Ari Sulander

Ari Sulander
Date of birth	January 6, 1969
place of birth	Helsinki , Finland
Nickname	Sulo
size	187 cm
Weight	89 kg
position	goalkeeper
number	# 31
Catch hand	Left
Career stations
1986-1998	Jokerit Helsinki
1998-2012	ZSC Lions
2010	Pelicans Lahti

Ari Juhani "Sulo" Sulander (born January 6, 1969 in Helsinki ) is a former Finnish - Swiss ice hockey goalkeeper who was most recently under contract with the ZSC Lions from the Swiss National League A. His son Santtu is also a professional ice hockey player.

Career

Ari Sulander began his career in the youth team of Jokerit Helsinki , for which he played from 1986 in the top junior division in Finland. In the season 1989/90 he made his debut for Jokerit in the SM-liiga and established himself more and more as a regular goalkeeper of his team in the following years. With Jokerit he won four Finnish championship titles until 1998 (1992, 1994, 1996 and 1997) and twice the European Cup ( 1994 and 1995 ). During this time he played with some of the best ice hockey players in the SM-liiga, such as Otakar Janecký , Teemu Selänne , Waltteri Immonen and Jari Kurri .

After winning the bronze medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano moved Sulander to the ZSC Lions in the Swiss National League A . With the Lions he won four Swiss championship titles and the 2008/09 Champions Hockey League . Following the CHL, he competed with the Lions at the 2009 Victoria Cup against the Chicago Blackhawks . The Lions beat the Blackhawks 2-1 and became the first ever European team to win the title.

After the 2011/12 season, he ended his career and became a goalkeeping coach. His jersey number 31 was banned by the ZSC Lions after his career ended.

International

During his long international career, Ari Sulander was a member of the Finnish national team in a total of 117 games , including 68 games. He took part in seven world championships (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000) and the 1998 Winter Olympics. He won one gold, two silver and one bronze medal at world championships and an Olympic bronze medal.

Achievements and Awards

Finnish champion 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1997 Winner of the Jari Kurri Trophy 1993/94 Winner of the Urpo Ylönen Trophy 1995/96 All-Star Team of the 1995/96 season

Key player of the SM-liiga 1995/96, 1996/97 Best NLA goalkeeper in 1998/99, 1999/2000 Swiss champions 2000, 2001, 2008 and 2012 2013 admission to the Finnish Ice Hockey Hall of Fame

International

All-Star-Team of the Karjala Cup 1998/99 Winning the gold medal at the 1995 World Cup Won the European Cup in 1995 and 1996 Winning the silver medal at the 1998 World Cup, 1999

Won the bronze medal at the 2000 World Cup Winning the bronze medal at Olympia 98 Winner of the Champions Hockey League 2008/09 , election to the CHL MVP Won the Victoria Cup in 2009

Career statistics

season	team	league	GP	S.	N	U	Min	GA	SO	ATM	% Sv
1989-90	Jokerit Helsinki	SM-liiga	7th							4.47	86.5
1990-91	Jokerit Helsinki	SM-liiga	20th					78	0	4.46	84.2
1991-92	Jokerit Helsinki	SM-liiga	12	3	3	1	526	34	0	3.88	87.8
1992-93	Jokerit Helsinki	SM-liiga	16				849	35	0	2.47
1993-94	Jokerit Helsinki	SM-liiga	35				2034	89	0	2.62
1994-95	Jokerit Helsinki	SM-liiga	48				2970		0	2.34
1995-96	Jokerit Helsinki	SM-liiga	44				2667	80	5	1.80
1996-97	Jokerit Helsinki	SM-liiga	43							2.17	92.4
1997-98	Jokerit Helsinki	SM-liiga	33							2.50	92.6
1998-99	ZSC Lions	NLA	42							2.46	92.9
1999-00	ZSC Lions	NLA	45							2.20	93.3
2000-01	ZSC Lions	NLA	42				2560	96	3	2.25
2001-02	ZSC Lions	NLA	40							2.44	92.7
2002-03	ZSC Lions	NLA	44	25th	11	7th	2684	107	1	2.39
2003-04	ZSC Lions	NLA	44	21st	18th	5	2632	108	2	2.46
2003-04	GCK Lions	NLB	1	1	-	-	60	0	1	0.00	100
2004-05	ZSC Lions	NLA	43	23	17th	3	2584	113	1	2.62
2005-06	ZSC Lions	NLA	41	18th	21st	2	2408	120	1	2.99
2006-07	ZSC Lions	NLA	43	21st	22nd	0	2613	118	2	2.71
2006-07	GCK Lions	NLB	1
2007-08	ZSC Lions	NLA	49	27	22nd	0	2958	115	0	2.33
2007-08	GCK Lions	NLB	1							1.80
2008-09	ZSC Lions	NLA	27							3.20
2009-10	ZSC Lions	NLA	26th

( Legend for the goalkeeper statistics: GP or Sp = total games; W or S = wins; L or N = defeats; T or U or OT = draws or overtime or shootout defeats; min. = Minutes; SOG or SaT = shots on goal; GA or GT = goals conceded; SO = shutouts ; GAA or GTS = goals conceded ; Sv% or SVS% = catch quota ; EN = empty net goal ; ¹  play-downs / relegation ; italics : statistics not complete)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Sven Treichl: Ari Sulander. In: zscblog.ch. September 30, 2012, accessed October 10, 2017 . 

Web links

• Ari Sulander at hockeydb.com (English)
• Ari Sulander at eurohockey.com
• Ari Sulander at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Ari Sulander at hockeygoalies.org