Semir Ben-Amor (born May 6, 1982) is a Finnish former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who last played for

Ässät Ässät or Ässä may refer to: *HC Ässät Pori Oy, Finnish sports club **Porin Ässät (men's ice hockey) **Porin Ässät (women's ice hockey) **Porin Ässät (men's football) **PATA (esports) *, Finnish band from Oulu *S Group, Finnish Consumer ...

of the

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

. Ben-Amor was born and raised in

Tapiola Tapiola (; ) is a district of the municipality of Espoo on the south coast of Finland, and is one of the major urban centres of Espoo. It is located in the western part of Helsinki capital region. The name ''Tapiola'' is derived from ''Tapio (spi ...

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

, Finland. Ben-Amor was a key player in the 2012 notorious practice game between

HIFK HIFK, the Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna, Helsingfors (IFK, Helsingfors) rf (officially abbreviated IFK Helsingfors, colloquially often Helsingfors IFK or Helsingin IFK) is a multi-sport association based in Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 1897 on ...

and

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (, English: Joker (playing card), Jokers or Jesters of Helsinki) is a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland, which competes in Mestis. Jokerit plays its home games at the Helsinki Ice Hall and Helsinki Halli in ...

, where multiple long suspensions were given for violent and unsportsmanlike behavior to players as well as coaches from both teams. Ben-Amor was given the longest suspension of 18 games for checking

Ville Peltonen Ville Sakari Peltonen (born 24 May 1973) is a Finnish ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey forward. Peltonen was drafted by the San Jose Sharks as their third round pick, 58th overall, in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. During his ...

from a blind spot in the middle of the ice, and then beating him while he was down and rendering him unconscious. Reportedly, someone from Jokerit's command told Ben-Amor to take him down, and the league gave the head and assisting coach both a suspension of eight games with clear signs of encouraging players to break the rules. Ben-Amor denies this, saying it was his own decision, but he regrets how it ultimately happened. In December 2012, he was fined €3,540 for assault. His 18-game suspension remains the third longest in the league's history, behind

Ari Lähteenmäki Ari may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ari (name), a name in various languages, including a list of people and fictional characters * Ari (born 1977), Dominican rapper based in Spain * Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534–1572), Jewish rabbini ...

's 27-game suspension in 1986 for cross-checking and violence, and

Jere Karalahti Jere Juhani Karalahti (born 25 March 1975) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings as their sixth-round pick in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft and played a total of 166 games in the NHL. Karalaht ...

's 22-game suspension in 1997 for the use of drugs.

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External links

* 1982 births Living people Finnish ice hockey forwards Finnish people of Tunisian descent Porin Ässät (men's ice hockey) players Danbury Trashers players Espoo Blues players Jokerit players Louisiana IceGators (ECHL) players Lukko players HC Salamat players Richmond RiverDogs players Ice hockey people from Helsinki 21st-century Finnish sportsmen {{Finland-icehockey-winger-stub