Raimo Helminen

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FinlandFinland  Raimo Helminen Ice hockey player
IIHF Hall of Fame , 2012
Raimo Helminen
Date of birth March 11, 1964
place of birth Tampere , Finland
Nickname Maestro, Raipe
size 183 cm
Weight 88 kg
position center
Shot hand Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 1984 , 2nd lap, 35th position
New York Rangers
Career stations
1981-1985 Ilves Tampere
1985-1987 New York Rangers
1987-1988 Ilves Tampere
1988-1989 New York Islanders
1989-1996 Malmo Redhawks
1996-2008 Ilves Tampere

Raimo Ilmari Helminen (born March 11, 1964 , Tampere , Finland ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player . Between 1982 and 2008 he played 713 games in the SM-liiga , 226 in the Elitserien and 117 in the National Hockey League . His home club was Ilves Tampere . He has been working as a trainer since he retired and has been an assistant trainer at Jokerit Helsinki since 2016 .

Career

As a player

Raimo Helminen began his career as a hockey player in his hometown in the youth of Ilves Tampere , for whose professional team he made his debut in the SM-liiga in the 1982/83 season , taking third place with the team in his rookie year . The attacker, who was also active in the following three years for Ilves, was selected in the NHL Entry Draft 1984 in the second round as a total of 35 players by the New York Rangers . A year later he was the first Finnish champion with Tampere .

After winning the title in 1985, he moved to the Rangers in the National Hockey League , for which he was on the ice until 1987, before he was given on March 10, 1987 to the Minnesota North Stars . In the jersey of the North stars, he played only six games in the 1986/87 season as well as for the New Haven Nighthawks from the American Hockey League .

He then returned to his Finnish homeland, where he played for his ex-club Ilves Tampere in the 1987/88 season. After the left shooter had signed a contract with the New York Islanders as a free agent on June 1, 1988 , he played in the following season for the Islanders in the NHL, as well as for their AHL farm team , the Springfield Indians . In the summer of 1989 Helminen moved to the second Swedish division to Malmö IF , with whom he was promoted to the Elitserien and he won the Swedish championship in 1992 and 1994 respectively . After seven years in Sweden, the Finn left Malmö in 1996 and returned for the third and last time to Ilves Tampere, for whom he played until the end of his career in 2002, with the center again being runner-up in 1998 and third with the team in 2001.

International

For Finland , Helminen took part in the U20 Junior World Championships in 1983 and 1984 , as well as the World Championships in 1985 , 1990 , 1994 , 1995 , 1996 , 1997 , 1998 , 1999 , 2000 , 2001 and 2002 . He was also in Finland's squad at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo , 1988 in Calgary , 1992 in Albertville , 1994 in Lillehammer , 1998 in Nagano and 2002 in Salt Lake City , as well as at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey .

In 2010 his jersey number 14 was banned from the national team by the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation.

As a trainer

During the 2009/10 season Helminen was assistant coach at Ilves Tampere and was employed there until the middle of the 2012/13 season, most recently as head coach.

In the 2013/14 season Heliminen was under contract as assistant coach to Ari-Pekka Selin at Barys Astana from the Continental Hockey League . He also looked after the Kazakh national team in the same position.

Achievements and Awards

International

Records

NHL statistics

Seasons Games Gates Assists Points Penalty minutes
Regular season 3 117 13 46 59 16
Playoffs 1 2 0 0 0 0

Web links