Anssi Salmela
| Anssi Salmela | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
August 13, 1984 Nokia, Finland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 201 lb (91 kg; 14 st 5 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| SHL team Former teams |
Färjestad BK HV71 Modo Hockey Avangard Omsk Tappara Pelicans Atlanta Thrashers New Jersey Devils | ||
| National team |
 Finland | ||
| NHL Draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 2003–present | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon}
.svg.png){kind=icon}
Anssi Salmela (born August 13, 1984) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).
Playing career
Undrafted, Salmela's professional career started in the 2003–04 season with Finnish SM-liiga side Tappara, where he made his debut on January 24, 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 May 22, 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 October 10, 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 March 2, 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 March 16, 2009.[4]
On February 4, 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 March 12, 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, reportedly for US$1.5 million per season, on July 15, 2011.[8]
Awards and achievements
- 2007–08 SM-liiga Bronze Medal
- 2007–08 Juha Rantasila -palkinto (most goals for defender in SM-liiga)
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| 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 | ||
| SM-l totals | 226 | 36 | 42 | 78 | 208 | 28 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 20 | ||||
| NHL totals | 112 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| KHL totals | 59 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 51 | 32 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 22 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Comp | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Finland | WJC | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 2008 | Finland | WC | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 |
| 2009 | Finland | WC | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2011 | Finland | WC | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Junior int'l totals | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| Senior int'l totals | 24 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 43 | ||
References
- ↑ "Salmela joins New Jersey". (in Fin) yle.fi. May 22, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
- ↑ "Brodeur stops penalty shot, saves Devils in season opener". cbssportsline.com. October 10, 2008. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
- ↑ "Devils acquire veteran defender Hävelid". cbcsports.ca. March 2, 2009. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
- ↑ "Lehtonen saves career-high 49 shots in Thrashers' sixth straight win". cbssports.com. March 16, 2009. Retrieved March 18, 2009.
- ↑ "Thrashers ship Kovalchuk to Devils for players, 1st rounder". The Sports Network. February 4, 2010. Archived from the original on February 5, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
- ↑ "Anssi Salmela scores in overtime, surging Devils beat Islanders 3-2". The Hockey News. 2011-03-12. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
- ↑ Chere, Rich (June 27, 2011). "Devils qualify Matt Corrente, Vladimir Zharkov, Matt Taormina, Mark Fraser; Alexander Vasyunov to play in Russia". The Star-Ledger (NJ.com). Retrieved July 15, 2011.
- ↑ "Ex-Devil Salmela signs with KHL's Avangard Omsk". July 15, 2011. Retrieved July 15, 2011.
External links
- Anssi Salmela's player profile at NHL.com
- Anssi Salmela's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
- Anssi Salmela profile at Eurohockey.com