Additional Information
Highlights
| Rank | Event | Year | Location |
|---|
| World Championship |
| 2 | Men | 2007 | Russia |
| 4 | Men | 2012 | Sweden/Finland |
- Nickname: 'Hamburglar' [because when he moved to the US from Finalnd, he became obsessed with McDonald's hamburgers]. (hookedonhockeymagazine.com, 14 Dec 2013)
- Family: Wife Abbe and one son
- Club Name: Dallas Stars
- Position Style: Goaltender (nhl.com, 10 Jan 2014)
- Debut: 2002 for Finland (eliteprospects.com, Jan 2014)
- Occupation: Athlete
- Languages Spoken: English, Finnish
- Coach: Lindy Ruff [club], CAN; Erkka Westerlund [national], FIN (m.kaleva.fi, 07 Jan 2014; stars.nhl.com, 21 Jun 2013)
- Hand: Catches left (nhl.com, 10 Jan 2014)
- Injuries: He missed five games due to injury in October 2013. (nhl.com, 2014)
He missed most of the 2009/10 season due to back surgery in the off-season. The procedure was to remove edges of bone that were applying pressure to nerve roots in his back at two locations. (nhl.com, 04 Nov 2009)
In October 2005 he missed 35 games over a three month period after sustaining a groin injury. (ESPN, 28 Dec 2005)
Additional Information
National League
National Hockey League [NHL] (olympictalk.nbcsports.com, 07 Jan 2014)
Most memorable sporting achievement
Winning the Finnish SM Liiga in 2002. (thrashers.nhl.com, 22 Jan 2010)
Awards
He was named Best Goaltender at the 2007 World Championships in Moscow. (thrashers.nhl.com, 22 Jan 2010)
He has won the Urpo Ylonen trophy as the top goaltender in the Finnish SM Liiga twice, in 2001/02 and 2002/03.
General
NHL DRAFT
He was selected by the Atlanta Thrashers in the first round, second overall pick, of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. At the time this made him the highest drafted European goaltender in the history of the NHL. (thrashers.nhl.com, 22 Jan 2010; Hockey Hall of Fame, 28 Dec 2005)