Niclas Westerholm (born 13 August 1997) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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 In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

who is currently playing with

Oulun Kärpät Oulun Kärpät (Finnish language, Finnish for "Oulu Stoat, Ermines", sometimes referred to as Kärpät Oulu) is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish champion ...

in the

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 ...

Playing career

Undrafted, Westerholm played junior hockey in his native Finland with Karhu-Kissat through to the under-20 level. After spending a single season in North America playing high school hockey with Virginia/Mountain Iron-Buhl High in the

Minnesota State High School League The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) is a voluntary, non-profit association for the support and governance of interscholastic activities at high schools in Minnesota, United States. The association supports interscholastic athletics a ...

in the 2015–16 season, Westerholm returned to Finland in signing with top flight club,

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 ...

of the

. He spent the majority of the 2017–18 season with SaiPa's under-20 team in the Jr. A Liiga, where he recorded a 2.42 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in 28 appearances. He made his professional debut in the

Mestis Mestis (from , meaning 'Championship series', stylized as MEST1S) is the second-highest men's ice hockey league in Finland. The league was established by the Finnish Ice Hockey Association in 2000 to replace the I-divisioona ('First Division ...

with

Peliitat Heinolan Peliitat (''formerly Heinolan Kiekko'') is an ice hockey club based in Heinola, Finland. The club is made up of 11 teams with the top team playing in the 2. Divisioona, the 4th tier of ice hockey in Finland. They play their home games i ...

, appearing in 3 games to end the season. After the campaign, Westerholm was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (colloquially referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Predators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Divisio ...

on April 4, 2019. He was immediately added to the Predators roster, in practising as the third string goaltender through their first round playoff defeat. Westerholm made his Liiga debut in the 2018–19 season with SaiPa, recording a 3.23 goals-against average and .898 save percentage in four games. After two seasons on loan with SaiPa from the Predators, Westerholm's remaining year of his entry-level deal was terminated after he was placed on unconditional waivers by the Nashville Predators on 15 July 2020. On 31 July 2020, Westerholm signed a one-year contract to continue his tenure with SaiPa.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Westerholm, Niclas 1997 births Living people 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finnish ice hockey goaltenders Ice hockey people from Helsinki Imatran Ketterä players Oulun Kärpät players Peliitat Heinola players SaiPa players