Risto Jalo

Risto Jalo
Date of birth	July 18, 1962
place of birth	Humppila , Finland
size	180 cm
Weight	80 kg
position	center
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1981 , 7th round, 131st position Washington Capitals
Career stations
1979-1980	Koo-Vee
1980-1990	Ilves Tampere
1986	Edmonton Oilers
1990-1991	IK Vita Hästen
1991-1992	Ilves Tampere
1992-1993	HC Fassa
1993-1994	Ilves Tampere
1994-1998	HPK Hämeenlinna

Risto Jalo (born July 18, 1962 in Humppila ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player and official who played for the Edmonton Oilers in the National Hockey League from 1979 to 1998 .

Career

Risto Jalo began his career as a hockey player in the youth department of Koo-Vee , for whose professional team he made his debut in the SM-liiga in the 1979/80 season . He then moved to his league rival Ilves Tampere , for whom he was on the ice for the next ten years and with whom he was Finnish champion in the 1984/85 season . In the previous year he was also elected to the All-Star Team of the SM-liiga and played five games for the Finnish Olympic team, which took part as a visiting team in the SM-liiga.

During his time with Ilves, the Washington Capitals selected him in the NHL Entry Draft 1981 in the seventh round as a total of 181 players, but he was never used for the team. Instead, the Capitals transferred the rights to the player on March 6, 1984 to their league rivals Edmonton Oilers . For the Oilers he played at the beginning of the 1985/86 season on a trial contract three games in the National Hockey League , in which he prepared three goals. Nevertheless, he returned to Ilves Tampere and was runner-up with the Finns in the 1989/90 season.

Jalo spent the 1990/91 season at the Swedish second division club IK Vita Hästen before returning to Ilves Tampere for the following season . After a year with HC Fassa in the Italian Serie A1 , the 1984 Olympic participant played for his home club Ilves Tampere for the last time in the 1993/94 season . From 1994 to the end of his career in 1998 at the age of 35, the former national player was under contract with HPK Hämeenlinna in the SM-liiga and was team captain during the entire period. Because of his services to Finnish ice hockey, he was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004 as the 138th player . From 1999 to 2004 Jalo was General Manager at his longtime former club Ilves Tampere.

International

For Finland , Jalo took part in the junior division at the U18 European Junior Championships in 1980 and the U20 World Junior Championships in 1981 and 1982 . At the two U20 World Championships, he and his team won a silver and a bronze medal. In the senior sector he was in his country's squad at the World Championships in 1983 , 1985 , 1987 and 1990 , as well as at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo .

Achievements and Awards

• 1984 SM-liiga All-Star Team
• 1985 Finnish champion with Ilves Tampere
• 1990 Finnish runner-up with Ilves Tampere
• 2004 induction into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame

International

• 1981 silver medal at the Junior World Championship
• 1982 bronze medal at the Junior World Championship

statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
NHL Regular Season	1	3	0	3	3	0
NHL playoffs	-	-	-	-	-	-
SM liiga main round	17th	594	237	410	647	421
SM liiga playoffs	10	50	13	29	42	35
SM liiga relegation	1	6th	4th	3	7th	2

Web links

• Risto Jalo at hockeydb.com (English)
• Risto Jalo at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Risto Jalo at eliteprospects.com (English)