Pasi Nielikäinen (born 11 February 1974,

Oulainen Oulainen (, also ) is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region, south of the city of Oulu. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density i ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

) is a former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player.

Playing career

Nielikäinen has played for numerous teams in the Finnish SM-liiga; these include Kärpät,

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

and HPK. Nielikäinen also played one season in

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

for the

Miami Matadors The Miami Matadors were an ice hockey team in the East Coast Hockey League. They played in Miami, Florida, at the Miami Arena for one season before folding. The Matadors franchise would resurface two years later as the Cincinnati Cyclones. His ...

and one season 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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

team the Manchester Storm.

Style of play

Nielikäinen is not a usual Finnish hockey player when it comes to playing. Nielikäinen is known for serving as an enforcer for his team. Nielikäinen also is not shy when it comes to dropping gloves and scrapping on the ice. Nielikäinen's most famous rivalries include the one with fellow SM-liiga player Sami Helenius and his single fight against

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

-enforcer Ryan Vandenbusche in the 2005/06 season for which HIFK and Jokerit got fined 15.000 euros/team.

Off the ice

Nielikäinen is married to former Finnish Beauty contestant Jenni Nielikäinen (née Anttila)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielikainen, Pasi 1974 births Living people Finnish ice hockey right wingers Porin Ässät (men's ice hockey) players HIFK (ice hockey) players HPK players Jokerit players Kiekko-Vantaa players Manchester Storm (1995–2002) players Oulun Kärpät players People from Oulainen Ice hockey people from North Ostrobothnia