Anssi Salmela

Last updated

Anssi Salmela
2013-10-05 Anssi Salmela 01.jpg
Salmela with Modo Hockey in 2013
Born (1984-08-13) 13 August 1984 (age 39)
Nokia, Finland
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 201 lb (91 kg; 14 st 5 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Tappara
Lahti Pelicans
New Jersey Devils
Atlanta Thrashers
Avangard Omsk
Modo Hockey
HV71
Färjestad BK
Brynäs IF
Kunlun Red Star
Linköpings HC
Dinamo Riga
EHC Biel
Ilves
National teamFlag of Finland.svg  Finland
NHL draft Undrafted
Playing career 2003–2021

Anssi Salmela (born 13 August 1984) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New Jersey Devils and Atlanta Thrashers.

Contents

Playing career

Undrafted, Salmela's professional career started in the 2003–04 season with Finnish SM-liiga side Tappara, where he made his debut on 24 January 2004. His place was settled in Tappara for another year, but the next year he was transferred to Pelicans. In 2007, he moved back to Tappara.

Salmela was a member of Team Finland that won a bronze medal in the World Under-20 Championship. He made his debut for the senior national team in the 2008 IIHF World Championships held in Canada in 2008. On 22 May 2008, he signed a one-year, two-way contract with the New Jersey Devils of the NHL. [1]

In the 2008–09 season, Salmela made his NHL and North American debut with New Jersey in the season opener on 10 October 2008, in a 2–1 win over the New York Islanders. [2] However, Salmela spent the majority of his time with the Devils affiliate the Lowell Devils of the American Hockey League (AHL). On 2 March 2009, Salmela was traded by the Devils to the Atlanta Thrashers for Niclas Hävelid. [3] In his second game with the Thrashers Salmela scored his first career NHL goal in a 5–1 win against the Washington Capitals on 16 March 2009. [4]

On 4 February 2010, Salmela was traded back to the New Jersey Devils along with Ilya Kovalchuk for Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier and a 1st round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. [5] Salmela scored only one goal in 2010–11, but it was a big one. On 12 March, he scored an overtime goal against Al Montoya to give the Devils a 3–2 victory over the New York Islanders. [6] Salmela did not receive a qualifying offer from the Devils following the 2010–11 season, making him an unrestricted free agent. [7] He signed a two-year contract with Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), reportedly for US$1.5 million per season, on 15 July 2011. [8] When his contract was up at the end of the 2012–13 season, he moved to Sweden, penning a deal with Modo Hockey, before transferring to fellow SHL side HV71 during the 2013-14 campaign. In the following two years, he played for two more SHL clubs, Färjestad BK and Brynäs IF.[ citation needed ]

He was signed by newly founded KHL side Red Star Kunlun from Beijing, China, in July 2016 [9] and left the team by mutual consent in November 2016. [10]

On 5 June 2018, Salmela agreed to a one-year contract with EHC Biel of the National League (NL). On 4 December 2018, Salmela was signed to an early one-year contract extension by Biel through the end of the 2019–20 season.[ citation needed ]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season TeamLeagueGP G A Pts PIM GPGAPtsPIM
2003–04 Tappara Tampere SM-l 10000230002
2004–05 Tappara TampereSM-l481564980000
2005–06 Tappara TampereSM-l80110—————
2005–06 Pelicans SM-l48881659—————
2006–07 PelicansSM-l561112235861124
2007–08 Tappara TampereSM-l56161632401106614
2008–09 New Jersey Devils NHL 170336—————
2008–09 Lowell Devils AHL 388162441—————
2008–09 Chicago Wolves AHL20000—————
2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers NHL91232—————
2009–10 Atlanta ThrashersNHL2914522—————
2009–10New Jersey DevilsNHL91230—————
2010–11 New Jersey DevilsNHL4816714—————
2010–11 Albany Devils AHL20000—————
2011–12 Avangard Omsk KHL 226410142113416
2012–13 Avangard OmskKHL372121437110116
2013–14 Modo Hockey SHL 824620—————
2013–14 HV71 SHL36714216451122
2014–15 Färjestad BK SHL42617232831234
2015–16 Brynäs IF SHL24411154730114
2016–17 Kunlun Red Star KHL 103258—————
2016–17 Linköpings HC SHL32414182860222
2017–18 Dinamo Riga KHL335121718—————
2018–19 EHC Biel NL 4910112128120556
2019–20 EHC BielNL375111610—————
2020–21 Ilves Liiga233582450004
Liiga totals2493947862323317824
NHL totals1124172144—————
KHL totals102163046773214522
Anssi Salmela 2008.jpg
Salmela with Finland.
Medal record
Representing Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
Ice hockey
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2011 Slovakia
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2016 Russia
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2008 Canada
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2004 Finland

International

YearTeamEventResultGPGAPtsPIM
2004 Finland WJC Bronze medal icon.svg71236
2008 Finland WC Bronze medal icon.svg800037
2009 FinlandWC5th71012
2011 FinlandWCGold medal icon.svg91234
2012 FinlandWC4th702225
2015 FinlandWC6th80224
2016 FinlandWCSilver medal icon.svg50112
Junior totals71236
Senior totals4427974

Awards and honours

AwardYear
Liiga
Bronze Medal (Tappara) 2007–08
Juha Rantasila Trophy (most goals for defenseman)2007–08

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References

  1. ↑ "Salmela joins New Jersey". (in Fin) yle.fi. 22 May 2008. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
  2. ↑ "Brodeur stops penalty shot, saves Devils in season opener". cbssportsline.com. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  3. ↑ "Devils acquire veteran defender Hävelid". cbcsports.ca. 2 March 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  4. ↑ "Lehtonen saves career-high 49 shots in Thrashers' sixth straight win". cbssports.com. 16 March 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  5. ↑ "Thrashers ship Kovalchuk to Devils for players, 1st rounder". The Sports Network . 4 February 2010. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  6. ↑ "Anssi Salmela scores in overtime, surging Devils beat Islanders 3-2". The Hockey News. 12 March 2011. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  7. ↑ Chere, Rich (27 June 2011). "Devils qualify Matt Corrente, Vladimir Zharkov, Matt Taormina, Mark Fraser; Alexander Vasyunov to play in Russia". The Star-Ledger . NJ.com . Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  8. ↑ "Ex-Devil Salmela signs with KHL's Avangard Omsk". 15 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  9. ↑ "Kunlun Red Star: First Press Conference" . Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "Энлунд переезжает в Китай и другие трансферы 14-15 ноября" . Retrieved 15 November 2016.
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