Tony Salmelainen

Tony Salmelainen
Tony Salmelainen
	Salmelainen with the Edmonton Road Runners in 2004
Born	August 8, 1981 (age 41); Espoo, Finland
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Winger
Shot	Right
Liiga team; Former teams	HIFK ; Ilves ; Edmonton Oilers ; Chicago Blackhawks ; Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ; Genève-Servette HC
National team	Finland
NHL Draft	41st overall, 1999 ; Edmonton Oilers
Playing career	2000–2013

Last updated June 05, 2023

Tony Salmelainen (born August 8, 1981) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He last played for HIFK of the Finnish Liiga in 2013. He was originally drafted by the Edmonton Oilers as their second-round pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. His father Tommi Salmelainen was the first European ever to be drafted by an NHL team.

Playing career

Salmelainen started his ice hockey career as a junior player in the Blues organisation, and moved to HIFK for his SM-liiga debut in the 1999-2000 season. In an eventful debut, Salmelainen scored his first goal in his very first shift, and was injured later in the game. He played 19 games for HIFK next season, and transferred to Ilves to get more ice time.

After two seasons with Ilves, Salmelainen moved to North America, where he spent three years with the Edmonton Oilers organization, playing in 13 NHL games in the 2003–04 NHL season.

When the NHL resumed play in 2005, Salmelainen returned to HIFK. He played an excellent season, including setting a personal record by scoring a five-goal, six-point night against the Pelicans in a home game on October 10, and culminating in being chosen best player of the regular season after leading the league in points and goals.

Salmelainen also made headlines during the 2005–06 season when he was sent off during a game against HPK, and threw a trashcan down the corridor to the dressing rooms in anger. After narrowly missing goaltender Jan Lundell, the trashcan accidentally hit his team's bus driver, who was injured in the face. Salmelainen was interrogated by the police and received a two-game suspension.

Salmelainen's NHL player rights were traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Chicago Blackhawks for defenseman Jaroslav Špaček on January 26, 2006. In the summer of 2006, he signed a new contract with the Blackhawks. On June 16, 2007, he was traded, with Jassen Cullimore, to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange of Sergei Samsonov.

On August 31, 2007, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Salmelainen to a one-year, two-way contract. On October 23, 2007, Salmelainen was suspended by the Maple Leafs for failing to comply with the terms of his contract after he had signed to play for Yaroslavl Lokomotiv of the Russian Super League for almost $1.5-million (U.S.).^[1]

After one season with Yaroslavl, Salmelainen moved to the Swiss National League A with Genève-Servette HC, where he played five seasons.

On July 29, 2013, Salmelainen returned to his first professional club, in signing a one-year contract with HIFK of his native Finland.^[2] However, he was soon forced to end his career due to a neck injury.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1997–98	Kiekko–Espoo	FIN U18	5	2	2	4	10	—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	HIFK	FIN U18	28	23	16	39	30	—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	HIFK	FIN U20	5	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	HIFK	FIN U20	21	13	10	23	45	—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	HIFK	FIN U20	1	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	HIFK	SM-l	1	1	0	1	0	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	HIFK	SM-l	19	1	0	1	2	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Ilves	FIN U20	6	4	5	9	2	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Ilves	SM-l	26	3	10	13	2	3	0	0	0	0
2001–02	Ilves	SM-l	49	10	9	19	30	3	0	0	0	2
2002–03	Hamilton Bulldogs	AHL	67	14	19	33	14	17	6	8	14	0
2003–04	Toronto Roadrunners	AHL	58	19	25	44	27	3	0	1	1	0
2003–04	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	13	0	1	1	4	—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Edmonton Road Runners	AHL	76	22	24	46	26	—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	HIFK	SM-l	53	27	28	55	63	12	4	2	6	36
2006–07	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	57	6	11	17	26	—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Toronto Marlies	AHL	2	2	0	2	0	—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	RSL	29	3	4	7	2	16	0	0	0	6
2008–09	Genève–Servette HC	NLA	29	16	12	28	28	4	1	2	3	2
2008–09	Lausanne HC	SUI.2	1	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Genève–Servette HC	NLA	50	25	28	53	14	18	10	12	22	33
2009–10	Lausanne HC	SUI.2	—	—	—	—	—	1	2	0	2	0
2010–11	Genève–Servette HC	NLA	43	10	11	21	34	6	1	4	5	4
2011–12	Genève–Servette HC	NLA	30	9	14	23	6	—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Genève–Servette HC	NLA	7	1	3	4	4	7	2	0	2	10
2012–13	Lausanne HC	SUI.2	1	1	1	2	0	—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	HIFK	Liiga	7	3	2	5	2	—	—	—	—	—
SM-l/Liiga totals			155	45	49	94	99	18	4	2	6	38
AHL totals			203	57	68	125	67	20	6	9	15	0
NHL totals			70	6	12	18	30	—	—	—	—	—

International

Year	Team	Event	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1998	Finland	EJC	6	1	1	2	0
1999	Finland	WJC18	6	1	2	3	8
2001	Finland	WJC	7	3	2	5	6
Junior totals			19	5	5	10	14

Awards

Lasse Oksanen trophy for best player during the regular season - 2006
Aarne Honkavaara trophy for best goal scorer during the regular season - 2006
Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy for most points scored during the regular season - 2006

Related Research Articles

Jari Pekka Kurri is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. Beginning in 1980, he played right wing for five National Hockey League (NHL) teams: the Edmonton Oilers, the Los Angeles Kings, the New York Rangers, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, and the Colorado Avalanche. Kurri played 17 seasons in the NHL and was the first Finnish player to be enshrined into the Hockey Hall of Fame, in 2001. He was a member of a Stanley Cup–winning team five times, all with the Oilers. He is perhaps best remembered as Wayne Gretzky's foil. In 2017, Kurri was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.

Esa Tikkanen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, and the Washington Capitals, and won the Stanley Cup five times in his career, including in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 with the Oilers, and 1994 with the Rangers.

Peter White is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks.

Ville Sakari Peltonen is a Finnish ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey forward.

Niklas Hagman is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward. He was a third round pick of the Florida Panthers, 70th overall, at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft and made his National Hockey League (NHL) debut with Florida in 2001. He has also played for the Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks in the NHL, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL, HIFK, Espoo Blues and Kärpät in the SM-liiga and HC Davos in the Swiss National League A.

Roman Vopat is a Czech former professional ice hockey player. He played four seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks, and Philadelphia Flyers. He is the younger brother of former NHL defenceman, Jan Vopat.

Patrick O'Sullivan is a Canadian-born American former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes, Minnesota Wild and Phoenix Coyotes.

Marko Anttila is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward for Oulun Kärpät in the Finnish Liiga. Anttila was selected by Chicago Blackhawks in the 9th round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. His nickname among his teammates is "Stretch", which was given to him by Steve Kariya due to his large physical stature, but among the Finnish fans, he is more commonly known as "Mörkö".

Johan Motin is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman. He is currently playing with HIFK of the Finnish Liiga. Motin was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the 4th round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, and played one game with them during the 2009–10 season.

Juuso Riksman is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender.

Petri Kontiola is a Finnish professional ice hockey centre currently playing for Ilves of the Liiga. Kontiola has previously played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Chicago Blackhawks, the organization that drafted him 196th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Lennart Petrell is a Finnish professional ice hockey player, currently playing for HIFK of the Finnish Liiga.

Yohann Auvitu is a French professional ice hockey defenceman for Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL).

Kari Markus Granlund is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward, who is currently playing with HC Lugano of the National League (NL). After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he elected to leave the KHL team Salavat Yulaev Ufa. He is a second-round selection of the Calgary Flames, taken 45th overall at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Granlund played two seasons in the SM-liiga for HIFK before moving to North America to join the Flames organization in 2013. His older brother Mikael plays in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Iiro Pakarinen is a Finnish professional ice hockey player for HIFK of Liiga. Pakarinen previously played in Liiga with KalPa, and has also played in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Jokerit, Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Barys Nur-Sultan, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Edmonton Oilers.

Antti Raanta is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Raanta was initially signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as an undrafted player. He has also played for the New York Rangers and the Arizona Coyotes.

Roope Hintz, nicknamed the "Ace of Spades", is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Otto Koivula is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward for the Bridgeport Islanders of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Kevin Lankinen is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Antti Saarela is a Finnish professional ice hockey winger currently playing under contract as a prospect for the Chicago Blackhawks in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 123rd overall by the Blackhawks in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

References

↑ globesports.com: Salmelainen heads to Russia
↑ "Salmelainen to return to HIFK" (in Finnish). HIFK. July 29, 2013. Archived from the original on August 5, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.

External links

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

Preceded by Tim Thomas	Winner of the Lasse Oksanen trophy 2005–06	Succeeded by Cory Murphy
Preceded by Steve Kariya	Winner of the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy 2005–06	Succeeded by Martin Kariya
Preceded by Pasi Saarela	Winner of the Aarne Honkavaara trophy 2005–06	Succeeded by Jani Rita

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] sports.com: Salmelainen heads to Russia

[2] "Salmelainen to return to HIFK" (in Finnish). HIFK. July 29, 2013. Archived from the original on August 5, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.

[1]

[2]

Tony Salmelainen
Salmelainen with the Edmonton Road Runners in 2004
Born	(1981-08-08) August 8, 1981 (age 41) Espoo, Finland
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Winger
Shot	Right
Liiga team Former teams	HIFK Ilves Edmonton Oilers Chicago Blackhawks Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Genève-Servette HC
National team	Finland
NHL Draft	41st overall, 1999 Edmonton Oilers
Playing career	2000–2013