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Valtteri Filppula
ValtteriFilppula
Position Centre/left wing
Shoots Left
Nickname(s) "Flip" "Filppula" "Fil" "Val"
Height
Weight
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
193 lb (88 kg)
NHL Team
F. Teams
Detroit Red Wings
SM-liiga
Jokerit
Nationality Flag of Finland Finnish
Born (1984-03-20)March 20, 1984,
Vantaa, FIN
NHL Draft 95th overall, 2002
Detroit Red Wings
Pro Career 2005 – present

Valtteri Filppula (born March 20, 1984 in Vantaa, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward and Stanley Cup winner, currently playing for the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL. He is the younger brother of Ilari Filppula.

Playing career[]

Filppula was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the third-round, ninety-fifth overall, in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

Filppula started his hockey career with the Jokerit organization, and secured his place in the SM-liiga team in the 2003-04 season as an excellent offensive forward. He won the SM-liiga silver medal with Jokerit in 2005, and was set to become the team's number one center for the next season. However, Filppula headed across the Atlantic to play for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the American Hockey League. He was selected to play for PlanetUSA in the 2005–06 AHL All-Star Game.

On December 15, 2005 he made his NHL debut with the Red Wings, becoming the first Finnish player ever to play an NHL game for Detroit. He scored his first NHL goal on October 28, 2006 against former Wing Manny Legacé in a game against the St. Louis Blues. Filppula scored his first playoff career goal in Game 1 against the Calgary Flames on April 12, 2007 in his first post-season game.

Filppula continued playing for the Red Wings and scored 36 points on his third season for the team.

Filppula won his first Stanley Cup when Red Wings defeated Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals. Filppula scored the 2-0 goal for Detroit on the decisive game 6 of the series, Detroit won the game 3-2.

On July 30, 2008, Filppula signed a five-year, $15-million contract with the Red Wings, avoiding salary arbitration.

Career statistics[]

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2003–04 Jokerit SM-liiga 49 5 13 18 6
2004–05 Jokerit SM-liiga 55 10 20 30 20 12 5 6 11 2
2005–06 Detroit Red Wings NHL 4 0 1 1 2
2005–06 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 74 20 50 70 30 16 7 9 16 4
2006–07 Detroit Red Wings NHL 73 10 7 17 20 18 3 2 5 2
2006–07 Grand Rapids Griffins AHL 3 2 2 4 2
2007–08 Detroit Red Wings NHL 78 19 17 36 28 22 5 6 11 2
2008–09 Detroit Red Wings NHL 80 12 28 40 42 23 3 13 16 8
NHL totals 235 41 53 94 92 63 11 21 32 12

International play[]

External links[]


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This article is part of the Finnish hockey portal
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