Ari Sulander

Template: Infobox Eishockeyspieler/Ländercode2

Ari Juhani " Sulo " Sulander ( born January 6, 1969 in Helsinki ) is a former Finnish- Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender, who was most recently with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League A under the contract. His son Santtu is also a professional hockey player.

  • 2.1 International

Career

Ari Sulander began his career in the youth teams of Jokerit Helsinki, for whom he played from 1986 in the highest junior league in Finland. In the season 1989/90 he made his debut for Jokerit in the SM- liiga and established itself in the following years more and more as a goalkeeper his team. With Jokerit he won until 1998, four Finnish championship titles (1992, 1994, 1996 and 1997) and two European Cups (1994 and 1995). During this time he has played with some of the best hockey players in the SM- liiga, as Otakar Janecký, Teemu Selanne, Jari Kurri and Waltteri Immonen.

After winning the bronze medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano Sulander moved to the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League A, where he has since under contract. With the Lions, he won four Swiss league titles and the Champions Hockey League 2008 /09. Following the CHL, he joined the Lions in the Victoria Cup 2009 against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Lions were victorious against the Blackhawks 2-1 and won the first European team ever the title.

After the 2011/12 season he finished his career and was goalkeeping coach.

Internationally

During his long international career Ari Sulander belonged in a total of 117 games in the squad of the Finnish national team, where he also came into use at 68 games. He participated in seven World Championships ( 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000) and the 1998 Winter Olympics in part. He won a gold, two silver and a bronze medal at the world championships and an Olympic bronze medal.

Awards and achievements

  • Finnish Champion 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1997
  • Winner of the Jari Kurri trophy - 1993/94
  • Winners of the Urpo - Ylönen Trophy 1995/96
  • All-Star Team of the season 1995/96
  • Key players in the SM- liiga in 1995/96, 1996/97
  • Best goalkeepers in the NLA 1998/99, 1999/2000
  • Swiss Champion 2000, 2001, 2008 and 2012

Internationally

  • All- star team of Karjala Cup 1998/99
  • Winning the gold medal at the 1995 World Cup
  • Winning the European Cup in 1995 and 1996
  • Winning the silver medal at the World Championships in 1998, 1999
  • Winning the bronze medal at the World Championship 2000 Bronze
  • Winning the bronze medal at the Olympics 98
  • Winning the Champions Hockey League 2008/ 09, election to the CHL MVP
  • Winning the Victoria Cup 2009

Career Stats

( Key to the goalkeeper stats: GP or Sp = Total Games; W or W = Wins, L = Losses, or N, T or D = Draw or shootout defeat, min = minutes; SOG or ZAT = Shots on goal, GA or GT = Goals against; SO = shutouts, GAA or GTS = Gegentorschnitt; Sv % or SVS % = quota, EN = Empty Net Goal; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )

IIHF European Cup 1995 IIHF European Cup 1996 Nagano, Nagano Finland men's national ice hockey team 1995–96 SM-liiga season Karjala Tournament GCK Lions
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