Mika Sinuhe Wallinheimo (born March 9, 1972 in

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

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 ...

) is a Finnish

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and former 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 ...

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 ...

. As the last team he represented JYP in 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 ...

. After his sporting career he entered politics and was elected to the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

as an MP for the

National Coalition Party sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti Häkkänen Elina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finnis ...

in the 2011 election and reelected in 2015 and 2019. His parents derived his name Sinuhe from the protagonist of the novel ''

The Egyptian ''The Egyptian'' (''Sinuhe egyptiläinen'', Sinuhe the Egyptian) is a historical novel by Mika Waltari. It was first published in Finnish in 1945, and in an abridged English translation by Naomi Walford in 1949, from Swedish rather than Finnish ...

''.

International play

Wallinheimo was selected to the

2006 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships The 2006 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships was the 70th such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Teams representing 45 countries participated in four levels of competition. The competition also served as qualifications for ...

as the third goaltender. Wallinheimo was dropped from the roster when

Antero Niittymäki Antero Pertti Elias Niittymäki (; born June 18, 1980) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender who last played for TPS of the SM-liiga (Finnish elite league). He additionally played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Ph ...

joined the team, but he made his international debut in a practice game against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. In the 2006–07 season, Wallinheimo represented Finland on the

Euro Hockey Tour The Euro Hockey Tour (EHT) is an annual ice hockey tournament open to only the national men's teams of Czechia, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden. Most of the teams use the competition as a preparation for the upcoming World Championships or Olym ...

, being chosen best goaltender in both the Ceska Pojistovna Cup and

Karjala Tournament The Karjala Tournament ( fi, Karjala-turnaus), also known as Karjala Cup, is an annual ice hockey event held in Finland. The name comes from the sponsoring beer brand Karjala. History The tournament started in 1992 as the Sauna Cup. In 1995, t ...

Amateur career

Wallinheimo played for the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

, becoming a league-wide fan favorite for his unusual fan interactions during stoppages of play.

Awards and honors

Career statistics

References

External links

Jatkoaika.com player profile
* 1972 births Living people Ice hockey people from Jyväskylä National Coalition Party politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–2015) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–2019) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2019–2023) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2023–2027) Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey players Färjestad BK players Finnish ice hockey goaltenders Hershey Bears players JYP Jyväskylä players Lukko players Mississippi Sea Wolves players Mobile Mysticks players Springfield Falcons players {{Finland-icehockey-goaltender-stub