Jyrki Välivaara

Jyrki Välivaara
Date of birth	May 30, 1976
place of birth	Jyväskylä , Finland
size	188 cm
Weight	92 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
1997-2001	JYP Jyväskylä
2001-2003	Tappara Tampere
2003-2006	Linköpings HC
2006-2008	Malmo Redhawks
2008-2011	JYP Jyväskylä
2011–2012	Metallurg Novokuznetsk
2012-2014	JYP Jyväskylä

Jyrki Välivaara (born May 30, 1976 in Jyväskylä ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player who was active in the course of his career at JYP Jyväskylä and Tappara Tampere in the Liiga as well as the Linköpings HC and the Malmö Redhawks in the Svenska Hockeyligan . In July 2014, he retired due to an injury.

Career

Jyrki Välivaara began his career as a hockey player in his hometown in the youth department of JYP Jyväskylä , for whose professional team he made his debut in the SM-liiga in the 1997/98 season . After four years at JYP, the defender moved within the league to Tappara Tampere , with whom he was first runner-up and Finnish champion for the first time in the 2002/03 season . From 2003 to 2006 he played for Linköpings HC in the Swedish Elitserien . At the beginning of the 2006/07 season he accepted an offer from league rivals Malmö Redhawks , with whom he was relegated to the second-rate HockeyAllsvenskan at the end of the season. In this he stayed for a year, but left the south of Sweden after missing the promotion and joined his hometown club JYP Jyväskylä. With JYP he won the Finnish championship in the first season after his return in the 2008-09 season .

After his best point season in the SM-liiga and winning the world title with Finland, Välivaara was committed to the 2011/12 season by Metallurg Novokuznetsk from the Continental Hockey League . After a year in the KHL, he returned to JYP.

International

For Finland , Välivaara took part in the Euro Hockey Tour in 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011 . He was also in his country's squad at the 2011 World Cup in Slovakia , where he and his team became world champions.

Achievements and Awards

• 2002 Finnish runner-up with Tappara Tampere
• 2003 Finnish champion with Tappara Tampere
• 2009 Finnish champion with JYP Jyväskylä

International

• 2011 gold medal at the world championship

statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Elitserien main round	4th	179	12	48	60	156
Elitserien Playoffs	3	23	0	1	1	47
SM liiga main round	11	520	58	103	161	314
SM liiga playoffs	7th	66	5	15th	20th	40

(Status: end of the 2013/14 season)

Web links

• Jyrki Välivaara at hockeydb.com (English)
• Jyrki Välivaara at eliteprospects.com (English)