Riku Helenius (born March 1, 1988) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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 ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

currently playing for

Dresdner Eislöwen The Dresdner Eislöwen are a professional ice hockey team based in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. They currently play in DEL2, the second level of ice hockey in Germany. Prior to the 2013–14 season they played in the 2nd Bundesliga. They play their ...

in the

DEL2 DEL2 (also known as DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany, below the '' Deutsche Eishockey Liga'' (DEL) and ahead of the '' Oberliga''. Founded in 2013 to replace the defunct '' 2nd Bundesliga'', DEL2 is administered by ESBG, ...

Playing career

Helenius was selected 15th overall in the

2006 NHL Entry Draft The 2006 NHL Entry Draft was the 44th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 24, 2006. The draft order for the first 14 picks was decided during a lottery held on April 20, 2006. The draft was ...

by 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 ...

, partly on the strength of his silver medal-winning performance for the Finnish national men's hockey team in the 2006 under-18 World Junior Championships. He played for

Ilves Ilves (; Finnish for "Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena. The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the cit ...

during the 2006–07 season but due to a shoulder injury only played four games. The

Seattle Thunderbirds The Seattle Thunderbirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in the city of Kent, Washington, south of Seattle. They are part of the U.S. Division of the Western Conference in the Western Hockey League. They play their games at home in acc ...

selected Helenius with the 46th overall selection in the 2007 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft. Helenius joined the Thunderbirds roster at the start of the 2007–2008 season. In December 2007, Helenius was selected as goalie for the Finnish World Junior Team in the 2008

IIHF World Junior Championships The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is t ...

. On October 17, 2008, Helenius was assigned to the

Augusta Lynx The Augusta Lynx were a minor-league professional ice hockey team based in Augusta, Georgia. The Lynx played their home games at the James Brown Arena. The Lynx, who played in the ECHL, had affiliations with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL ...

of the

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

. He played first NHL game on January 30, 2009, against 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 Well ...

. In 2009, he went on to play for

Södertälje SK Södertälje Sportklubb, also known as Södertälje SK and often referred to as SSK, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club playing in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest level of pro hockey in Sweden. Södertälje were charter members of Eli ...

after playing just 10 game for the

Norfolk Admirals Norfolk Admirals has been the name of two professional ice hockey franchises: * Norfolk Admirals (AHL), a team which played in the American Hockey League from 2000 to 2015 *Norfolk Admirals (ECHL) The Norfolk Admirals are a professional ice hock ...

. For the 2011–12 season he returned to Finland and signed with

JYP Jyväskylä JYP is an ice hockey team playing in the Finnish top division Liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the LähiTapiola Areena. History JYP was founded in 1923. First it was the ice hockey section of the sports club ''Jyväskylän Palloilija ...

of 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 ...

, where he won the league championship and the

Urpo Ylönen trophy The Urpo Ylönen trophy is an ice hockey award given by the Finnish Liiga to the best goalie of the season. It is named for Urpo Ylönen, former goaltender and later goaltender coach. In 2019 it was awarded to Veini Vehviläinen of Kärpät. Troph ...

for best goaltender. After a great season in Finland, Steve Yzerman, General Manager of the

, expressed interest in bringing Helenius back to North America, as he was still a Lightning prospect. On June 13, 2012, Helenius signed a two-year contract with the Lightning. In the midst of the 2013–14 season, with Helenius unable to make an impact up the Lightning's depth chart, on February 22, 2014, he was placed on $125 unconditional waivers, which would bring his contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning to an mutual end. On April 14, 2014, Helenius agreed to a multi-year contract with Finnish club

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 h ...

of the KHL.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1988 births Living people Augusta Lynx players Dresdner Eislöwen players Elmira Jackals (ECHL) players Florida Everblades players Ilves players Jokerit players JYP Jyväskylä players KalPa players Lahti Pelicans players Mississippi Sea Wolves players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Norfolk Admirals players People from Pälkäne Seattle Thunderbirds players Södertälje SK players Syracuse Crunch players Tampa Bay Lightning draft picks Tampa Bay Lightning players Finnish ice hockey goaltenders Sportspeople from Pirkanmaa {{Finland-icehockey-goaltender-stub