Dwight Edward Helminen (born June 22, 1983) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

who most recently played with the

Kalamazoo Wings The Kalamazoo Wings, nicknamed the K-Wings, are a mid-level professional ice hockey team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A member of the ECHL's Western Conference, Central Division, they play in the 5,113-seat Wings Event Center. They are the affiliate ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

. His brother

Lars Lars is a common male name in Scandinavian countries. Origin ''Lars'' means "from the city of Laurentum". Lars is derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel". A homonymous Etruscan name was bo ...

plays with

Linz EHC Linz EHC was an ice hockey team in Linz, Austria. In 1992 it was re-established as EHC Black Wings Linz, who play their home games at Donauhalle Linz AG Eisarena is an indoor sporting arena located in Linz, Austria. The Linz AG Eisarena has b ...

of the

EBEL Ebel is a Swiss luxury watch company that was founded in 1911 at La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. History Ebel was established in 1911 by Eugène Blum and his wife, Alice (née Lévy). The brand name originates from th ...

Playing career

Helminen was born in

Hancock, Michigan Hancock is a city in Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is across the Keweenaw Waterway from the city of Houghton on the Keweenaw Peninsula. The population was 4,634 at the 2010 census. The Weather Channel has consistently rank ...

, and raised in

Brighton, Michigan Brighton is a city in the Detroit metropolitan area in southeastern Livingston County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,444. Brighton forms part of the South Lyon-Howell-Brighton Urban Area. It is one of ...

. As a youth, he played in the 1997

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with the Detroit Compuware

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...

team. He was drafted 244th overall in the

2002 NHL Entry Draft __NOTOC__ The 2002 NHL Entry Draft was the 40th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 22 and 23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Two hundred and ninety-one players were drafted in total: 35 from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); ...

by the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

. Dwight played junior hockey for the U.S. Junior National Team in the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the midwestern United States, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictl ...

(USHL) and college hockey at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

for the

Wolverines The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscu ...

. On March 3, 2004, the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

acquired his rights from the Oilers along with a 2004 second round draft pick and

Steve Valiquette Stephen Valiquette (born August 20, 1977) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Valiquette played 46 games in the National Hockey League, nearly all for the New York Rangers, before finishing his playing career in Europe. Valiq ...

in exchange for

Petr Nedvěd Petr Nedvěd (born December 9, 1971) is a Czech-born Canadian former professional ice hockey player who spent 15 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1990 and 2007. Early career Nedvěd was born in Liberec, Czechoslovakia to Jaro ...

and

Jussi Markkanen Jussi Markkanen (born May 8, 1975) is a Finnish professional ice hockey executive and former goaltender. He is currently serving as general manager of SaiPa. Markkanen played extensively in various European professional leagues as well as the N ...

. Since turning professional, Helminen has played for the

Charlotte Checkers The Charlotte Checkers are a minor-league professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affi ...

in the

and the Hartford Wolf Pack in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

(AHL), before signing with JYP

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

in the Finnish

SM-liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

in 2007. Helminen signed a one-year contract with the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

on July 3, 2008. He was then assigned to the Hurricanes' affiliate, the Albany River Rats of the AHL. Helminen made his NHL debut in the 2008–09 season after an injury to

Brandon Sutter Brandon Sutter (born February 14, 1989) is an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey player who is currently a free agent. He most recently played for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Junior ...

. He played in 23 regular season games by season's end with the Hurricanes, as well as one playoff game. On July 16, 2009, Helminen signed a one-year contract with the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are owned by San Jose Sports & Entertainm ...

. In the 2009–10 season, on February 11, 2010, Helminen scored his first goal with the Sharks, against the Detroit Red Wings. On April 22, 2010, he scored a goal against the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

in the Sharks' first-round playoff series. Midway through the 2011–12 season, Helminen left

KLH Chomutov KLH may refer to: *Keyhole limpet hemocyanin, a carrier protein *Kolhapur Airport (IATA code KLH), a regional airport in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India *Korean Light Helicopter, a designation used by the Republic of Korea Army *KLH (company), an audi ...

of the Czech first division league to return to North America, signing with the

of the ECHL on February 6, 2012.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Helminen, Dwight 1983 births Living people Albany River Rats players American men's ice hockey centers American people of Finnish descent Carolina Hurricanes players Charlotte Checkers (1993–2010) players Edmonton Oilers draft picks Hartford Wolf Pack players Ice hockey players from Michigan JYP Jyväskylä players Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL) players Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey players Lahti Pelicans players People from Hancock, Michigan People from Brighton, Michigan San Jose Sharks players Sportspeople from Metro Detroit USA Hockey National Team Development Program players Worcester Sharks players