Ice Hockey Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Raimo Helminen
Born March 11, 1964,
Tampere, Finland
Height
Weight
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
team
F. teams
retired
Liiga
Ilves
Olympiajoukkue
NHL
New York Rangers
Minnesota North Stars
New York Islanders
AHL
New Haven Nighthawks
Springfield Indians
Division 1
Malmö IF
SHL
Malmö IF
Ntl. team Flag of Finland Finland
NHL Draft 35th overall, 1984
New York Rangers
Playing career 1981–2008

Raimo Ilmari Helminen (b. March 11th 1964 in Tampere, Finland) is a former professional centre. Nicknamed Raipe and Maestro by his fans, Helminen stands as one of the brightest stars of Finnish hockey. He is currently the head coach of the TPS of the Liiga.

Player career[]

After a solid rookie campaign in the SM-Liiga with ilves Tampere and an even better sophomore season, Helminen was drafted to the National Hockey League by the New York Rangers 35th overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. Helminen joined the Rangers in 1985-86 and tallied pretty good results for a rookie (10 goals and 30 assists). Unfortunately, that would prove to be his best NHL season, as the next season saw new management take over the Rangers; the newcomers promptly sold much of the Rangers' young talents, which resulted in Helminen departing for Minnesota, as he had been dealt to the North Stars for future considerations on March 10th 1987. He failed to establish himself there and returned to Tampere for one season in 1987-88. The next season, the New York Islanders gave him another chance in the NHL; his tenure was disappointing however, as back problems limited him to a 1 goal and 11 assists record and he found himself playing as much in the American Hockey League as in the NHL; this proved to be his final stint in North America.

1989 saw Helminen join Malmö IF, a Swedish team that was then sitting in the Swedish Division 1. Helminen made an impact and while his back altered his play, he nevertheless played very well at other times, earning the respect of the fans in Malmö; his 56 points in 29 games helped the team clinch promotion to the Elitserien. The team's rise was however not over; in the spring of 1992, Malmö IF became champion of the Elitserien, only two years after promoting. His back healed during that summer and an even better Raimo laced up skates the next season. His 33 assists were a league high. In 1993-94, Helminen earned the distinction of being the first ever foreigner to be crowned as the Elitserien's top scorer with 20 goals and 44 points. That season would see Malmö clinch another league title.

Raimo Helminen returned home in 1996-97 as he joined back Ilves. He played for his home team until his retirement in 2008.

Helminen holds the record among all hockey players as the one with the most Olympic Games participations (6) and for the most international games played (320). He is also the one who scored the most goals in the Finnish National Team. He won the silver medal at the 1988 Olympics and the bronze at both the 1994 and 1998 Olympics. He is also a one time gold, five times silver and one time bronze medalist in the World Championships.

Coach career[]

Team Years
Ilves 2010-2012
Finnish National Junior Team 2010-2012, 2014-2015, 2019-2020
Barys Astana 2013-2014, 2015
Kazakh National Team 2014
Dinamo Riga 2015-2016
Jokerit 2016-2019
Finnish National Team 2019-2020
TPS 2020-present

External links[]

Flag of Finland
This article is part of the Finnish hockey portal
Advertisement