Anssi Salmela (born 13 August 1984) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New Jersey Devils and Atlanta Thrashers.
| Anssi Salmela | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Salmela with Modo Hockey in 2013 | |||
| Born |
13 August 1984 Nokia, Finland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 201 lb (91 kg; 14 st 5 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
Tappara Lahti Pelicans New Jersey Devils Atlanta Thrashers Avangard Omsk Modo Hockey HV71 Färjestad BK Brynäs IF Kunlun Red Star Linköpings HC Dinamo Riga EHC Biel Ilves | ||
| National team |
 Finland | ||
| NHL draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 2003–2021 | ||
Playing career
editUndrafted, Salmela's professional career started in the 2003–04 season with Finnish SM-liiga side Tappara, where he made his debut on 24 January 2004. His place was settled in Tappara for another year, but the next year he was transferred to Pelicans. In 2007, he moved back to Tappara.
Salmela was a member of Team Finland that won a bronze medal in the World Under-20 Championship. He made his debut for the senior national team in the 2008 IIHF World Championships held in Canada in 2008. On 22 May 2008, he signed a one-year, two-way contract with the New Jersey Devils of the NHL.[1]
In the 2008–09 season, Salmela made his NHL and North American debut with New Jersey in the season opener on 10 October 2008, in a 2–1 win over the New York Islanders.[2] However, Salmela spent the majority of his time with the Devils affiliate the Lowell Devils of the American Hockey League (AHL). On 2 March 2009, Salmela was traded by the Devils to the Atlanta Thrashers for Niclas Hävelid.[3] In his second game with the Thrashers Salmela scored his first career NHL goal in a 5–1 win against the Washington Capitals on 16 March 2009.[4]
On 4 February 2010, Salmela was traded back to the New Jersey Devils along with Ilya Kovalchuk for Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier and a 1st round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.[5] Salmela scored only one goal in 2010–11, but it was a big one. On 12 March, he scored an overtime goal against Al Montoya to give the Devils a 3–2 victory over the New York Islanders.[6] Salmela did not receive a qualifying offer from the Devils following the 2010–11 season, making him an unrestricted free agent.[7] He signed a two-year contract with Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), reportedly for US$1.5 million per season, on 15 July 2011.[8] When his contract was up at the end of the 2012–13 season, he moved to Sweden, penning a deal with Modo Hockey, before transferring to fellow SHL side HV71 during the 2013-14 campaign. In the following two years, he played for two more SHL clubs, Färjestad BK and Brynäs IF.[citation needed]
He was signed by newly founded KHL side Red Star Kunlun from Beijing, China, in July 2016[9] and left the team by mutual consent in November 2016.[10]
On 5 June 2018, Salmela agreed to a one-year contract with EHC Biel of the National League (NL). On 4 December 2018, Salmela was signed to an early one-year contract extension by Biel through the end of the 2019–20 season.[citation needed]
Career statistics
editRegular season and playoffs
edit| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2003–04 | Tappara Tampere | SM-l | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2004–05 | Tappara Tampere | SM-l | 48 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 49 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | Tappara Tampere | SM-l | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Pelicans | SM-l | 48 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Pelicans | SM-l | 56 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 58 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2007–08 | Tappara Tampere | SM-l | 56 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 40 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 14 | ||
| 2008–09 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 17 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Lowell Devils | AHL | 38 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Chicago Wolves | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Atlanta Thrashers | NHL | 29 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 48 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Albany Devils | AHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 22 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 21 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 16 | ||
| 2012–13 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 37 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 37 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2013–14 | Modo Hockey | SHL | 8 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | HV71 | SHL | 36 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 64 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2014–15 | Färjestad BK | SHL | 42 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2015–16 | Brynäs IF | SHL | 24 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 47 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2016–17 | Kunlun Red Star | KHL | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Linköpings HC | SHL | 32 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 28 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2017–18 | Dinamo Riga | KHL | 33 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | EHC Biel | NL | 49 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 28 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 2019–20 | EHC Biel | NL | 37 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Ilves | Liiga | 23 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| Liiga totals | 249 | 39 | 47 | 86 | 232 | 33 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 24 | ||||
| NHL totals | 112 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| KHL totals | 102 | 16 | 30 | 46 | 77 | 32 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 22 | ||||
 Salmela with Finland. | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Finland
| ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| World Championships | ||
 |
2011 Slovakia | |
 |
2016 Russia | |
 |
2008 Canada | |
| World Junior Championships | ||
| |
2004 Finland | |
International
edit| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Finland | WJC | 
|
7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | |
| 2008 | Finland | WC |
|
8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | |
| 2009 | Finland | WC | 5th | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2011 | Finland | WC | 
|
9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 2012 | Finland | WC | 4th | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 25 | |
| 2015 | Finland | WC | 6th | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 2016 | Finland | WC | 
|
5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Junior totals | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||||
| Senior totals | 44 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 74 | ||||
Awards and honours
edit| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Liiga | ||
| Bronze Medal (Tappara) | 2007–08 | |
| Juha Rantasila Trophy (most goals for defenseman) | 2007–08 | |
References
edit- ^ "Salmela joins New Jersey". (in Fin) yle.fi. 22 May 2008. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
- ^ "Brodeur stops penalty shot, saves Devils in season opener". cbssportsline.com. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
- ^ "Devils acquire veteran defender Hävelid". cbcsports.ca. 2 March 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
- ^ "Lehtonen saves career-high 49 shots in Thrashers' sixth straight win". cbssports.com. 16 March 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
- ^ "Thrashers ship Kovalchuk to Devils for players, 1st rounder". The Sports Network. 4 February 2010. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
- ^ "Anssi Salmela scores in overtime, surging Devils beat Islanders 3-2". The Hockey News. 12 March 2011. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- ^ Chere, Rich (27 June 2011). "Devils qualify Matt Corrente, Vladimir Zharkov, Matt Taormina, Mark Fraser; Alexander Vasyunov to play in Russia". The Star-Ledger. NJ.com. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
- ^ "Ex-Devil Salmela signs with KHL's Avangard Omsk". 15 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
- ^ "Kunlun Red Star: First Press Conference". Retrieved 8 July 2016.
- ^ "Энлунд переезжает в Китай и другие трансферы 14-15 ноября". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
External links
edit- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database