Mika Alatalo
Mika Antero Alatalo ( born June 11, 1971 in Oulu ) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey player and current coach.
- 2.1 International
Career
Mika Alatalo began his career as a hockey player at KooKoo Kouvola, which until 1990 he was active from 1988 in the SM- liiga. He was then in the tenth round as a total 203 players selected in the NHL Entry Draft in 1990 by the Winnipeg Jets, for whom he never played, however. Instead, the attacker ran on for another four years in his native Finland for Lukko Rauma and was elected to the 1993/94 season in the All- Star team of the SM - liiga. It was followed by two years with their league rivals TPS Turku, was awarded the Alatalo 1995 champion and 1996 runner-up. Then, the left gunner moved to the current Swedish champion Luleå HF in the Elitserien. With his new team, he reached in the 1996/97 season the finals again, which, however, they lost.
After Alatalo had become again in the 1998/99 season with Turku master, he spent two years playing in the National Hockey League for the Phoenix Coyotes, the successor to franchise the Winnipeg Jets, who owned the rights to the Finns since 1 July 1996. In the summer of 2001 he was awarded for the third time in his career a contract with TPS Turku, with whom he once again runner-up in 2004. For the 2007 /08 season the Olympians went from 1994 for the second time to other European countries, where it ran aground on the HC Thurgau in the Swiss National League B. In the 2008 /09 season Alatalo stood for the Herlev IC in the Danish AL-Bank Ligaen on the ice. After financial difficulties in Herlev IC, he moved to HC Val Pusteria to Italy, where he ended his active career at the end of the season.
In the season 2010/11 Alatalo worked as an assistant coach at his former club TPS Turku in the SM- liiga.
Internationally
For Finland, Alatalo took part in the U20 World Junior Championships in 1989, 1990 and 1991. In addition, he was in the squad of Finland in the World Championships in 1993, 1994 and 1998, and at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.