Mikko Matti Mäkelä (born February 28, 1965) is a Finnish former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politic ...

. Known as the "Flying Finn", he was drafted in the fourth round, 65th 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 (N ...

in the

1983 NHL Entry Draft The 1983 NHL entry draft was the 21st NHL entry draft. It was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, on June 8, 1983. The NHL entry draft is the primary means by which players arrive in the National Hockey League. The St. Louis Blues ...

. Mäkelä made his

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

debut with the Islanders in the 1985–86 season. In four-plus seasons with the Islanders, Mäkelä scored 95 goals, including 37 in the 1987–88 season. The Islanders traded Mäkelä to the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The Kings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. ...

during the 1989–90 season in exchange for

Hubie McDonough Hubert Boniface McDonough (born July 8, 1963) is an American professional ice hockey executive and former player. He played in the National Hockey League between 1988 and 1993 with the Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders, and San Jose Sharks. ...

and

Ken Baumgartner Kenneth James Baumgartner (born March 11, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League for twelve seasons. Biography Baumgartner played junior hockey for the Prince Albert Raiders of th ...

. After finishing the 1989–90 season with Los Angeles, Mäkelä was traded again before the 1990–91 season. This time, he went to the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

in exchange for

Mike Donnelly Michael Chene Donnelly (born October 10, 1963) is an American former ice hockey left wing. He played in the National Hockey League between 1986 and 1996 with the New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings, Dallas Stars, and New York Is ...

. After one season in Buffalo, Mäkelä returned to

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, spending two-plus seasons playing in his native Finland and one in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Mäkelä returned to the NHL following the

1994–95 NHL lockout The 1994–95 NHL lockout was a lockout that came after a year of National Hockey League (NHL) hockey that was played without a collective bargaining agreement. The lockout was a subject of dispute as the players sought collective bargaining a ...

, appearing in 11 games with the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

during the shortened 1994–95 season. Mäkelä returned to Europe for the remainder of his career, playing two seasons in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

before returning to Sweden and Finland for his final two seasons. Mäkelä appeared in 423 NHL games in his career, scoring 118 goals and adding 147 assists. He also appeared in 18

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

playoff games, scoring three goals and recording eight assists. Since retiring from professional hockey, Mäkelä has moved to

Lethbridge, Alberta Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

, where he and his family currently reside. Mäkelä served as the head coach for the

Lethbridge Hurricanes The Lethbridge Hurricanes are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Lethbridge, Alberta. The Hurricanes play in the Central Division of the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference, and play their home games at the VisitLethbridge.com Are ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

. With the hiring, Mäkelä was the first European born and bred head coach in the history of the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; , LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League, and is composed of its three me ...

. Mäkelä would be relieved of his duties on January 13, 2004 and replaced by former

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their ...

head coach

Lindsay Hofford Lindsay may refer to: People *Clan Lindsay, a Scottish family clan *Lindsay (name), an English surname and given name, derived from the Scottish clan name; variants include Lindsey, Lyndsay, Linsay, Linsey, Lyndsey, Lyndsy, Lynsay, Lynsey Places ...

. He worked at the Warner Hockey School, a private girls' school located in Warner, Alberta where he served as both Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations of the Warner Hockey School Warriors girls' hockey team of the Junior Women's Hockey League.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

*
Warner Hockey School - StaffJunior Women's Hockey League - Warner School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Makela, Mikko 1965 births Boston Bruins players Buffalo Sabres players Düsseldorfer EG players Finnish ice hockey left wingers Ilves players Lethbridge Hurricanes coaches Living people Los Angeles Kings players Malmö Redhawks players New York Islanders draft picks New York Islanders players Ice hockey people from Tampere Providence Bruins players Södertälje SK players Springfield Indians players Tappara players HC TPS players Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players for Finland Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in ice hockey Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics