Mikko Vainonen (born 11 April 1994) is a Finnish 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 ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who was last under contract with Glasgow Clan in the

Elite Ice Hockey League The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to internationally as the British Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level ...

(EIHL).

Early life

Mikko Vainonen was a hard working defenceman in his childhood. He played a lot of floorball with his friends in residential

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 ...

Playing career

He made his professional debut playing with

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 ...

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 ...

during the

2011–12 SM-liiga season The 2011–12 SM-liiga season was the 37th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. The title was won by JYP Jyväskylä who defeated Pelicans Lahti in the finals. The title was 2nd in ...

. He was selected in the fourth-round, 118th overall, of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators. In the following season and in pursuit of his NHL ambition, he moved to North America to play major junior after he was drafted in the 2012 CHL import draft in the 1st round, 6th overall by the

Kingston Frontenacs The Kingston Frontenacs are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Kingston, Ontario. The Frontenacs play home games at Slush Puppie Place, which opened in 2008. The team's history predates the Ontario Ho ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

. On 24 May 2013, he was signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators. Vainonen split time between Nashville's farm teams the

Milwaukee Admirals The Milwaukee Admirals are a professional ice hockey team based in Milwaukee. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Nashville Predators. They play their homes games at the UW–Milwaukee Panther ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

and the

Cincinnati Cyclones The Cincinnati Cyclones are a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team is a member of the ECHL. Originally established in 1990, the team first played their games in the Cincinnati Gardens and now play at Heri ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

over the next two seasons, before being loaned to

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 ...

SaiPa SAIPA (, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'' lit. ''Iranian Limited Company for the Production of Citroën Autom ...

to finish the 2014–15 season. At the start of the

2015–16 NHL season The 2015–16 NHL season was the 99th season of operation (98th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). Thirty teams competed in 82-game regular season schedules from October 7, 2015 to April 10, 2016. The 2016 Stanley Cup playoff ...

Vainonen and Nashville agreed to mutually terminate his contract, allowing him to seek employment elsewhere. He returned to his native Finland, coming to terms with

Ässät Pori 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 The S Gr ...

of the top tier Liiga. After parts of two seasons with German club,

Krefeld Pinguine The Krefeld Pinguine (Krefeld Penguins) are an ice hockey team in the DEL2. Their home ice is in Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany at the Yayla Arena. Founded in 1936 by entrepreneur Willi Münstermann, the pro team became a limited liab ...

of the

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called Penny (supermarket), PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga) (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a professional ice hockey league in Germany and the highest division in German i ...

, Vainonen returned again to the Liiga, securing a one-year deal with his fourth Finnish club,

Vaasan Sport Sport, known by its full name as Hockey Team Vaasan Sport Oy or simply Vaasan Sport, is a Finnish ice hockey team playing in Liiga, and is based at the 5,200-capacity Vaasa Arena in Vaasa. The team was established in 1939 as IF Sport (Idrottsf� ...

, on 29 March 2018. On June 19, 2019, Vainonen opted to continue in the EBEL agreeing to a one-year contract with the Dornbirn Bulldogs. In a COVID-19 affected 2020–21 season, Vainonen played for Orli Znojmo,

HC Frýdek-Místek Hockey Club Frýdek-Místek is a professional ice hockey club from Frýdek-Místek, Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bord ...

and Italian side

SG Cortina Sportivi Ghiaccio Cortina is a professional ice hockey team from Italy. They play their home games at ''Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio'', located in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Veneto. They currently play in the Alps Hockey League and formerly the Serie A. ...

. In August 2021, Vainonen agreed terms with Scottish

EIHL The Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL), sometimes referred to internationally as the British Elite League, is an ice hockey league in the United Kingdom. Formed in 2003 following the demise of the Ice Hockey Superleague, it is the highest level ...

side Glasgow Clan for the 2021–22 season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1994 births Living people Porin Ässät (men's ice hockey) players Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) players Dornbirn Bulldogs players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Finnish ice hockey defencemen Glasgow Clan players HC Frýdek-Místek players HIFK (ice hockey) players Kingston Frontenacs players Krefeld Pinguine players Milwaukee Admirals players Nashville Predators draft picks Orli Znojmo players SaiPa players SG Cortina players Ice hockey people from Helsinki Vaasan Sport players Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Scotland Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in the Czech Republic Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Austria Finnish expatriate ice hockey players in Germany 21st-century Finnish sportsmen {{Finland-icehockey-defenceman-stub