Ville Pokka (born June 3, 1994) 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 hock ...

defenseman 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

Färjestad BK Färjestad Bollklubb (; abbreviated as FBK) is a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Karlstad. Färjestad has had 21 Swedish Championship final appearances, winning ten times since the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien) ...

of the

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (officially SHL; sv, Svenska Hockeyligan) is a professional ice hockey league, and the highest division in the Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, an ...

(SHL).

Playing career

Pokka played with Kärpät 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 ...

during the 2010–11 season. He was drafted 23rd overall by

Avangard Omsk Hockey Club Avangard (russian: ХК Авангард, links=no, Vanguard), also known as Avangard Omsk, is a Russian professional ice hockey team from Omsk. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Eastern Conference of the Kontinental H ...

in the

2012 KHL Junior Draft The 2012 KHL Junior Draft was the fourth entry draft held by the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), taking place on 25–26 May 2012 in Traktor Sport Palace. Ice hockey players from around the world aged between 17 and 21 years of age were selecte ...

and 34th overall by the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

in the

2012 NHL Entry Draft The 2012 NHL Entry Draft was the 50th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held June 22–23, 2012, at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first time that Pittsburgh hosted the draft since the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. The top th ...

. On May 28, 2014, Pokka was signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Islanders. Prior to the 2014–15 season, on October 4, 2014, Pokka was traded, along with

T. J. Brennan Terrence James Brennan (born April 3, 1989) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently playing for HC Ajoie of the National League (ice hockey), National League (NL). Brennan was originally selected by the Buffalo Sabres i ...

and Anders Nilsson by the Islanders 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 ...

in exchange for

Nick Leddy Nicholas Michael Leddy (born March 20, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the first round, 16th overall, by the Minnesota Wild in the 2009 NHL E ...

and Kent Simpson. He was then directly assigned to Blackhawks

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) affiliate, the

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

. After three seasons with the organization (all of which were spent with the IceHogs), the Blackhawks re-signed Pokka to a one-year, $650,000 contract extension on June 27, 2017. In the 2017–18 season, Pokka was familiarly reassigned to the IceHogs. On December 13, 2017, Pokka was recalled by the Blackhawks however remained a healthy scratch before returning to Rockford on December 18. After posting 22 points in 46 games, Pokka was traded by the Blackhawks to the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

in exchange for

Chris DiDomenico Christopher DiDomenico (born February 20, 1989) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for SC Bern of the National League (NL). DiDomenico was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the sixth round (164th overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry D ...

on February 15, 2018. Pokka joined the Senators AHL affiliate, the

Belleville Senators The Belleville Senators are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2017–18 season as the top minor league affiliate of the National Hockey League team, the Ottawa Senators. Based in Bellevill ...

, and continued to provide offense from the blueline with 3 goals and 11 points in 23 games to end the season. As an impending restricted free agent with the Senators, Pokka opted to leave North America by agreeing to a one-year contract with his

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n KHL draft club, Avangard Omsk, on May 8, 2018. In March 2022, Pokka left Avangard Omsk during playoffs due to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. As a free agent in the off-season, Pokka signed a one-year contract in moving to Sweden with Färjestad BK of the SHL, on 5 June 2022.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* 1994 births Living people Avangard Omsk players Belleville Senators players Finnish ice hockey defencemen New York Islanders draft picks Oulun Kärpät players People from Tornio Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Sportspeople from Lapland (Finland) {{Finland-icehockey-defenceman-stub