Sami Lepistö

Sami Lepistö
Date of birth	17th October 1984
place of birth	Espoo , Finland
size	183 cm
Weight	80 kg
position	defender
number	# 42
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	2004 , 3rd round, 66th position Washington Capitals
Career stations
2003-2007	Jokerit Helsinki
2007-2009	Washington Capitals
2009-2011	Phoenix Coyotes
2011	Columbus Blue Jackets
2011–2012	Chicago Blackhawks
2012	Yaroslavl locomotive
2013	HC Lev Prague
2013-2015	Awtomobilist Ekaterinburg
2015-2017	Salawat Yulayev Ufa
since 2017	Jokerit Helsinki

Sami Lepistö (born October 17, 1984 in Espoo ) is a Finnish ice hockey defender who has been under contract with Jokerit Helsinki in the Continental Hockey League again since May 2017 . His father Jussi was also a professional ice hockey player.

Career

Sami Lepistö began his career as an ice hockey player in his Finnish homeland at Jokerit Helsinki. In the 2003/04 season , his first season in professional ice hockey, the defender scored seven points, including three goals, in the SM-liiga . He was then selected during the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals in the third round as the 66th player. Initially, the Finn played for three more years for Jokerit before he was included in the roster of Washington's farm team , the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League , for the 2007/08 season . In the same season Lepistö made his debut in the National Hockey League , in which he appeared seven times for the Capitals and scored an assist . In the 2008/09 season Lepistö played predominantly for the Hershey Bears in the AHL and won the Calder Cup with the team . On June 27, 2009, he was transferred to the Phoenix Coyotes for a five-round suffrage for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft .

On February 28, 2011, shortly before the trade deadline , the Coyotes and Scottie Upshall exchanged him for Rostislav Klesla and Dane Byers from the Columbus Blue Jackets . On July 15, 2011, Lepistö signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent .

In June 2012 Lepistö moved to Europe and signed a one-year contract with Lokomotive Yaroslavl from the Continental Hockey League . Shortly before the end of 2012, his contract with Lokomotive was terminated by mutual agreement. About two weeks later Lepistö was signed by HC Lev Prague . In the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons Lepistö was under contract with Awtomobilist Yekaterinburg and played over 120 KHL games for the club during this time. In May 2015 he was signed by Salawat Julajew Ufa for one year.

International

At the 2010 Winter Olympics , he represented the Finnish national team and won the bronze medal with the team. He also won the bronze medal with the Finnish national team at the 2014 Olympic Games. He also represented his home country at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey .

Achievements and Awards

• 2004 bronze medal at the U20 Junior World Championship
• 2004 All-Star-Team of the U20 Junior World Championship
• 2004 Best Defender of the U20 World Junior Championship
• 2008 bronze medal at the world championship
• 2009 Calder Cup win with the Hershey Bears
• 2010 bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games
• 2011 gold medal at the world championship
• 2014 bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games

statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
NHL Regular Season	5	176	6th	29	35	137
NHL playoffs	2	10	1	0	1	6th
KHL regular season	7th	378	45	137	182	315
KHL playoffs	7th	53	7th	22nd	29	40

Status: end of the 2018/19 season

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ sportingnews.com, Blue Jackets acquire Upshall, Lepisto