Juuso Riksman (born 1 April 1977) 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 ...

goaltender who played in the Finnish

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 Mesti ...

and

Swedish Hockey League The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the ice hockey in Sweden, Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Li ...

Playing career

Riksman played junior hockey in Espoon Palloseura and in the

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 ...

organization, but he started his pro career with Hermes of

Kokkola Kokkola (; , ) is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Central Ostrobothnia. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Kokkola is approximately , while the Kokkola sub-region, sub-region h ...

, then in the 1st division. After a visit to

Kiruna (; ; ; ) is the northernmost Stad (Sweden), city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland, Sweden, Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The c ...

in the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

1st division, Riksman returned to HIFK. When

Tom Draper Thomas Edward Draper (born November 20, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He was chosen in the eighth round, 165th overall, the 8th pick of the Winnipeg Jets in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. Playing career Draper was ...

was hired as HIFK's starting goaltender, Riksman signed with

MoDo Hockey Modo Hockey (or MoDo with uppercase letters) is a professional ice hockey club in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The team currently plays in Sweden's second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan after losing to HV71 after the play out following the 2024/25 se ...

in Sweden, and after two seasons in Sweden, a year in Italy with Alleghe HC and one season with

Ilves Tampereen Ilves, commonly known as Ilves, (; Finnish language, Finnish for "Eurasian lynx, Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Nokia Arena (Tampere), Nokia Arena. The colors of Ilves, ...

, he led

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 ...

to a silver medal in 2006 and won the

Urpo Ylönen trophy Urpo is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Urpo Korhonen (1923–2009), Finnish cross-country skier *Urpo Lahtinen, Finnish magazine publisher *Urpo Pikkupeura (born 1957), former ice speed skater from Finland *Urpo Sivula (born ...

as the league's best goaltender. Subsequently, Riksman was signed by

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 ...

to a two-year contract. He retired in 2016. In June 2007, the

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

signed Riksman to a contract. He was later sent to the Blues' AHL affiliate, the

Peoria Rivermen Peoria Rivermen is the name of four minor league hockey clubs: *Peoria Rivermen (IHL), named as such 1984–1996, formerly the Peoria Prancers 1982–1984 *Peoria Rivermen (ECHL), 1996–2005 *Peoria Rivermen (AHL), 2005–2013 *Peoria Rivermen (SP ...

. Riksman appeared in his first and only professional game in North America on November 10 against the

Rockford IceHogs The Rockford IceHogs are a professional ice hockey team based in Rockford, Illinois. They are members of the American Hockey League (AHL), having begun play in the League starting in the 2007–08 season. The team plays their home games at the ...

, allowing two goals in only eight minutes of play. He was then pulled and replaced by

Marek Schwarz Marek Schwarz (born 1 April 1986) is a Czech former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 6 games in the National Hockey League with the St. Louis Blues from 2006 to 2008. The rest of his career, which lasted from 2003 to 2023, was mainl ...

. After Peoria's loss to San Antonio on November 17, Riksman announced that he had quit the team and was returning to Finland, leading to a suspension by Rivermen general manager Kevin McDonald. Since the announcement, Riksman signed first with Färjestad in

Swedish Elite League The Swedish Hockey League (SHL; ) is a professional ice hockey league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Swedish ice hockey cham ...

, then

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Hockey Club Lokomotiv (, ), also known as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, is a professional ice hockey club based in Yaroslavl, Russia. It is a member of the Tarasov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The name of the team is derived from its ...

in the

Russian Super League The Russian Superleague (, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was considered the second-best league in the world, after the Nation ...

before returning to Finland, and

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Awards

* SM-liiga silver medal with Ässät in 2006 *

for best goaltender in the SM-liiga in 2006 and 2009 * SM-liiga silver medal with

in 2007 *

Kultainen kypärä Kultainen kypärä () is an ice hockey award given by the Suomen jääkiekkoilijat ry (SJRY; ) to the best player in the Finnish Liiga and Auroraliiga. Winners are selected via votes cast by each league's players. Kultainen kypärä has been award ...

-award for best player in the SM-liiga, 2009 * SM-liiga gold medal with

in 2011

External links

*
Jatkoaika.com (in Finnish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riksman, Juuso 1977 births Porin Ässät (men's ice hockey) players Espoo Blues players Färjestad BK players Finnish ice hockey goaltenders HIFK (ice hockey) players Ilves players Jokerit players Living people Modo Hockey players Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players Ice hockey people from Helsinki