Niko Klaus Petteri Kapanen (born 29 April 1978) 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 ...

centre, who last played for HPK of 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 ...

Playing career

Kapanen was drafted by the

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

in the 6th round as the 173rd overall pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. During the 2005–06 season, Kapanen recorded a career high in goals (14) and points (35). He scored his first career hat-trick on February 9, 2006, against the

Phoenix Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

in a 5–1 victory. On June 24, 2006, Kapanen was traded by the Stars to the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

, along with 7th round draft pick in 2006, for defenceman Jaroslav Modrý and centerman Patrik Štefan. During his first season with the Thrashers, Kapanen was picked up off the waiver list by the

. On June 9, 2008, Kapanen left the NHL and signed for

Ak Bars Kazan Hockey Club Ak Bars (, , ), also known as Ak Bars Kazan, is a professional ice hockey club based in Kazan, Russia. It is a member of the Kharlamov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). History Founded as Mashstroy Kazan in 1956, the n ...

of the Kontinental Hockey League. After five seasons with Ak Bars, Kapanen left as a free agent to sign a multi-year contract with Czech club

HC Lev Praha Hockey Club Lev Praha (stylized as HC LEV Praha) was a professional ice hockey team located in Prague, Czech Republic, which played in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons. In their two seasons played, Le ...

of the KHL on August 11, 2013. Hampered by injury, Kapanen had a less than successful regular 2013–14 season with Praha, but redeemed himself in playoffs to post 11 points in 21 games as Lev reached the

Gagarin Cup The Gagarin Cup () is the trophy presented to the winner of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, and is named after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. The Cup was supposedly named after Gagarin because the last po ...

finals. Kapanen association with Lev was ended after one-year upon the club announcing financial bankruptcy. On July 10, 2014, Kapanen signed a one-year contract with new Finnish KHL entrant, Jokerit.

International play

Kapanen had a highly decorated international career with

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in collecting a medal at every level played. He made his debut as a junior in the

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

World Junior Championships, claiming a gold medal at the following junior Championships in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. At the senior men's level Kapanen competed in 9

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in capturing 5 medals, including a gold at the 2011 World Championships. He twice represented Finland at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

claiming a Silver and Bronze at the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

tournaments respectively.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapanen, Niko Living people 1978 births Ak Bars Kazan players Atlanta Thrashers players Dallas Stars draft picks Dallas Stars players EV Zug players Finnish ice hockey centres HC Lev Praha players HC TPS players HPK players Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Jokerit players Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players for Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for Finland People from Hattula Phoenix Coyotes players Ice hockey people from Kanta-Häme Utah Grizzlies (AHL) players 21st-century Finnish sportsmen