| Ville Viitaluoma | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born | February 16, 1981 Espoo, Finland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| SM-liiga team Former teams | Vaasan Sport HPK | ||
| National team |  | ||
| NHL Draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 2000–present | ||
Ville Viitaluoma (born February 16, 1981) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who currently plays for Vaasan Sport of the SM-liiga. [1]
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference, and are one of the Original Six teams of the league. Founded in 1926, the team was known as the Detroit Cougars until 1930. For the 1930–31 and 1931–32 seasons the team was called the Detroit Falcons, and in 1932 changed their name to the Red Wings.
Ice hockey is a contact team sport played on ice, usually in a rink, in which two teams of skaters use their sticks to shoot a vulcanized rubber puck into their opponent's net to score goals. The sport is known to be fast-paced and physical, with teams usually fielding six players at a time: one goaltender, and five players who skate the span of the ice trying to control the puck and score goals against the opposing team.
The National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in North America, currently comprising 31 teams: 24 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.
Wayne Douglas Gretzky is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "The Great One", he has been called the greatest hockey player ever by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself. Gretzky is the leading scorer in NHL history, with more goals and assists than any other player. He garnered more assists than any other player scored total points, and is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season – a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records.
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The club's official name is le Club de hockey Canadien. The team is frequently referred to in English and French as the Habs. French nicknames for the team include Les Canadiens, Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, La Sainte-Flanelle, Le Tricolore, Les Glorieux, Le CH, Le Grand Club and Les Habitants.
The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff winner. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) considers it to be one of the "most important championships available to the sport". The trophy was commissioned in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup and is named after Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, who donated it as an award to Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. The entire Stanley family supported the sport, the sons and daughters all playing and promoting the game. The first Cup was awarded in 1893 to Montreal Hockey Club, and winners from 1893 to 1914 were determined by challenge games and league play. Professional teams first became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906. In 1915, the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), the two main professional ice hockey organizations, reached a gentlemen's agreement in which their respective champions would face each other annually for the Stanley Cup. It was established as the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926 and then the de jure NHL championship prize in 1947.
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.
Stephen Gregory Yzerman is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player who spent his entire National Hockey League (NHL) playing career with the Detroit Red Wings and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. After his retirement as a player, he served in the front office of the Red Wings, and then as general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning, while also being executive director for Team Canada in two Olympics. He currently serves as the executive vice president and general manager of the Red Wings.
The Canadian Hockey League is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three member leagues, the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. For the 2019–20 season, its three leagues and 60 teams represent nine Canadian provinces as well as four American states.
The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference.
The NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship refers to either of the two championships in men's ice hockey – one in Division I and one in Division III – contested by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) since 1971. The NCAA Division II Men's Ice Hockey Championship, contested from 1978 to 1984 and from 1993 to 1999, was discontinued due to a lack of Division II conferences sponsoring ice hockey.
Overtime is a method of determining a winner in an ice hockey game when the score is tied after regulation. The main methods of determining a winner in a tied game are the overtime period, the shootout, or a combination of both. If league rules dictate a finite time in which overtime may be played, with no penalty shoot-out to follow, the game's winning team may or may not be necessarily determined.
The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 teams located in the Midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictly amateur, allowing former players to compete in NCAA college hockey.
The Russian men's national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of Russia, overseen by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. As of 2020, they are rated second in the IIHF World Ranking. The team has been competing internationally since 1992, and is recognized by the IIHF as the successor to the Soviet Union team and CIS team. The Russian team is a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden and the United States. The European nations of the Big Six participate in the Euro Hockey Tour, which Russia won seven times since 2005. Since April 2018, the head coach is Ilya Vorobiev, taking over for the second half of the 2017–18 Euro Hockey Tour.
Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur and operate within regions of each country.
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Belarus (1), China (1), Finland (1), Latvia (1), Kazakhstan (1), and Russia (18) for a total of 23. It is widely considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in Europe and Asia, and second in the world behind the National Hockey League. The KHL has the third-highest average attendance in Europe with 6,121 spectators per game in the regular season, and the highest total attendance in Europe with 5.32 million spectators in the regular season.
Underwater hockey has been played in Australia since 1966 and is played in most states and territories. As of September 2013, Australia has been very successful at the international level finishing in the top three 43 times including being the world champion in various divisions 23 times out of 53 appearances at 17 international events.
The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey expansion team based in Seattle, Washington. The Kraken will compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, beginning with the league's 2021–22 season. The team is owned by Seattle Hockey Partners, consisting of David Bonderman, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Tod Leiweke.
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