Ville Nieminen | |
Position | Left wing |
Shoots | Left |
Height Weight |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) |
SM-liiga Team F. Teams |
Tappara Colorado Avalanche Pittsburgh Penguins Chicago Blackhawks Calgary Flames New York Rangers San Jose Sharks St. Louis Blues Malmö Redhawks |
Nationality | ![]() |
Born | Tampere, Finland | April 6, 1977,
NHL Draft | 78th overall, 1997 Colorado Avalanche |
Pro Career | 1999 – present |
Ville Nieminen (born April 6, 1977 in Tampere, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward currently playing for Tappara of the Finnish SM-liiga.
Playing career[]
Nieminen started his professional hockey career with Tappara in the Finnish SM-liiga, in the 1994–95 season. He was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche as their third-round pick, #78 overall, in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. Nieminen spent three seasons in the AHL with the Hershey Bears, and moved to the NHL and won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2001.
Known for his non-stop motor and aggressive in-your-face style of play, Nieminen is an annoying opponent in the rink, whose style is heavily reminiscent of Esa Tikkanen. Nieminen has a relaxed personality outside the rink and his odd sense of humour is his trademark.
Nieminen has played for several teams in the NHL, and spent the 2004–05 lockout season playing for his home team, Tappara. He signed with the New York Rangers for the 2005–06 NHL season, and was traded to San Jose on March 8, 2006.
He represented Finland in international play at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and when he was unable to compete at the 2005 IIHF World Championships, he provided commentary on Finnish television with fellow NHL player Tuomo Ruutu. Ville is a popular colour commentator due to his sense of humour and knowledge of the game.
On February 27, 2007, he was traded to the St. Louis Blues. His contract expired in July, and he signed a two-year contract with the Malmö Redhawks, then of the Swedish Allsvenskan.
Awards[]
Career statistics[]
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1994–95 | Tappara | SM-l | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1995–96 | Tappara | SM-l | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1996–97 | Tappara | SM-l | 49 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 120 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
1997–98 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 74 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 85 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1998–99 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 67 | 24 | 19 | 43 | 127 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
1999–00 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 74 | 21 | 30 | 51 | 54 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | ||
1999–00 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2000–01 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 28 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 48 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2000–01 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 50 | 14 | 8 | 22 | 38 | 23 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 20 | ||
2001–02 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 53 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2001–02 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2002–03 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 75 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 93 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2003–04 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 60 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2003–04 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 19 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 24 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 55 | ||
2004–05 | Tappara | SM-l | 26 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 32 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 | ||
2005–06 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2005–06 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 22 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 24 | ||
2006–07 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 30 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2006–07 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2007–08 | Malmö Redhawks | Swe-1 | 34 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 124 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ||
2008–09 | Tappara | SM-l | 55 | 21 | 20 | 41 | 82 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
NHL totals | 385 | 48 | 69 | 117 | 333 | 58 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 99 |
International play[]
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Competitor for ![]() | ||
Ice hockey | ||
Men's Winter Olympics | ||
Silver | 2006 Turin | Ice hockey |
World Cup | ||
Silver | 2004 Toronto | Ice hockey |
Played for Finland in:
- 1997 World Junior Championships
- 2002 Winter Olympics
- 2004 World Cup of Hockey (Silver medal)
- 2006 Winter Olympics (Silver medal)
International statistics[]
Year | Team | Comp | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Finland | WJC | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 |
2002 | Finland | OG | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
2004 | Finland | WCH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2006 | Finland | OG | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Junior int'l totals | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | ||
Senior int'l totals | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
External links[]
This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Ville Nieminen. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |