Antti-Jussi Niemi

Antti - Jussi Niemi Jormanpoika ( born September 22, 1977 in Vantaa ) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player standing since the 2009/10 season with Jokerit in the SM- liiga under contract.

Career

Niemi started his career in the youth of the Finnish first division club Jokerit, where he was active in the youth team from the season 1991/92. Five years later, in the 1995/96 season, he completed his first appearances in the first team. During the NHL Entry Draft in 1996, he was selected in the fourth round at a total of 81 instead of the person in charge of the Ottawa Senators. However, the defenders remained in Finland and Jokerit won with him in 1996 and 1997, the Finnish Championship. Only in the summer of 2000 he decided to move to North America. There, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim took him under contract. After the two years in Anaheim, mainly at farm team, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, was used in the American Hockey League and only 29 times wearing the jersey of the Ducks in the NHL, he forced a change in 2002 returned to Europe.

It was followed by a further year at Jokerit, for which he had already worked between 1995 and 2000 in the professional sector, before he for the season 2003/ 04 to Sweden in the Elitserien Frölunda HC to. There, the defensive player was among the top performers in the team and also had a positive plus / minus statistics on. In the season 2004/ 05, in which he won the Swedish championship with Frölunda, he had a plus / minus stats by 18. This was the best value in his professional career. Niemi stood in the subsequent period up to the end of the season 2007/ 08 at the Sweden under contract. He subsequently received in the summer of 2008, a lucrative offer from the newly formed Continental Hockey League of HK Lada Togliatti, which he accepted, and in the 2008 /09 season went for the Russians on the ice. After a short-term commitment to the Swedish second division club Leksand IF Niemi joined the 2009/10 season for Jokerit, where he plays since then.

Internationally

Niemi was first nominated for the Under-18 European Junior Championships in 1995 for a Finnish junior national team and completed in the following 13 years, 18 games for the boys team and 70 games for the A-Team of the Finns. During this time he won the silver medal with Finland at the 2006 Olympics in Turin.

Awards and achievements

Career Stats

( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )