Kari Lehtonen

Last updated
Kari Lehtonen
Kari Lehtonen - Dallas Stars.jpg
Lehtonen with the Dallas Stars in 2014
Born (1983-11-16) November 16, 1983 (age 39)
Helsinki, Finland
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Jokerit
Atlanta Thrashers
Dallas Stars
National teamFlag of Finland.svg  Finland
NHL Draft 2nd overall, 2002
Atlanta Thrashers
Playing career 1999–2018

Kari Lehtonen (born November 16, 1983) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Atlanta Thrashers and Dallas Stars. He was selected second overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Thrashers, becoming the highest-drafted European goaltender, as well as being tied with Patrik Laine, Alexander Barkov and Kaapo Kakko for the highest-drafted Finnish player in NHL history.

Contents

Playing career

Early years

Lehtonen in March 2011 Kari Lehtonen Dallas Stars Versus Chicago Blackhawks warmup.jpg
Lehtonen in March 2011
Lehtonen signing autographs at Galleria Dallas in 2014, during his tenure with the Dallas Stars Kari Lehtonen (15115377490) (cropped).jpg
Lehtonen signing autographs at Galleria Dallas in 2014, during his tenure with the Dallas Stars

Lehtonen was drafted second overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers after an outstanding 2001–02 season in the Finnish SM-liiga. Lehtonen was the backup goalie for Jokerit, but captured the starting position and won the Urpo Ylönen trophy, given to the best goalie of the season, and the league's playoff MVP award, the Jari Kurri trophy. Lehtonen stayed with Jokerit for one more season before moving to North America.

Atlanta Thrashers

During the 2003–04 season, Lehtonen mostly spent his time with the Chicago Wolves, the Thrashers' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, but he was called up for a number of occasions and played four games for the Thrashers, winning all four of them and posting one shutout. In the four games with the Thrashers, he posted a .953 save percentage and 1.25 goals against average (GAA).

Lehtonen spent the 2004–05 NHL lockout season with the Wolves, adjusting to the North American playing style. After playing 57 games for the Wolves, of which he won 38, posting .929 save percentage and 2.27 GAA, the Thrashers called him up, and Lehtonen started the 2005–06 season as the starting goalie for Atlanta. On the opening night of the 2005–06 season, Lehtonen suffered a serious groin injury when Florida Panthers centre Nathan Horton collided with him. The injury sidelined him for 35 games. Lehtonen was once again injured on April 6, 2006, when Tampa Bay Lightning forward Chris Dingman collided with him; Lehtonen tried to get to his feet, but sprained his ankle in the process.

Shortly into the 2006–07 season, Lehtonen broke the Atlanta Thrashers shutout streak record previously held by Michael Garnett. He also set his career highs in every category. AirTran Airways, a low-cost airline, signed Lehtonen as an endorser for the 2006–07 season. On February 8, 2007, Lehtonen became the Thrashers franchise leader for wins by a goaltender with 49, surpassing Pasi Nurminen's record of 48. On April 12, 2007, Lehtonen was the starting goaltender for the Thrashers in their first Stanley Cup playoff game.

After a rough start to the 2007–08 season, Lehtonen suffered another groin injury on October 18, 2007. He would miss 16 games before returning on December 5, 2007. [1] He finished the season with a respectable save percentage to go along with four shutouts as the Thrashers failed to qualify for the 2008 playoffs.

Dallas Stars

On February 9, 2010, Lehtonen was traded to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Ivan Vishnevskiy and a fourth-round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft (Ivan Telegin). Prior to the start of the 2010–11 season, the Stars signed Lehtonen to a three-year, $10.65 million extension. [2] In his first full season in Dallas, Lehtonen compiled a 34–24 record with a 2.55 GAA. Lehtonen and the Stars were officially eliminated from contention for a seed in the 2011 playoffs after losing to the Minnesota Wild on the final day of the regular season.

On September 4, 2012, the day before an impending lockout, Lehtonen signed a five-year, $29.5 million contract. Lehtonen made the playoffs with the Stars for the first time in 2014. Prior to the 2015–16 season, the Stars acquired fellow Finnish goaltender Antti Niemi to compete with Lehtonen. They alternated regularly the next two seasons. [3] In the 2016 playoffs, Lehtonen established himself as the primary goalie. However, in Game 7 of the second round, he was pulled after giving up three goals in the first period as the Stars' season ended with a 6–1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. [4]

He earned his 300th win on December 13, 2017, in a game against the New York Islanders by making 32 saves to clinch a 5–2 win. [5]

International play

Lehtonen has been selected to play for Finland's youth and national teams on many occasions. He won a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics. He played in two games, one victory in the preliminary round and a loss in the semi-finals. [6]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season TeamLeagueGPWLTOTLMINGA SO GAA SV% GPWLMINGASOGAASV%
1999–2000 Jokerit FIN U20332193—19748622.61.90412937581441.11.952
2000–01JokeritFIN U20312091—17997132.37.9111015444.440.857
2000–01 Jokerit SM-l 4310—190601.90.937————————
2001–02JokeritFIN U206510—3601111.83.944————————
2001–02 JokeritSM-l231352—12423741.79.94111826231831.73.940
2002–03 JokeritSM-l4523146—26348751.98.92810646261721.63.941
2003–04 Chicago Wolves AHL 3920142—21928832.41.92610646632312.08.942
2003–04 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 4400—239511.25.953————————
2004–05 Chicago WolvesAHL5738172—337812852.27.929161069832821.71.939
2005–06 Atlanta ThrashersNHL382015—0216610622.94.906————————
2006–07 Atlanta ThrashersNHL683424—9393418342.79.9122021181105.59.849
2007–08 Atlanta ThrashersNHL481722—5270713142.90.916————————
2007–08 Chicago WolvesAHL220—0124401.93.934————————
2008–09 Atlanta ThrashersNHL461922—3262413433.06.911————————
2009–10 Chicago WolvesAHL411—22471102.67.899————————
2009–10 Dallas Stars NHL1264—06633102.81.911————————
2010–11 Dallas StarsNHL693424—11411917532.55.914————————
2011–12 Dallas StarsNHL593222—4349713642.33.922————————
2012–13 Dallas StarsNHL361514—319868812.66.916————————
2013–14 Dallas StarsNHL653320—10380415352.41.9196243461913.29.885
2014–15 Dallas StarsNHL653417—10369818152.94.903————————
2015–16 Dallas StarsNHL432510—2228010522.76.90611635552612.81.899
2016–17 Dallas StarsNHL592225—7317815132.85.902————————
2017–18 Dallas StarsNHL371514—319458312.56.912————————
SM-l totals7239208—4,06613091.92.933211461,2493551.68.941
NHL totals64931023306736,8381,662382.71.91219891,0195623.30.887

International

YearTeamEventGPWLTMINGASOGAASV%
2000 Finland U18 6501307911.76.963
2001 Finland WJC 110060202.00.920
2001 FinlandU184310239721.76.935
2002 FinlandWJC6420360711.17.943
2002 Finland WC DNP————————
2003 FinlandWJC63213571322.19.923
2003 FinlandWCDNP————————
2004 Finland WCH DNP————————
2007 FinlandWC642—3741211.93.913
2012 FinlandWC422—2321112.85.894
2014 Finland OG 211—119301.51.935
Junior totals23165213233861.72—
Senior totals1275—7252622.15.909

Awards and honours

Kari Lehtonen.jpg
Lehtonen at the 2007 IIHF World Championship
Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
Olympic Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2014 Sochi
World Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2007 Russia
World Cup
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 World Cup of Hockey
World Junior Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2001 Russia
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2002 Czech Republic
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2003 Canada
IIHF World U18 Championship
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Switzerland
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2001 Finland

Records

Mask history

Personal life

On July 2, 2011, Kari married longtime girlfriend Abbe Schutter in a private ceremony at the Club at Hammock Beach in Palm Coast, Florida. Kari met Abbe while playing in Atlanta. [13]

Lehtonen's childhood idol was iconic Finnish goaltender Jarmo Myllys. [14]

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References

  1. ↑ "Goalie Lehtonen returns to Thrashers after missing 16 games with groin injury". NHL.com. December 1, 2007. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Stars make future plans clear, sign Kari Lehtonen to $10.65 million extension". Dallas Morning News. 2010-05-11. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  3. ↑ Pinchevsky, Tal (2016-04-11). "Frequent Victories Can Make Room for Two Goalies". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  4. ↑ "Blues cruise by Stars in Game 7". NHL.com. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  5. ↑ Compton, Brian (13 December 2017). "Stars score five against Islanders to give Lehtonen 300th win". NHL.com. New York: NHL. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  6. ↑ "Player Statistics by Team" (PDF). IIHF . Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Thrashers recall Lehtonen". NHL.com. 2010-02-07. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  8. ↑ Supersize me [ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ Waiting For Stanley: Kari Lehtonen's mask
  10. ↑ Lehtonen starts again, groin willing
  11. ↑ "Dallas Stars goalie doesn't wear his Chuck Norris mask, it wears him". Yahoo! Sports . 2012-01-02. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
  12. ↑ Hutchison, David (January 16, 2011). "KARI LEHTONEN'S NEW TOMBSTONE MASK". ingoalmag.com. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Wedding Announcement". St. Augustine Record. 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2011-07-13. Kari and Abbe welcomed their first child, a son, in September 2012.
  14. ↑ Grand Rapids Griffins: E-Griffiti
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Winner of the Urpo Ylönen trophy
2001–02 & 2002–03		Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Jari Kurri trophy
2001–02		Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Kalen Kannu
2001–02		Succeeded by
Preceded by Atlanta Thrashers first round draft pick
2002 		Succeeded by
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