Jaakko Suomalainen

Jaakko Suomalainen
Date of birth	August 18, 1978
place of birth	Helsinki , Finland
size	181 cm
Weight	85 kg
position	goalkeeper
Catch hand	Left
Career stations
until 1997	Karhu-Kissat Helsinki
1997-1999	Jokerit Helsinki
1999-2000	Ahmat Hyvinkää
2000-2001	Kiekko-Vantaa
2001-2002	Karhu-Kissat Helsinki
2002-2003	Haukat Järvenpää
2003-2004	KooKoo Kouvola
2004-2005	Pelicans Lahti
2005-2006	Jukurit Mikkeli
2006-2008	Kärpät Oulu
2008	JYP Jyväskylä
2008-2010	Vaasan Sport
2010-2011	HK Jesenice
since 2011	Braehead clan

Jaakko Suomalainen (born August 18, 1978 in Helsinki ) is a Finnish ice hockey goalkeeper who has been under contract with Braehead Clan in the Elite Ice Hockey League since 2011 .

Career

Suomalainen was able to gain some experience in the Mestis . Particularly noteworthy is the 2005/06 season, in which he and his team, the Mikkelin Jukurit, won the Mestis championship. Suomalainen has also recorded seasons in the SM-Liiga. In 2004/05 he was used 14 times with the Pelicans Lahti . There he shared the goal alternately with Pasi Nurminen and Karri Rämö .

In the 2006/07 season Suomalainen took over the goalkeeper position at Oulun Kärpät in the Finnish SM-liiga together with Tuomas Tarkki and closed the gap that resulted after the departure of Niklas Bäckström and Pekka Rinne to North America.

In 2008 he worked for JYP Jyväskylä before he stood between the posts for Vaasan Sport for two seasons . For the 2010/11 season, the Finn signed a contract with HK Jesenice . Although he missed the playoffs with the club, he managed the rare feat of a goalkeeper goal: on December 30, 2010 he scored an empty net goal in a game against KHL Medveščak Zagreb shortly before the end . For the 2011/12 season he moved to Braehead Clan from the Elite Ice Hockey League .

Achievements and Awards

• 2007 Finnish champion with Kärpät Oulu

Web links

• Jaakko Suomalainen at hockeydb.com (English)
• Jaakko Suomalainen at eurohockey.com
• Jaakko Suomalainen at eliteprospects.com (English)