Dwight Edward Helminen (born June 22, 1983) is an American former professional ice hockeycenter who most recently played with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL. His brother Lars plays with Linz EHC of the EBEL.
Helminen signed a one-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 3, 2008. He was then assigned to the Hurricanes' affiliate, the Albany River Rats of the AHL. Helminen made his NHL debut in the 2008–09 season after an injury to Brandon Sutter. In his fourth career NHL game, while playing against the Toronto Maple Leafs at home, Helminen scored his first career NHL goal and tallied his first and only career NHL assist.[3] It was the most ice time he had received in the NHL, and his playing time relative to the rest of his NHL career remained consistently high for the next four games, before he was sent back to Albany. He was recalled to the Hurricanes and played four games in early March 2009 as a few Hurricanes forwards missed games, did not play for the Hurricanes' next three games, then returned to the lineup on March 18 to play in each of the Hurricanes' remaining games.[4] This unusual schedule of games, combined with Carolina's late season push towards the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, meant that Helminen played in 13 consecutive wins for the Hurricanes as he avoided a three game winless streak for the team in mid-March.[5] He had played in 23 regular season games by season's end with the Hurricanes, as well as one playoff game.[6]
On July 16, 2009, Helminen signed a one-year contract with the San Jose Sharks.[7] In the 2009–10 season, on February 11, 2010, Helminen scored his first goal with the Sharks, against the Detroit Red Wings. On April 22, 2010, he scored a goal against the Colorado Avalanche in the Sharks' first-round playoff series.[citation needed]
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