Oskar Osala

Oskar Osala
Born	(1987-12-26) 26 December 1987 (age 36) Vaasa, Finland
Height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight	243 lb (110 kg; 17 st 5 lb)
Position	Left wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Espoo Blues Washington Capitals Carolina Hurricanes Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk Metallurg Magnitogorsk Oulun Kärpät
National team	Finland
NHL Draft	97th overall, 2006 Washington Capitals
Playing career	2004–2019

Oskar Osala (born 26 December 1987) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He played in three National Hockey League (NHL) games with the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes and represented Finland in Olympic Winter Games 2018.

Playing career

He started his career with Vaasa-based Sport. He made his North American debut with the OHL's Mississauga IceDogs in 2005, and was drafted 97th overall in the fourth round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals.

In the 2007–08 season, he returned to Finland where he played for the Espoo Blues of the SM-liiga; made his debut with the senior national team; and was named SM-liiga rookie of the year.

Osala signed a three-year contract with the Capitals in June 2008, and was assigned to Washington's AHL affiliate in Hershey. ^[1] On 10 December 2008, Osala made his NHL debut replacing the injured Tomáš Fleischmann in the Caps' 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins, playing two games before being returned to the Bears. Osala finished the season with the Hershey Bears' Calder Cup winning team, scoring two goals in Game 1 of the Calder Cup Finals.

On 3 March 2010, Osala was traded with Brian Pothier to the Carolina Hurricanes for Joe Corvo. ^[2] Osala made a brief NHL appearance with Carolina shortly after the trade, but spent most of the remainder of the season with the Albany River Rats.

Unable to find a role with the Hurricanes and subsequently assigned to AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers for the duration of the following season, Osala signed a one-year contract with Russian team Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on 25 May 2011. ^[3]

On 10 December 2013, during the 2013–14, his third with Neftekhimik, Osala was traded to division competitors Metallurg Magnitogorsk. He contributed 6 assists in the post-season to help Metallurg claim their first Gagarin Cup.

Osala played 5 seasons with Metallurg, which won a second Gagarin Cup in the 2015–16 campaign, before opting to leave the KHL following the 2017–18 season.

Citing a lack of drive, Osala sat out the beginning of the 2018–19 season as a free agent. ^[4] On 12 November 2018, Osala opted to end his hiatus and agreed to a one-year contract for the remainder of the season in returning to his homeland with Oulun Kärpät of the top flight Liiga. ^[5]

International play

Osala shared the goal scoring title in 2007 IIHF World Junior Championships. Osala scored five goals in six games for Finland, sharing the lead with four other players.^{[ citation needed ]}

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2003–04	Sport	FIN U18		16	10	11	21	10		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Sport	FIN.3 U20		2	0	0	0	4		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Sport	Mestis		5	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Sport	FIN U18		2	0	1	1	4		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Sport	FIN.2 U20		19	13	24	37	28		2	0	0	0	2
2004–05	Sport	Mestis		21	1	4	5	6		7	0	0	0	6
2005–06	Mississauga IceDogs	OHL		68	17	26	43	86		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Mississauga IceDogs	OHL		54	22	22	44	81		5	2	2	4	0
2007–08	Blues	SM-liiga		53	18	17	35	62		17	7	3	10	8
2008–09	Hershey Bears	AHL		75	23	14	37	47		22	6	4	10	17
2008–09	Washington Capitals	NHL		2	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Hershey Bears	AHL		53	15	14	29	57		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Albany River Rats	AHL		16	10	3	13	11		8	2	1	3	2
2009–10	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Charlotte Checkers	AHL		59	13	29	42	55		15	3	2	5	29
2011–12	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	KHL		41	12	7	19	44		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	KHL		44	14	10	24	52		4	0	1	1	17
2013–14	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	KHL		33	5	12	17	20		—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	KHL		19	5	5	10	31		21	0	6	6	43
2014–15	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	KHL		55	11	5	16	85		10	1	2	3	4
2015–16	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	KHL		60	12	15	27	76		11	3	2	5	8
2016–17	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	KHL		60	14	14	28	53		18	6	1	7	29
2017–18	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	KHL		55	14	9	23	90		11	3	3	6	6
2018–19	Kärpät	Liiga		29	15	7	22	24		13	2	1	3	45
AHL totals				202	61	60	121	170		45	11	7	18	48
NHL totals				3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
KHL totals				367	88	78	166	451		75	13	15	28	107

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2004	Finland	WHC17	6th		5	1	1	2	6
2005	Finland	WJC18	7th		6	0	0	0	27
2007	Finland	WJC	6th		6	5	3	8	4
2010	Finland	WC	6th		4	0	0	0	2
2017	Finland	WC	4th		10	1	2	3	14
2018	Finland	OG	6th		4	0	1	1	0
Junior totals					17	6	4	10	37
Senior totals					18	1	3	4	16

Awards and honors

Award	Year
OHL
Second All-Rookie Team	2006
Liiga
Rookie of the Year	2008
AHL
Calder Cup (Hershey Bears)	2009
KHL
Gagarin Cup (Metallurg Magnitogorsk)	2014, 2016	[6]

References

1. "Capitals sign Oskar Osala to three-year entry level contract". Washington Capitals. 19 June 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
2. "Caps add Carolina's Joe Corvo, deal Brian Pothier and Oskar Osala". The Washington Post . 3 March 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
3. "Russian KHL next for Oskar Osala" (in Swedish). vasabladet.fi. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
4. "Oskar Osala makes decision to pause career" (in Finnish). iltalehti.fi. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
5. "Oskar Osala agrees to one-year contract with Oulun" (in Finnish). Oulun Kärpät. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
6. Clinton, Jared (20 April 2016). "Metallurg defeats CSKA in Game 7, wins second Gagarin Cup in three seasons". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved 7 May 2021.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Eurohockey.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database