Hannu Markus Virta (born March 22, 1963, in

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

) is a retired Finnish 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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

. He was named the best defenceman in the Finnish Elite League (SM-liiga) four times, and was a five-time all-star. He also won the

Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy The Jarmo Wasama Memorial Trophy is an ice hockey award given by the Finnish Liiga to the best rookie of the season. The trophy is named in honor of Jarmo Wasama, a young Finnish defenseman who was killed in an automobile accident in 1966. In 2020 ...

as rookie of the year in 1981–82.

Career

Virta was drafted in the second round, 38th overall, by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

in the

1981 NHL Entry Draft Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. He played 245

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

games with the Sabres over five seasons, scoring 25 goals and adding 101 assists. He also appeared in 17 playoff games with Buffalo, scoring one goal and tallying three assists. He returned to the SM-liiga in Finland in 1986, where he played for TPS Turku until 1994, as well as in 1996–97. He helped his team win the league championship three consecutive years beginning in 1988–89. In 461 league games, he scored 68 goals and 213 assists for 281 points. He also played in Switzerland, in the Swiss B League with the

GCK Lions Grasshopper Club Küsnacht Lions known as GCK Lions is a Swiss professional ice hockey team founded in 1932. They are currently playing in the Swiss League (SL), Switzerland's second tier ice hockey division, as the affiliate to the ZSC Lions. Th ...

from 1994 to 1996 and in the Swiss A League with the

ZSC Lions The Zürcher Schlittschuh Club Lions (ZSC Lions) are a professional ice hockey team located in Zürich, Switzerland, playing in the National League (NL). Their home arena is the 12,000-seat Swiss Life Arena. The team was founded in 1930 and play ...

in 1997–98. Internationally, Virta won a bronze medal at the Under-20 World Junior Championships in 1982. As an adult, he won a bronze medal at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

playing for Finland's national ice hockey team. He played at seven

IIHF World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

, winning gold in 1995 and silver in 1994, and leading the tournament in assists in 1996. He also played in the

1987 Canada Cup The 1987 Labatt Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament held from August 28 to September 15, 1987. The finals took place in Montreal on September 11 and Hamilton, on September 13 and September 15, and were won by Team ...

and

1996 World Cup of Hockey The first World Cup of Hockey ( WCH), or ''1996 World Cup of Hockey'', replaced the Canada Cup as one of the premier championships for professional ice hockey. Inaugural ''World Cup of Hockey'' The first edition of the Cup featured eight teams d ...

. Virta's number 23 was retired by TPS Turku.

Coaching career

He coached in the SM-liiga with the

Espoo Blues The Espoo Blues were an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They played in Espoo, Finland, at the Espoo Metro Areena. The club went bankrupt at the end of the 2015–16 Liiga season. History The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo ...

from 2003 to 2004, and as of 2008, he coaches for his old team TPS., on 12 January 2009 signs a contract as Head Coach from

Hockey Club Lugano Hockey Club Lugano, often abbreviated to HC Lugano or HCL, is a professional ice hockey club based in Lugano, Switzerland. The team competes in the National League (NL) and has won seven Swiss championships. History The founding of HC Lugano took ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Virta, Hannu 1963 births Living people Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Finnish ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey players with retired numbers Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Sportspeople from Turku HC TPS players ZSC Lions players