Janne Juhani Niskala (born 22 September 1981) is a Finnish 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 hock ...

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

. He last played for

Lukko Rauman Lukko (Finnish for "lock") is a Finnish sports club based in Rauma, Finland, best known for its men’s professional ice hockey team. The club was founded as Rauma Woodin Lukko in 1936. The representative team currently plays in the Fi ...

of the Finnish

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 ...

Playing career

Niskala was drafted by the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

in the

2004 NHL Entry Draft The 2004 NHL Entry Draft was the 42nd NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 and 27, 2004 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is especially notable because it was the last NHL event to take place before the beginning of the lockout, ...

in 5th round as the 147th pick overall. He is known for his good offensive skills and his power play scoring ability. Niskala has played in Finland for the

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 ...

club

for five seasons. During the 2000–01 season he played in the Finnish second tier division but also for the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

club Manchester Storm. He has spent one season with the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

club

EV Zug EV Zug is a professional men's ice hockey team from Zug, Switzerland. It is a member of the National League and plays its home games at the Bossard Arena. History EV Zug won its first championship in the 1997–98 season, and the second one in t ...

and one for the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...

club Färjestads BK. In Sweden he was reunited with his former team mate from Lukko,

Esa Pirnes Esa Pirnes (born April 1, 1977) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey centre. He began and concluded his 21 year career playing for Oulun Kärpät of the Finnish Liiga. Pirnes was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the 6th round (174th o ...

. During the 2006–07 season in Sweden, Niskala led all defensemen in both points and goals. He also finished first in the plus/minus statistics with a plus-25 rating. Following his big season with Färjestad, Niskala signed a one-year contract with the

of the

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 ...

(NHL), but spent the entire 2007–08 season with the farm team

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL). They play in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena. They are affiliated with the NHL's Nashvil ...

of 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 Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL). Niskala was traded to the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

on 24 June 2008 in exchange for Triston Grant and a 7th round draft pick in the

2009 NHL Entry Draft The 2009 NHL Entry Draft was the 47th Entry Draft. It was held on June 26–27, 2009, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. The Draft was part of the Montreal Canadiens' centennial celebrations. National Hockey League teams took turns select ...

. On 30 June 2008, he was traded to the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

for a 6th round draft pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He scored a goal in his first NHL preseason game on 20 September 2008 against the Penguins. He then scored his first NHL goal in his third NHL game, on 11 October against

Michael Leighton Michael W. Leighton (born May 19, 1981) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes. Playi ...

of 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, ...

. Niskala only play six games for the Lightning before asking to be waived since he had been cut off the roster. On 13 November, he signed a two-year contract with

Frölunda HC Frölunda Hockey Club, previously known as the Frölunda Indians, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They currently play in the highest Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), formerly the Elitserien, where th ...

. On 4 May 2011, he moved from

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

Metallurg Magnitogorsk Metallurg Magnitogorsk (russian: Металлург Магнитогорск) is a professional ice hockey team based in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. They a ...

Atlant Mytishchi Hockey Club Atlant Moscow Oblast (russian: ХК Атлант Московская область, en, Atlas Hockey Club Moscow Region) was a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast. They were members of the Bobro ...

. On 9 October 2012, Atlant Mytishchi traded Janne Niskala to

HC Dinamo Minsk Hockey Club Dinamo Minsk (russian: Дина́мо-Минск; be, Дынама-Мінск, ''Dynama-Minsk'') is an ice hockey team based in Minsk, Belarus. They are members of the Tarasov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League. Dinamo has qu ...

for Jonas Frögren. He returned to Atlant after completion of the 2012–13 season with Minsk.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Niskala, Janne 1981 births Living people Färjestad BK players Finnish ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Lukko players Milwaukee Admirals players Nashville Predators draft picks Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players for Finland People from Västerås Tampa Bay Lightning players Olympic medalists in ice hockey Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Atlant Moscow Oblast players Manchester Storm (1995–2002) players EV Zug players Frölunda HC players Metallurg Magnitogorsk players HC Dinamo Minsk players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Belarus Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in England Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States