Ville Leino

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Ville Leino
Born (1983-10-06) October 6, 1983 (age 29)
Savonlinna, Finland
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Forward
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Buffalo Sabres
Ilves
HPK
Jokerit
Detroit Red Wings
Philadelphia Flyers
National team  Finland
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2002–present

Ville Leino (born October 6, 1983) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who currently plays for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers.

Contents

Playing career [edit]

Finland [edit]

At age 17, Leino started playing for his hometown hockey team SaPKo in the Suomi-sarja. He was recruited into the SM-liiga by Ilves, and later moved on to HPK, where he led the team in scoring in the 2005-06 season when HPK won their first SM-liiga championship.

In 2007, Leino was signed by Jokerit where he was switched from center to wing. In his first season with the team, he broke the club record for most points in the regular season when he surpassed Timo Sutinen's record of 73.[1] He went on to finish second in scoring, and won the Lasse Oksanen trophy for the best player during the regular season in the SM-liiga.[2]

North America [edit]

On May 10, 2008, Leino signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings.[3][4] Due to the Wings salary cap issues, Leino was then assigned to affiliate the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL. Red Wings coach Mike Babcock commented that Leino was the "best player" he had ever sent to the minors.[5] Ville was eventually recalled from the Griffins on January 29, 2009.[6]

In the first period of his NHL debut on January 31, 2009, Leino scored a goal against goaltender José Théodore in a 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals. Leino is one of the few players that have scored a goal in their first NHL appearance.[7]

Leino signed a one-way, two-year extension with the Red Wings on July 6, 2009.

On February 6, 2010, Ville Leino was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Norwegian defenceman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and a 5th-round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.[8] Leino had two goals and two assists in fourteen games with the Flyers in the regular season.

Leino started the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the press box, but injuries to Simon Gagné and Jeff Carter called Leino into action. Forming the most potent line in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with Daniel Brière and Scott Hartnell, Leino recorded seven goals and fourteen assists for 21 points in 19 games. This tied the rookie record for most points in the Stanley Cup Playoffs held by Dino Ciccarelli.[9]

On March 12, 2011, Leino recorded his first career hat-trick against the Atlanta Thrashers.

On April 24, 2011, during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against Buffalo, Leino scored the game-winning goal in overtime of game 6 of the series to bring Philadelphia even with Buffalo, 3 games to 3. He finished the playoffs with three goals and two assists as the Flyers were swept in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins.

Leino became an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2011 season. He signed a 6-year, $27 million contract with the Buffalo Sabres on July 1, 2011.[10] His performance during the 2011–12 season was much maligned, as he scored only eight goals with 17 assists during 71 games despite signing a hefty contract during the off-season.

International play [edit]

Leino made his international debut on Team Finland on the 2006–07 Euro Hockey Tour.

Awards [edit]

Records [edit]

Career statistics [edit]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2000–01 SaPKo Suomi-sarja 2 0 0 0 16 — — — — —
2001–02 SaPKo Suomi-sarja 15 6 6 12 4 — — — — —
2002–03 Ilves SM-l 23 1 1 2 0 — — — — —
2003–04 Ilves SM-l 54 9 15 24 26 7 1 1 2 4
2004–05 Ilves SM-l 56 8 11 19 32 7 1 0 1 2
2005–06 HPK SM-l 56 12 31 43 65 13 3 9 12 4
2006–07 HPK SM-l 50 11 29 40 73 8 1 9 10 31
2007–08 Jokerit SM-l 55 28 49 77 18 14 8 11 19 8
2008–09 Detroit Red Wings NHL 13 5 4 9 6 7 0 2 2 0
2008–09 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 57 15 31 46 18 10 3 10 13 10
2009–10 Detroit Red Wings NHL 42 4 3 7 6 — — — — —
2009–10 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 13 2 2 4 4 19 7 14 21 6
2010–11 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 81 19 34 53 22 11 3 2 5 0
2011–12 Buffalo Sabres NHL 71 8 17 25 16 — — — — —
2012–13 Buffalo Sabres NHL 8 2 4 6 6 — — — — —
SM-l totals 294 69 136 205 214 49 14 30 44 49
NHL totals 228 40 64 106 60 37 10 18 28 6

References [edit]

  1. ^ http://www.jatkoaika.com/smliiga.php?ottelu=21371&versio=raportti}
  2. ^ http://www.sm-liiga.fi/arkisto/jokerit/jokerien-ville-leino-runkosarjan-paras-pelaaja.html
  3. ^ "Red Wings Sign Leino From Finnish Elite League". The Canadien Press. TSN.ca. Retrieved 2009-02-01. 
  4. ^ "Leino signs 1-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings". redwings.nhl.com. 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-11-10. 
  5. ^ "Heres the deal: Ericsson,Helm and Leino sent down". detroitfreepress.com. 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2009-02-02. 
  6. ^ "Red Wings recall Ville Leino, Aaron Downey, as Brad Stuart placed on IR". mlive.com. 2009-01-29. Retrieved 2009-02-02. 
  7. ^ "Ovechkin takes over as Capitals extend Wings' skid to five". cbssportline.com. 2009-01-31. Retrieved 2009-02-02. 
  8. ^ "RED WINGS TRADE LEINO TO FLYERS FOR TOLLEFSEN". TSN. 2010-02-06. Retrieved 2010-02-06. 
  9. ^ "Stanley Cup Final Game 6 pre-game notes". nhl.com. 2010-06-09. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
  10. ^ "NHL Free Agent Tracker". The Sports Network. Retrieved 1 July 2011. 
  11. ^ http://www.jatkoaika.com/smliiga.php?sivu=uutiset&id=5623
  12. ^ http://www.sm-liiga.fi/palkinnot/all-stars-joukkue.html

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ville Leino
Preceded by
Cory Murphy		 Winner of the Lasse Oksanen trophy
2007–08		 Succeeded by
Juuso Riksman
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