Mikko Viitanen

Mikko Viitanen
Date of birth	February 18, 1982
place of birth	Nurmijärvi , Finland
size	191 cm
Weight	100 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	2001 , 5th lap, 149th position Colorado Avalanche
Career stations
until 1999	HPK Hämeenlinna
1999-2000	Chicago Freeze
2000-2001	Ahmat Hyvinkää
2001-2003	Espoo Blues
2003-2005	Hershey Bears Reading Royals
2005-2006	Lowell Lock Monsters
2006-2008	Lukko Rauma
2008-2015	JYP Jyväskylä
2015-2016	Ässät Pori

Mikko Viitanen (born February 18, 1982 in Nurmijärvi ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player who was active at JYP Jyväskylä , Ässät Pori , Lukko Rauma and the Espoo Blues in the SM-liiga .

Career

Mikko Viitanen began his career as an ice hockey player in the youth department of HPK Hämeenlinna , where he was active until 1999. The defender then spent a year with the Chicago Freeze in the North American Junior League North American Hockey League . In the 2000/01 season he made his professional ice hockey debut for Ahmat Hyvinkää from the Mestis , the second Finnish division. There he was able to convince, whereupon he was selected in the NHL Entry Draft 2001 in the fifth round as a total of 149th player by the Colorado Avalanche , for which he however never played. Instead he was under contract from 2001 to 2003 with the Espoo Blues from the SM-liiga . During this period, however, he only completed four games in the SM-liiga, while he continued to be mainly used in the second-rate Mestis, in which he played for Mikkelin Jukurit and TuusKi .

From 2003 to 2005 Viitanen played parallel for the Hershey Bears from the American Hockey League and the Reading Royals from the ECHL . The 2005/06 season also, however, he spent in the AHL, this time with the Lowell Lock Monsters . After his return from North America, the left-shooter was able to gain a foothold in the SM-liiga and played there for two and a half years for Lukko Rauma before moving to JYP Jyväskylä within the league during the 2008/09 season. With JYP he won the Finnish championship title straight away in 2009 . He was able to repeat this success with his team in the 2011/12 season .

International

For Finland Viitanen took part in the U20 World Junior Championship in 2002 , where he won the bronze medal with his team. In the senior sector he was in his country's squad for the Euro Hockey Tour in 2007 .

Achievements and Awards

• 2002 bronze medal at the U20 World Junior Championship
• 2009 Finnish champion with JYP Jyväskylä
• 2012 Finnish champion with JYP Jyväskylä

SM liiga statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Main round	8th	261	14th	35	49	233
Playoffs	5	53	7th	7th	14th	57

(Status: end of the 2011/12 season)

Web links

• Mikko Viitanen at eliteprospects.com (English)
• Mikko Viitanen at eurohockey.com