Anssi Melametsä
Anssi Ilari Melametsä ( born June 21, 1961 in Jyväskylä ) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey player who played in his time from 1977 to 1994 among others for the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League.
Career
Anssi Melametsä began his career as a hockey player in the junior department of Jokerit Helsinki, where he was active until 1978. He then played one year for the Peterborough Petes in the Canadian Junior Football League Ontario Hockey Association. With the Canadians he won in the 1979/80 season the first J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHA champion and then the Memorial Cup, the championship of the Canadian Hockey League. Then, the Center for Jokerit Helsinki returned for the first team, he was active in the following two years in the SM- liiga before it for its league rival HIFK Helsinki was on the ice for four years. With HIFK in the 1982/83 season, he managed to win the Finnish Championship title. Parallel to the game Operation with HIFK of the national team was also in the following season in seven games for the Finnish Olympic team, which took to prepare for the tournament as a guest team in the SM- liiga.
In the NHL Entry Draft 1985 Melametsä was selected in the twelfth round than a total 249 players from the Winnipeg Jets. For the Canadians he was in the 1985/86 season his debut in the National Hockey League and made three assists in 27 games. However, he could not sit in the NHL squad and he graduated from parallel 14 games for Winnipeg's farm team, the Sherbrooke Canadiens of the American Hockey League, where he scored seven goals and had five assists. After his year in North America, the Finn returned to his home and started playing another two seasons for the HIFK Helsinki of the SM - liiga in, before he moved to Jokerit Helsinki, where he had begun his career. With the team that was relegated to the second class in the meantime I divisioona, he reached the 1989 promotion back to the SM- liiga, where he was captain of Jokerit in the 1989/90 season.
The 1991/92 season spent Melametsä the Swedish team Boro in the then still second-class Division 1 Most recently, he played from 1992 to 1994 for the Finnish second division KooKoo before he ended his career at the age of 33 years.
Internationally
For Melametsä Finland took part in the junior level at the Junior World Championships in 1980 and 1981, where he won the silver medal each with his team. In the senior level, he stood in his country's squad at the World Championships in 1983 and 1985, and at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.