| Veli-Pekka Ketola | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born | 28 March 1948 Pori, Finland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 238 lb (108 kg; 17 st 0 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | SM-liiga Karhut Ässät 1. Divisioona KalPa WHA Winnipeg Jets Calgary Cowboys NHL Colorado Rockies | ||
| National team |  Finland | ||
| Playing career | 1963–1983 | ||
Veli-Pekka Ketola (born 28 March 1948) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player and coach.
Veli-Pekka Ketola played in the Finnish League, World Hockey Association, and National Hockey League. While Ketola was playing for the Ässät of the Finnish League, he won the league scoring twice in 1971 and 1978 and was a six-time all-star.
In 1974, Ketola went to North America to play for the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association. He played just over two and a half seasons, from 1974–75 to 1976–77, for the Jets and he played the last 17 games of the 1976–77 WHA season for the Calgary Cowboys. After those three years in the WHA, he returned to Finland to once again play for the Ässät Pori. Despite being signed by the Vancouver Canucks on 6 March 1979, he didn't play for a North American team again until he played 44 games for the Colorado Rockies of the NHL during the 1981–82 season.
Veli-Pekka Ketola coached Ässät Pori of the Finnish League from 1993–94 season to 1996–97 season's first six games. He returned to coaching in March 1999 to replace fired Esko Nokelainen. In addition to coaching Ketola was also Ässät General Manager from 1994–95 season to end of season 1999–00.
Season 2003–04 he was briefly the head coach of Austrian EHC Linz. He returned to Ässät Pori as a senior adviser for season 2013–14 and the following season. 2015 and 2016 he was a Team Manager of Finnish U20 National Team in the World Junior Championship games. [1]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1963–64 | Karhut | SM-s | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1964–65 | Karhut | SM-s | 18 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1965–66 | Karhut | SM-s | 19 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1966–67 | Karhut | SM-s | 22 | 15 | 10 | 25 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1967–68 | Ässät | SM-s | 20 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1968–69 | Ässät | SM-s | 20 | 15 | 9 | 24 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1969–70 | Jokerit | SM-s | 22 | 25 | 12 | 37 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1970–71 | Ässät | SM-s | 31 | 25 | 17 | 42 | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971–72 | Ässät | SM-s | 32 | 16 | 14 | 30 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | Ässät | SM-s | 36 | 25 | 16 | 41 | 74 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973–74 | Ässät | SM-s | 35 | 23 | 21 | 44 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974–75 | Winnipeg Jets | WHA | 74 | 23 | 28 | 51 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975–76 | Winnipeg Jets | WHA | 80 | 32 | 36 | 68 | 32 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 2 | ||
| 1976–77 | Winnipeg Jets | WHA | 64 | 25 | 29 | 54 | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976–77 | Calgary Cowboys | WHA | 17 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977–78 | Ässät | SM-l | 36 | 27 | 29 | 56 | 59 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 22 | ||
| 1978–79 | Ässät | SM-l | 36 | 23 | 49 | 72 | 66 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 30 | ||
| 1979–80 | Ässät | SM-l | 36 | 22 | 38 | 60 | 61 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 40 | ||
| 1980–81 | Ässät | SM-l | 36 | 23 | 39 | 62 | 61 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1981–82 | Colorado Rockies | NHL | 44 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | KalPa | FIN II | 6 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| SM-s totals | 257 | 168 | 116 | 284 | 282 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| SM-l totals | 144 | 95 | 155 | 250 | 247 | 26 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 94 | ||||
| WHA totals | 235 | 84 | 99 | 183 | 118 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 2 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Finland | OLY | 8 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | |
| 1969 | Finland | WC | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| 1970 | Finland | WC | 10 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 32 | |
| 1971 | Finland | WC | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 4 | |
| 1972 | Finland | OLY | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | |
| 1972 | Finland | WC | 9 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | |
| 1973 | Finland | WC | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | |
| 1974 | Finland | WC | 10 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 4 | |
| 1976 | Finland | CC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1981 | Finland | CC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Senior totals | 77 | 25 | 21 | 46 | 83 | |||
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