Sami Helenius

Sami Helenius
Date of birth	22nd January 1974
place of birth	Hyvinkää , Finland
size	196 cm
Weight	105 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1992 , 5th lap, 102nd position Calgary Flames
Career stations
until 1993	Jokerit Helsinki
1993-1994	Reipas Lahti
1994-1998	Saint John Flames
1998-1999	Las Vegas Thunder
1999	Tampa Bay Lightning
1999-2000	Colorado Avalanche
2000-2003	Dallas Stars
2003	Chicago Blackhawks
2003-2004	Jokerit Helsinki
2004-2005	Ilves Tampere
2005-2007	Pelicans Lahti
2007-2009	Jokerit Helsinki
2009-2010	Pelicans Lahti

Sami Helenius (born January 22, 1974 in Hyvinkää ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player and current coach who has been the head coach of Järvenpään Haukat in Suomi-sarja since January 2017 .

Career

Sami Helenius began his career as a hockey player in the youth department of Jokerit Helsinki , for whose professional team he made his debut in the SM-liiga in the 1992/93 season . At the same time, he was used this season for the Vantaa HT in the then second-class I divisioona. In the 1992 NHL Entry Draft , the defender was selected by the Calgary Flames as the 102nd player in the fifth round , but initially remained in the SM-liiga in the 1993/94 season , but switched to Reipas Lahti within the league . From 1994 to 1998 he played for Calgary's farm team , the Saint John Flames , in the American Hockey League . Only during the 1996/97 season he came to three missions for the Calgary Flames in the National Hockey League , for which he was an assist. From 1998 to 2000, the Finn changed clubs several times within North America and played for the Las Vegas Thunder and Chicago Wolves in the International Hockey League , the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League, and the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League .

On July 12, 2000 Helenius signed a contract as a free agent with the Dallas Stars , where he was able to fight for a regular place in their NHL team. On March 10, 2003, shortly before the end of the trade deadline , the Finn was given up to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Lyle Odelein along with a seven-round vote for the 2004 NHL Entry Draft . For the team from Illinois he stood by the end of the 2002/03 season in ten games on the ice, in which he gave one assist. The following season he returned to Finland to his home club Jokerit Helsinki, where he was team captain that year. In the following six years he had a regular place at Ilves Tampere and his two former clubs Jokerit Helsinki and Pelicans Lahti in the Finnish top division. In the 2010/11 season, the former Finnish national player was player-coach at HC Keski-Uusimaa from the third-class Suomi-sarja ., But was limited to coaching.

In the following years he looked after various teams in the youth field, including the Estonian U18 and U20 national team. Since January 2017 he has been the head coach of Järvenpään Haukat in Suomi-sarja .

International

For Finland , Helenius took part in the junior division at the 1992 European Junior Championships and the 1993 Junior World Championships . In the senior sector, he was in his country's squad at the 2003 World Cup and the 2004 and 2007 Euro Hockey Tour .

Achievements and Awards

• 1997 AHL All-Star Classic
• 2003 Spengler Cup All-Star Team

statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
NHL Regular Season	6th	155	2	4th	6th	260
NHL playoffs	1	1	0	0	0	0
AHL regular season	7th	296	8th	21st	29	925
AHL playoffs	4th	26th	0	0	0	65
SM liiga main round	9	394	5	15th	20th	1052
SM liiga playoffs	4th	28	0	2	2	37
SM liiga relegation	1	6th	0	0	0	16

(Status: end of the 2009/10 season)

Web links

• Sami Helenius at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Sami Helenius at eliteprospects.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ HS: Entinen NHL-tappelija valmentajaksi Keravalle. In: iltalehti.fi. Retrieved August 17, 2018 (Finnish). 
2. ↑ Haukkojen uusi päävalmentaja on Järvenpääläinen Sami Helenius - Jääurheiluseura Hawks ry. In: haukat.fi. January 5, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2018 .