Petri Vehanen (born October 9, 1977, Rauma,

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 retired 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 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 ...

. During his career, he played for clubs in his native

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, Sweden,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He won the World Championship with the Finnish national team in 2011.

Playing career

Liiga

Vehanen has played his entire SM-liiga career for Lukko which is his hometown team. Vehanen has established himself as the starting goaltender for Lukko and played a solid season in 2007-08 season, earning himself a spot at the Finnish National Team roster. In the 2009 Karjala Tournament he was selected as the best goaltender. Vehanen also has played for

Mestis Mestis (from fi, Mestaruussarja, meaning 'Championship series') is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division' ...

teams Jääkotkat and FPS.

Europe

Vehanen has played in Europe for

HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (russian: Нефтехимик Нижнекамск, en, Nizhnekamsk Petrochemist) is a professional ice hockey team based in Nizhnekamsk, in the Tatarstan, a federal subject of the Russian Federation. They are members ...

, Viking Hockey of

, where he was voted best goaltender, HC Val Pusterial Wolves in

and

Mora IK Mora IK (or Mora Ishockeyklubb) is a Swedish professional ice hockey club from Mora in northern Dalarna. After failing the 2019 SHL qualifiers, Mora has been relegated for play in the second-tier league, HockeyAllsvenskan. Mora has previously ...

in Sweden. Midway through the 2009-10 season, he joined 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 ...

with

Ak Bars Kazan Hockey Club Ak Bars (russian: Ак Барс, tt-Cyrl, Ак Барс, en, Snow Leopard), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a Russian professional ice hockey team based in Kazan. They are members of the Kharlamov Division of the Kontinental Hockey ...

, he made an immediate impact to help Kazan claim the

Gagarin Cup The Gagarin Cup (russian: Кубок Гагарина, Kubok Gagarina) is the trophy presented to the winner of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, and is named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. The Cup was ...

, compiling the best Goals against average, save percentage and selected as the league's best goaltender. After three seasons with Ak Bars, Vehanen returned to Lukko for a solitary season before again resuming his career in the KHL with

HC Lev Praha 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 and 2013–14 seasons. In their two seasons played, ...

. Vehanen took Praha to their maiden Gagarin Cup finals in the 2013-14 season, before the club disbanded. On July 20, 2014, Vehanen opted to sign with German club,

Eisbären Berlin Eisbären Berlin (; English: ''Berlin Polar Bears'') is a professional ice hockey team based in Berlin, Germany. The team competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the highest level of play in professional German ice hockey, and is also o ...

of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), on a one-year contract. He eventually stayed until the conclusion of the 2017–18 season. He announced his retirement in late April 2018 shortly after falling short in the DEL finals.

International Play

Vehanen played in his first International tournament in 2008, when he was selected to Finnish national team to play in 2008 Ice Hockey World Championships. Vehanen's World Championship debut came when he played against Norway which Finland won 3-2 after overtime. In 2011 Ice Hockey World Championships Finland won gold with Vehanen as a starting goaltender. In the final game Vehanen made 32 saves leading his team to a 6-1 win against Sweden.

Awards

* Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) Runners-up in 2017–18 *

KHL 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 b ...

Runner-up in 2013-14 * Won the

in 2009-10 *

best goalkeeper in 2009–10 * Karjala Tournament Best Goaltender in 2009 * Karjala Tournament All-Star team in 2009 *

GET-ligaen Eliteserien, known as Fjordkraftligaen due to sponsorship, is the premier Norwegian ice hockey league, organised by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Association. It comprises 10 clubs and works on the premise of promotion and relegation, in which the t ...

All-Star team in 1998-99

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vehanen, Petri 1977 births Ak Bars Kazan players Eisbären Berlin players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Russia HC Lev Praha players Lukko players Living people Mora IK players HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk players Viking Hockey players Finnish ice hockey goaltenders People from Rauma, Finland Sportspeople from Satakunta