Sami Vatanen
Sami Vatanen ( born June 3, 1991, Jyväskylä ) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player who is since May 2011 at the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League contract.
- 2.1 International
Career
Sami Vatanen began his career as a hockey player in his hometown in the junior division of JYP Jyväskylä. During the NHL Entry Draft in 2009, he was selected in the fourth round as a total of 106 players from the Anaheim Ducks. In the 2009/10 season the defender made his debut for the first team from JYP, for a total of 69 games, he scored ten goals in his rookie year and were 27 templates. He was then selected in the KHL Junior Draft 2010 Metallurg Novokuznetsk in the first round as the second player overall. Again he stayed first with his home club with which he was able to convince in the season 2010/11. He received the Pekka - Rautakallio Trophy as the best defender of the league and the Matti - Keinonen trophy as a player with the best plus / minus balance. In addition, he was elected to the All- Star team of the SM - liiga and honored as player of the month of November. In May 2011 he signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League, then spent but also the season 2011/ 12 in his native Finland at JYP Jyväskylä.
In addition to playing for JYP the right shooter of 2008 stood until 2011 parallel to the Finnish U20 national team in Mestis, the Finnish second division, on the ice. In the Mestis he was also in the 2008 /09 season in five games for the D team, the farm team of JYP on.
Due to the NHL lockout in the 2012/13 season, the Finn made his debut at first for their farm team, the Norfolk Admirals in the American Hockey League. In his first appearance on 12 October 2012 at the home game against the Worcester Sharks, which ended with a 4-2 win for Norfolk, Vatanen recorded one assist. On February 1, 2013 he made his debut in the NHL, scoring on 17 April his first goal in the NHL against Columbus. He closed his AHL season as the second best scorer of the Norfolk Admirals.
Internationally
For Finland, Vatanen took part in the U18 World Junior Championships in 2008 and 2009 and at the U20 World Junior Championships in 2010 and 2011 at the junior level. In the 2009 U18 World Cup he won with his team the bronze medal at the 2011 U20 World Cup, he was named one of the three best players of his team.
In the senior level, he stood in his country's squad at the 2010 World Cup and 2010 and 2011 in the Euro Hockey Tour. At the Olympic Games in 2014 he won the bronze medal with the Finnish national team.
Awards and achievements
- 2010 SM liiga Player of the Month for November
- 2011 SM liiga All-Star Team
- 2011 - Pekka Rautakallio Trophy
- 2011 Matti - Keinonen Trophy
- 2012 SM liiga All-Star Team
- 2012 - Pekka Rautakallio Trophy
- 2012 Finnish Champion with JYP Jyväskylä
- 2013 AHL All- Rookie Team
- 2013 AHL First All -Star Team
Internationally
- 2009 bronze medal at the U18 World Youth Championship
- 2011 Top 3 players of Finland at the U20 World Youth Championship
- 2014 bronze medal at the Winter Olympics
SM- liiga stats
(End of season 2011 /12)