Sami Lepistö (born 17 October 1984) 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 ...

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 ...

who currently plays for

SCL Tigers SC Langnau Tigers are a professional ice hockey team from Langnau im Emmental, Switzerland. They play in the National League (NL). The team plays its home games in the 6,000-seat Ilfis Stadium, which is currently one of the smallest arenas in the N ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

(NL). He is the son of former Jokerit captain and youth international defenceman Jussi Lepistö. Sami was drafted by the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

in the third round, 66th overall, 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, ...

Playing career

Jokerit

Lepistö played professional hockey for

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 ...

in the Finnish

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 ...

. In 2003–04, his first season, Lepistö had 3 goals and 7 points in 53 games, followed by one assist in eight playoff games for Jokerit. He also played for

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 ...

in the

2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (''2004 WJHC'') was held between December 26, 2003, and January 5, 2004, in Helsinki and Hämeenlinna, Finland. The United States won its first ever gold medal, defeating Canada 4–3 in the final. V ...

, scoring four goals and eight points in seven games. Lepistö saw his offensive numbers rise in 2004–05, as he had 7 goals and 25 points in 55 games. Lepistö also had a solid playoff performance for Jokerit, scoring 1 goal and 8 points in 12 games. Lepistö returned to Jokerit in 2005–06 and increased his offensive numbers once again, scoring 8 goals and 29 points in 56 games. However, he had an injury plagued 2006–07 season, as he had 1 goal and 10 points in 26 games. On 31 May 2007, Lepistö signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the

NHL

Lepistö was sent to the

Hershey Bears The Hershey Bears are a professional ice hockey team based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town located 14 miles east of the state capital of Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the c ...

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) in 2007–08, where in 55 games, he scored 4 goals and 45 points as well as posting a solid +29 rating. Lepistö also made his NHL debut on 16 February 2008 with the Capitals. In seven games with Washington in 2007–08, he had one assist. He was returned to Hershey, where he had an assist in five playoff games. After the season, Lepistö played for

at the

2008 IIHF World Championship The 2008 IIHF World Championship was played between May 2 and May 18, 2008 in the Canadian cities of Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Quebec City (Quebec). The two venues were the Halifax Metro Centre and the Colisée Pepsi. The tournament was won ...

, where he had one goal and one assist in seven games. Lepistö spent most of the 2008–09 season with Hershey once again, scoring 4 goals and 42 points in 70 games and recording a +24 rating. He once again appeared in seven games with the Capitals, where Lepistö earned four assists. On 27 June 2009, Lepistö was traded to the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

for the Coyotes' fifth-round pick in the

2010 NHL Entry Draft The 2010 NHL Entry Draft was the 48th NHL Entry Draft, held on June 25–26, 2010 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, home arena of the Los Angeles Kings. This was the first time Los Angeles hosted the NHL Entry Draft. An unofficial re ...

. Lepistö spent the entire 2009–10 season with the Phoenix Coyotes, where he scored 1 goal and 11 points in 66 games, helping the club to the 2010 playoffs. In seven playoff games with the Coyotes, Lepistö scored one goal. He also played for Finland at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

, where he recorded one assist in six games. He returned to the Coyotes for the 2010–11 season, where he had 4 goals and 11 points in 51 games. On 28 February 2011, the Coyotes traded Lepistö and

Scottie Upshall Scott Upshall (born October 7, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He was selected in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators in the first round, sixth overall. Playing career Amateur As a youth, Upshall p ...

to the

Columbus Blue Jackets The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

in exchange for

Rostislav Klesla Rostislav "Rusty" Klesla (born March 21, 1982) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman. Klesla was selected fourth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, making him the first ever pick in an entry draft by ...

and

Dane Byers Dane Byers (born February 21, 1986) is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player. He last played for and captained Manchester Storm of the UK's EIHL. He was originally drafted by the New York Rangers 48th overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draf ...

. On 15 July 2011, Lepistö signed a one-year contract with the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

KHL

On 4 June 2012, it was announced Lepistö had signed a one-year contract to play for the rebuilding

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Hockey Club Lokomotiv (russian: ХК Локомотив, en, Locomotive HC), also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a Russian professional ice hockey team, based in the city of Yaroslavl, playing in the top level Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) ...

of the

Kontinental Hockey League 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 ba ...

(KHL). On 12 January 2013, Lepistö was traded to

Lev Prague Hockey Club Lev Praha (stylized as HC LEV Praha) was a professional ice hockey team located in Prague, Czech Republic, which played in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in the 2012–13 KHL season, 2012–13 and 2013–14 KHL season, 2013–14 ...

of the KHL. In the summer of 2013, he signed a two-year contract with

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg HC Avtomobilist (russian: Автомобилист Екатеринбург) are a professional ice hockey team based in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. They replaced Khimik Voskresensk in the Kontinental Hockey League in 2009. Histor ...

. After that, he signed a one-year contract with

Salavat Yulaev Ufa Hockey Club Salavat Yulaev (russian: Хоккейный клуб «Салават Юлаев», Hokkejnyj klub «Salavat Julajev»; ba, «Салауат Юлаев» хоккей клубы, «Salawat Yulayev» xokkey klubı), commonly referred ...

. During the 2016 playoffs, he tied Nikita Zaitsev and Chris Lee to lead all defenceman in playoff scoring with 13 points. After two seasons with Ufa, it was announced Lepistö as a free agent would return to play for original club Jokerit, now competing in the KHL on 22 May 2017.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lepisto, Sami 1984 births Living people Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg players Chicago Blackhawks players Columbus Blue Jackets players Sportspeople from Espoo Finnish ice hockey defencemen Hershey Bears players Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2014 Winter Olympics Jokerit players HC Lev Praha players Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players Luleå HF players Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Phoenix Coyotes players Salavat Yulaev Ufa players SCL Tigers players Washington Capitals draft picks Washington Capitals players Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Sweden Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Switzerland