Ville Koistinen

Ville Koistinen
Born	(1982-06-17) June 17, 1982 (age 43) Oulu, Finland
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Played for	Ilves Tampere Nashville Predators Florida Panthers Skellefteå AIK Salavat Yulaev Ufa HC Davos SCL Tigers ERC Ingolstadt HC Sparta Praha HPK Kittilän Palloseura
National team	Finland
NHL draft	Undrafted
Playing career	2000–2021

Ville Koistinen (born July 17, 1982) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Nashville Predators and Florida Panthers.

Playing career

Undrafted, Koistinen played professionally in his native Finland with Ilves Tampere of the SM-liiga for 6 seasons. On May 18, 2006, Koistinen signed with the Nashville Predators of the NHL. ^[1] Koistinen made his North American debut in the 2006–07 season, playing with the Predators affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. He was chosen to AHL-All Star Classic that year scoring 9 goals and 41 points in 59 games.

Koistinen signed a 1-year contract with Predators for the 2007–08 . Koistinen scored his first NHL goal against Fredrik Norrena of the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 4-3 victory on December 27, 2007. ^[2] Koistinen established 17 points by season end.

After his second season with the Predators in 2008–09, Koistinen signed a two-year contract with the Florida Panthers on July 1, 2009. ^[3]

On November 25, the Florida Panthers placed Koistinen on waivers. ^[4] Koistinen cleared waivers on November 26 and was sent to Florida's AHL affiliate in Rochester, New York. ^[5]

His contract was bought out in the summer, leaving Koistinen as a free agent. He signed a 1-year contract back to Europe and to Swedish Elitserien club, Skellefteå AIK. Club placed second overall by losing Elitserien finals to Färjestads BK.

In the 2011–12 season Koistinen signed one of the biggest contracts so far in Finnish elite league SM-liiga by signing a 7-year deal with Ilves Tampere. During the regular season after 28 games scoring 7 goals and 17 points, KHL team Salavat Yulajev Ufa signed Koistinen to a 2-year deal. His contract with Ilves Tampere continues after the 2-year KHL contract.

In 2013 Koistinen elected to sign a one-year contract with HC Davos of the National League A. In 2014 Koistinen chose to revoke his contract with Ilves Tampere and signed a 3-year extension with HC Davos until 2017. After two seasons with Davos, Koistinen opted to leave the club and sign a one-year deal with fellow Swiss club, the SCL Tigers on May 19, 2015. ^[6] He eventually played for SCL until the end of 2017. On January 2, 2018, he moved to ERC Ingolstadt of the German DEL. ^[7]

After 20 professional seasons, and enduring multiple injuries, Koistinen announced his retirement on 3 April 2021. ^[8]

International play

Medal record
Representing   Finland
Ice hockey
World Championships
	2007 Moscow
	2008 Quebec

Koistinen participated World Ice Hockey Championships 2007, 2008 and 2009 and helped Team Finland to a silver medal in 2007 and bronze medal in 2008.

Personal

In June 2018, Koistinen was convicted of domestic abuse in Finland after he was found guilty of hitting, kicking, and strangling his wife, the couple had been married since 2007 and have two children. It was also revealed that his sudden departure from SCL Tigers six months earlier was due to an extramarital affair with a young woman working for the club. ^[9]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2000–01	Ilves Tampere	SM-l		6	0	0	0	0		5	0	1	1	0
2001–02	Ilves Tampere	SM-l		53	1	8	9	42		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Ilves Tampere	SM-l		18	4	1	5	8		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Ilves Tampere	SM-l		54	7	16	23	51		7	0	2	2	0
2004–05	Ilves Tampere	SM-l		52	6	14	20	69		3	0	0	0	0
2005–06	Ilves Tampere	SM-l		56	8	26	34	70		4	0	1	1	2
2006–07	Milwaukee Admirals	AHL		59	9	32	41	44		4	0	2	2	4
2007–08	Nashville Predators	NHL		48	4	13	17	18		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Nashville Predators	NHL		38	3	8	11	14		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Florida Panthers	NHL		17	1	3	4	8		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Rochester Americans	AHL		8	1	1	2	4		—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Skellefteå AIK	SEL		31	4	8	12	28		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Ilves Tampere	SM-l		28	7	10	17	18		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Salavat Yulaev Ufa	KHL		3	0	0	0	2		2	0	0	0	2
2012–13	Ilves Tampere	SM-l		49	7	7	14	38		—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	HC Davos	NLA		43	8	10	18	34		6	0	3	3	2
2014–15	HC Davos	NLA		40	5	13	18	34		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	SCL Tigers	NLA		46	6	18	24	78		—	—	—	—	—
2016–17	SCL Tigers	NLA		46	6	23	29	46		—	—	—	—	—
2017–18	SCL Tigers	NL		30	7	11	18	35		—	—	—	—	—
2017–18	ERC Ingolstadt	DEL		15	3	13	16	2		5	2	4	6	6
2018–19	ERC Ingolstadt	DEL		49	7	17	24	56		6	0	5	5	14
2019–20	ERC Ingolstadt	DEL		23	3	7	10	22		—	—	—	—	—
2019–20	HC Sparta Praha	ELH		7	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	HPK	Liiga		8	1	2	3	4		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				103	8	24	32	40		—	—	—	—	—

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2007	Finland	WC			2	0	0	0	2
2008	Finland	WC			9	1	1	2	4
2009	Finland	WC	5th		4	1	2	3	4
Senior totals					15	2	3	5	10

References

1. "Predators sign Fiddler, Koistinen". Nashville Predators. 2006-05-18. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
2. "Koistinen's impressive game leads Predators over Blue Jackets". CBS Sports . 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
3. "Koistinen inks two-year deal with Cats". Florida Panthers. 2009-07-01. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
4. "Koistinen waived". Sun-Sentinel. 2009-11-25. Archived from the original on 2009-11-29. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
5. "Florida Panthers' Ville Koistinen sent to Rochester for more playing time". Miami Herald. 2009-11-28.
6. "Ville Koistinen changes to SCL Tigers" (in German). SCL Tigers. 2015-05-19. Archived from the original on 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
7. "ERC VERPFLICHTET KOISTINEN". erc-ingolstadt.de. 2018-01-02. Archived from the original on 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2017-01-02.
8. "Ville Koistinen ends his hockey career" (in Finnish). MTVuutiset.fi. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
9. "Jääkiekkoilija Ville Koistinen sai tuomion kahdesta pahoinpitelystä". aamulehti.fi. 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2019-11-15.

External links

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