Teppo Kalevi Numminen (born July 3, 1968) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for Tappara and

TuTo TUTO Hockey (Turun Toverit) is a Finnish ice hockey team based at the Kupittaan jäähalli (capacity 2,875, inauguration in November 2006). Established in 1929, TUTO plays in Turku, Finland, and is one of two clubs in that city (the other being ...

of the SM-liiga and the Winnipeg Jets,

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 ...

, Dallas Stars and Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career

Numminen started his career with his local team, Tappara, in the SM-liiga. Drafted in the second round (twenty-ninth overall) in the

1986 NHL Entry Draft The 1986 NHL Entry Draft was the 24th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 21, 1986, at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. The National Hockey League (NHL) teams selected 252 players eligible for entry into professional ranks, in the revers ...

by the Winnipeg Jets, Numminen moved to North America in 1988 to play for the Jets. He moved with the team as it became the

before the 1996–97 season. He played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1999, 2000 and 2001. After fifteen seasons playing for the Winnipeg/Phoenix organization, Numminen was traded to the Dallas Stars in July 2003, for

Mike Sillinger Michael John Sillinger (born June 29, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 17 seasons. Sillinger played for twelve different teams and was traded nine times during his NHL c ...

. Numminen took a break from hockey during the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

, then signed as a free agent with the Buffalo Sabres. On November 13, 2006, Numminen played his 1,252nd game in the NHL, thus setting a record for most NHL games played by a European-trained player, surpassing

Jari Kurri Jari Pekka Kurri (; born May 18, 1960) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger and a five-time Stanley Cup champion. In 2001, he became the first Finnish player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2017 Kurri was named one ...

. After signing a one-year contract for the 2007–08 season, Numminen was forced to undergo open heart surgery before the start of the season. Numminen was suspended by the Sabres when it was discovered he needed heart surgery. Sabres' general manager Darcy Regier stated the suspension was because his $2.6 million contract was not insured, and the contract contained a clause, which stated that player must have passed the physical and had to be fit to play. Word came that Numminen's heart surgery was successful. Completed on September 20, 2007, at the Cleveland Clinic, the surgery was performed to repair a faulty valve. Numminen was able to return to action for the final game of the Sabres' 2007–08 season on April 5, 2008. Per a statement by general manager Regier, Numminen expressed some interest in returning to NHL play for at least another year. On August 8, 2008, Numminen re-signed with the Buffalo Sabres. He was the leader among active NHL players who played the most games without winning the Stanley Cup: 1,372 at the end of the 2008-09 season. Numminen announced his retirement on August 4, 2009. The 41-year-old finished his NHL career with 117 goals and 520 assists for 637 points in 1372 NHL games. At the time of his retirement, Numminen was the last player from the

still playing in the NHL and he had extended his record to 1,372 NHL games, the most by a European-born and trained player at any position, which stood until broken by Nicklas Lidström in the 2009–10 season. On January 30, 2010, the Coyotes enshrined Numminen's number 27 jersey into the ring of honor. During his 15 seasons for the franchise, including their previous incarnation as the Winnipeg Jets, he played 1,098 games, a then franchise record. His 534 points are also a franchise record for defencemen.

International play

Numminen represented the Finnish men's national team and won two silver medals in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, and one bronze medal in

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

Other activities

Numminen used to own 80% of Montreal Sports Ltd, which was a company founded by his father,

Kalevi Kalevi may refer to * Kalevi (mythology), an ancient Finnish and Estonian ruler, known from the Finnish epic Kalevala and Estonian epic Kalevipoeg. * Kalevi, Estonia Kalevi is a village in Rapla Parish, Rapla County in northwestern Estonia ...

. The company produced ice hockey sticks and equipment and was sold to the large hockey brand Warrior.

Personal life

Numminen and his wife Ann-Maarit have two daughters, Bianca and Erica, and one son, Nicklas. His brother, center Teemu Numminen (born December 23, 1973) was drafted 229th overall in the

1992 NHL Entry Draft The 1992 NHL Entry Draft was the 30th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 20 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. A total of 264 players were drafted. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Sergei Gonchar, who retire ...

by the Winnipeg Jets but he never made it to the NHL.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Teppo Numminen - Sabres.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Numminen, Teppo 1968 births Living people Buffalo Sabres coaches Buffalo Sabres players Dallas Stars players Finnish ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey players at the 1988 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics National Hockey League All-Stars National Hockey League players with retired numbers Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for Finland Phoenix Coyotes players Ice hockey people from Tampere Tappara players TuTo players Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) draft picks Winnipeg Jets (1979–1996) players