Mikko Tapani Lehtonen (born 12 June 1978) is a Finnish former
ice hockey defenceman. He played 15 games in the
National Hockey League with the
Nashville Predators during the
2006–07 season. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1999 to 2014, was mainly spent with
Kärpät in the Finnish
SM-liiga. Internationally Lehtonen played for the
Finnish national team at the
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and
2009 World Championships, winning a bronze in 2006.
Playing career
Lehtonen appeared in his first
National Hockey League game on 7 October 2006 with the
Nashville Predators against the
Minnesota Wild, and registered his first NHL goal in that game. The goal was scored eight seconds into his first NHL shift, coming one second short of tying the all-time record set by
Dave Christian
David William Christian (born May 12, 1959) is an American former professional ice hockey forward. He played on the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal during the 1980 Winter Olympics. Additionally he played for five National H ...
.
On 27 February 2007, Lehtonen was traded to the
Buffalo Sabres for a fourth-round pick in the
2007 NHL Entry Draft
The 2007 NHL Entry Draft was the 45th NHL Entry Draft. It was hosted at Nationwide Arena in the city of Columbus, Ohio, on June 22, 2007. The draft consisted of seven rounds with rounds two through seven taking place on June 23, 2007. The draft ...
.
Having won the
Finnish Championship for a third time playing for
Oulun Kärpät
Oulun Kärpät (Finnish for "Oulu Ermines", sometimes referred to as Kärpät Oulu) is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish championship title eight times ...
, Lehtonen signed a one-year deal with Swedish team
Timrå IK
Timrå IK is a professional Swedish ice hockey team based in Timrå, north of Sundsvall. It competes in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), which is the top-tier league in Sweden, since being promoted by winning 2021 SHL qualifiers. Previous seaso ...
on 9 June 2008.
On 6 May 2009, Lehtonen signed 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 ...
for the
2009–10 Frölunda HC season.
Därför valde Lehtonen Frölunda före Timrå
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
References
External links
*
1978 births
Living people
Finnish ice hockey defencemen
Frölunda HC players
Milwaukee Admirals players
Nashville Predators players
Oulun Kärpät players
People from Kiiminki
Rochester Americans players
Ice hockey people from North Ostrobothnia
Timrå IK players
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