Simo Saarinen

Simo Saarinen
Date of birth	February 14, 1963
place of birth	Helsinki , Finland
size	178 cm
Weight	81 kg
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1982 , 10th lap, 193rd position New York Rangers
Career stations
1980-1984	HIFK Helsinki
1984-1985	New York Rangers
1985-1986	New Haven Nighthawks
1986-1996	HIFK Helsinki

Simo Olavi Saarinen (born February 14, 1963 in Helsinki ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player who played for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League from 1980 to 1996 .

Career

Simo Saarinen began his career as an ice hockey player in his hometown in the youth department of HIFK Helsinki , for whose professional team he was active in the SM-liiga from 1980 to 1984 . In the 1982/83 season he was Finnish champion with his team. In the following season he played in parallel for Finland's Olympic team in the SM-liiga. In the 1984/85 season he was a total of eight games for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League on the ice. The Rangers had selected him in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft in the tenth round as a total of 193rd player. Due to a knee injury, however, he missed most of his debut season in North America and the following year , in which he scored three goals and four assists in 13 games for the New Haven Nighthawks in the American Hockey League . He then returned to Finland, where he played for his hometown club HIFK Helsinki until his retirement in 1996 at the age of 33. After his return to Europe, he was able to convince especially in the 1987/88 season , in which he was elected to the All-Star Team of the SM-liiga.

International

For Finland , Saarinen took part in the junior division at the U18 European Junior Championships in 1981 and the U20 Junior World Championships in 1982 and 1983 . At the Junior World Championships in 1982 he won the bronze medal with his team, the following year he was elected to the All-Star Team.

In the senior sector, he was in his country's squad at the World Championships in 1989 and 1990 and the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo , 1988 in Calgary and 1992 in Albertville . At the Olympic Games in 1988 he won the silver medal with his team.

Achievements and Awards

• 1983 Finnish champion with HIFK Helsinki
• 1988 SM-liiga All-Star Team

International

• 1982 bronze medal at the U20 Junior World Championship
• 1983 All-Star Team of the U20 World Junior Championship
• 1988 silver medal at the Olympic Winter Games

statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
NHL Regular Season	1	8th	0	0	0	8th
NHL playoffs	-	-	-	-	-	-
AHL regular season	1	13	3	4th	7th	11
AHL playoffs	-	-	-	-	-	-
SM liiga main round	14th	513	71	105	176	333
SM liiga playoffs	13	54	5	13	18th	30th

Web links

• Simo Saarinen at hockeydb.com (English)
• Simo Saarinen at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Simo Saarinen at eliteprospects.com (English)