Joel Kiviranta (born March 23, 1996) is a 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 hock ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

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).

Playing career

On November 12, 2013, Kiviranta made his

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 ...

debut playing with

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (English: Jokers or Jesters) are a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team won six league championships as a member of the Finnish SM-liiga (1973, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, and 2002). Jokerit plays its ...

against 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 ...

during the

2013–14 Liiga season The 2013–14 Liiga season is the 39th season of the Liiga (formerly SM-liiga), the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. The title was won by Kärpät who defeated Tappara in the finals. This was the first sea ...

. In the

2018–19 Liiga season The 2018–19 Liiga season was the 44th season of the Liiga (formerly SM-liiga), the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. Teams Regular season Top six advanced straight to the quarter-finals, while teams be ...

, his fifth year with

Vaasan Sport Sport, known by its full name as ''Hockey Team Vaasan Sport OY'', is a Finnish ice hockey team playing in Liiga, and is based at Vaasa Arena (capacity 4448) in Vaasa. The team was established in 1939 as IF Sport (Idrottsföreningen Sport). Hist ...

, Kiviranta tallied 31 points in 48 games. His 16 goals were third on the team however he was unable to propel Sport to the post-season. Undrafted, Kiviranta used his NHL-out clause with Sport to sign a two-year, entry-level contract with the

on June 1, 2019. His first NHL goal was an

even strength Full strength (also called 5-on-5) in ice hockey refers to when both teams have five skaters and one goaltender on the ice. The official term used by the National Hockey League (National Hockey League, NHL) is at ''even strength'' — abbreviated EV ...

goal against the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

on February 1, 2020, against the goaltender

Louis Domingue Louis Boileau-Domingue (born March 6, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Domi ...

to give the Dallas Stars a 2–1 lead, and they went on to win the game in overtime 3–2. On September 4, 2020, Kiviranta substituted in for injured Stars forward

Andrew Cogliano Andrew Cogliano (born June 14, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He formerly played for the Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars and the San Jose Sharks. On ...

in the seventh and decisive game of the Second Round of the

2020 Stanley Cup playoffs The 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL). The playoffs began on August 1, 2020, and concluded on September 28, 2020, with the Tampa Bay Lightning winning their second Stanley Cup in franchise ...

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 ...

. He helped send the Stars into the Conference Finals by scoring a hat-trick, including the game-winning overtime goal. On July 31, 2021, the Stars re-signed Kiviranta to a two-year, $2.1 million contract extension.

International play

Kiviranta was selected to make his senior international debut with

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 ...

at the

2019 IIHF World Championship The 2019 IIHF World Championship was hosted from 10 to 26 May 2019 by Slovakia. It was the second time that Slovakia has hosted the event as an independent country, as was the case in 2011. The host cities were Bratislava and Košice, as announce ...

held in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. He finished with 2 goals and 3 points in 9 games to help Finland claim the gold medal in a victory over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on May 26, 2019.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiviranta, Joel 1996 births Living people Dallas Stars players Finnish ice hockey forwards Ice hockey players at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics Jokerit players Kokkolan Hermes players Sportspeople from Vantaa Texas Stars players Undrafted National Hockey League players Vaasan Sport players Youth Olympic gold medalists for Finland