Tony Salmelainen (born August 8, 1981) 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 ...

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 ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He last played for

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 ...

of the Finnish

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 2013. He was originally drafted by the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

as their second-round pick in the

1999 NHL Entry Draft The 1999 NHL Entry Draft was the 37th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 at the FleetCenter in Boston. According to ''Sports Illustrated'' and other sports news agencies, at the time the 1999 draft was considered one of the deepest in tale ...

. His father

Tommi Salmelainen Tommi Salmelainen (born January 29, 1949) is a Finnish hockey left winger who played for HIFK. He was the first ever European drafted in the NHL Entry Draft in 1969Hockey’s Book of Firsts, p.46, James Duplacey, JG Press, although he never did ...

was the first European ever to be drafted by an NHL team.

Playing career

Salmelainen started his ice hockey career as a junior player in the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

organisation, and moved to

for his

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 ...

debut in the 1999-2000 season. In an eventful debut, Salmelainen scored his first goal in his very first shift, and was injured later in the game. He played 19 games for HIFK next season, and transferred to

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 city ...

to get more ice time. After two seasons with Ilves, Salmelainen moved to North America, where he spent three years with the

organization, playing in 13

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

games in the

2003–04 NHL season The 2003–04 NHL season was the 87th regular season of the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup champions were the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the best of seven series four games to three against the Calgary Flames. For the fourth time in ...

. When the

resumed play in 2005, Salmelainen returned to HIFK. He played an excellent season, including setting a personal record by scoring a five-goal, six-point night against the

Pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

s in a home game on October 10, and culminating in being chosen best player of the regular season after leading the league in points and goals. Salmelainen also made headlines during the 2005–06 season when he was sent off during a game against HPK, and threw a trashcan down the corridor to the dressing rooms in anger. After narrowly missing goaltender

Jan Lundell Jan Lundell (born ) is a Finnish retired ice hockey goaltender who last played in IFK Helsinki of Liiga. He is currently the goaltending coach for IFK Helsinki. Lundell holds the record of being the oldest to play in a Liiga game at 46 years old ...

, the trashcan accidentally hit his team's bus driver, who was injured in the face. Salmelainen was interrogated by the police and received a two-game suspension. Salmelainen's NHL player rights were traded from the Edmonton Oilers to 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 ...

for defenseman

Jaroslav Špaček Jaroslav Spacek (; born February 11, 1974) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for over 13 seasons with the Florida Panthers, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Edmonton Oiler ...

on January 26, 2006. In the summer of 2006, he signed a new contract with the Blackhawks. On June 16, 2007, he was traded, with Jassen Cullimore, to the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

in exchange of

Sergei Samsonov Sergei Viktorovich Samsonov (russian: Серге́й Ви́кторович Самсо́нов, ''Sergej Viktorovič Samsonov''; born October 27, 1978) is a Russian former professional ice hockey forward (hockey), forward who is now a scout for th ...

. On August 31, 2007, the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

signed Salmelainen to a one-year,

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

. On October 23, 2007, Salmelainen was suspended by the Maple Leafs for failing to comply with the terms of his contract after he had signed to play for Yaroslavl Lokomotiv of the Russian Super League for almost $1.5-million (U.S.). After one season with Yaroslavl, Salmelainen moved to the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

National League A The National League (NL) is a professional ice hockey league in Switzerland and is the top tier of the Swiss league system. Prior to the 2017–18 season, the league was known as National League A. During the 2018–19 season, the league ha ...

with

Genève-Servette HC The Genève-Servette HC (also called Servette or GSHC) is a professional ice hockey club based in Geneva, Switzerland and competing in the National League (NL), the top tier of the Swiss hockey league system. The team plays their home games at the ...

, where he played five seasons. On July 29, 2013, Salmelainen returned to his first professional club, in signing a one-year contract with HIFK of his native Finland. However, he was soon forced to end his career due to a neck injury.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

Lasse Oksanen trophy The Lasse Oksanen trophy is an ice hockey trophy awarded by the Finnish Liiga to the best player of the season during regular season play. Trophy winners: 1993-94: Esa Keskinen ( TPS) 1994-95: Saku Koivu (TPS) 1995-96: Juha Riihijärvi (Lukko) ...

for best player during the regular season - 2006 *

Aarne Honkavaara trophy The Aarne Honkavaara trophy is an ice hockey trophy given by the Finnish Liiga to the player who scores the most goals during regular season play. Trophy Winners: 1977-78: Markku Kiimalainen ( Kärpät) 1978-79: Kari Makkonen (Ässät) 1979-8 ...

for best goal scorer during the regular season - 2006 *

Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy The Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy () is a Finnish ice hockey trophy awarded by the Liiga to the player who scores the most points during regular season play. It was first awarded to Henry Saleva of Kärpät in the 1977–78 SM-liiga season. The tro ...

for most points scored during the regular season - 2006

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salmelainen, Tony 1981 births Living people Chicago Blackhawks players Edmonton Oilers draft picks Edmonton Oilers players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Russia Finnish ice hockey forwards Genève-Servette HC players Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players HIFK (ice hockey) players Ilves players Lausanne HC players Lokomotiv Yaroslavl players Sportspeople from Espoo Toronto Marlies players Toronto Roadrunners players