots of game action, especially after an injury to Byron Dafoe. In his first full season with the young Thrashers, Nurminen registered a 21-19-5 record and went on to better his win total in 2003-04 with 25 and a 2.78 GAA.
On the international stage, the Lahti, Finland native is a four-time member of its World Championship team (2000-2001, 2003 and 2005) and was a member of its Olympic team (2002).
