Tony Virta

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FinlandFinland  Tony Virta Ice hockey player
Date of birth June 28, 1972
place of birth Hämeenlinna , Finland
size 178 cm
Weight 86 kg
position Right wing
Shot hand Left
Draft
NHL Entry Draft 2001 , 4th round, 103rd position
Minnesota Wild
Career stations
1990-1996 HPK Hämeenlinna
1996-1997 Frankfurt Lions
1997-2001 TPS Turku
2001-2002 Minnesota Wild
2002-2003 Houston Eros
Södertälje SK
2003-2004 HPK Hämeenlinna
2004-2005 ZSC Lions
2005-2008 Jokerit Helsinki
2008-2010 HPK Hämeenlinna
2010 Leksands IF

Tony Virta (* 28. June 1972 in Hämeenlinna ) is a retired Finnish ice hockey player , who throughout his career including for the HPK Hameenlinna , Jokerit Helsinki and TPS Turku in the SM-liiga and the Frankfurt Lions in the German Ice Hockey League has played . Since the end of his career he has been working as a junior trainer at HPK Hämeenlinna.

Career

Tony Virta began his career as a hockey player in 1990 in his hometown at HPK Hämeenlinna , for which he was active in the SM-liiga for the following six years and with which he was third in 1991 and runner-up in 1993. The attacker then moved to the German Ice Hockey League , where he was on the ice for the Frankfurt Lions in the 1996/97 season . After only a year Virta returned to Finland, where he received a contract with TPS Turku . With the Finns he became champions three times in a row in 1999, 2000 and 2001 and in 2000 he came third in the European Hockey League . Because of his achievements, Virta was awarded the Lasse Oksanen Trophy as the best player of the regular season in 2001. He was then selected in the NHL Entry Draft 2001 in the fourth round as a total of 103 players by the Minnesota Wild , for which he completed eight games in the 2001/02 season , in which he scored five scorer points, including two goals. However, he spent most of the season with their farm team , the Houston Eros from the American Hockey League , for which he played exclusively in the following season, so that he returned to Europe during the season, where he remained until the end of the 2002 / 03 was active for Södertälje SK from the Swedish Elitserien .

From 2003 to 2005 Virta was under contract for one season each with his ex-club HPK Hämeenlinna in the SM-liiga, as well as the ZSC Lions from the Swiss National League A. Virta then moved to Jokerit Helsinki , with whom he was runner-up in Finland in 2007, before he signed another contract with his home club in summer 2008 and was named their team captain.

In January 2010 Virta was signed by the Swedish second division club Leksands IF , where he ended his career at the end of the season. Since then he has been employed by the HPK as a U20 junior trainer.

International

For Finland Virta took part in the U20 World Junior Championships in 1992 , as well as the A-World Championships in 2000 , 2001 and 2003 .

Achievements and Awards

International

statistics

Seasons Games Gates Assists Points Penalty minutes
NHL Regular Season 1 8th 2 3 5 0
NHL playoffs - - - - - -
DEL main round 1 48 13 13 26th 40
DEL playoffs 1 8th 1 2 3 56

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Virta, Tony
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Finnish ice hockey player
DATE OF BIRTH June 28, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Hämeenlinna , Finland