Raimo Ilmari Helminen (born 11 March 1964 in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

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, ...

) 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. He is often called "Raipe" or "Maestro" by his fans. He is the world record holder for most international games played by a hockey player, as well as for tied for being the hockey player in the most Olympic Games, and his 26 seasons as a professional is one of the longest careers in professional hockey history. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2012. In the 2022-23 season he is serving as the assistant coach of

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, ...

. Helminen is credited with invention of the saucer pass.

Personal life

He has a wife, Leena, and two children, Anssi and Nelli.

Professional career

Early years

Helminen has himself said that he developed most of his skills when he was young and spent all his free time playing in outdoor ice rinks in Koivistonkylä,

. Before he focused on ice hockey he had also played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. Helminen started his career in his native town, playing for one of oldest teams in the country,

. After two gold medals in junior leagues, Helminen got to play for Ilves in the SM-liiga, Finland's top ice hockey league, in 1982. His first international success came in 1984 when Finland won silver in the U20 World Championship tournament in Sweden. Helminen broke the record for most points scored in an under-20 tournament and was selected for the All-Star team. This attracted the attention of people scouting new talent for the professional teams in the

National Hockey League 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 ...

in North America. That spring Helminen also took part in his first

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

NHL

The following season he was one of the best players for Ilves, being the second highest scorer for his team and third overall in the league. As the centre of the first line, he led Ilves to a league championship victory for the first time in the league's history. The

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

drafted him in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft as their second pick (2nd round, number 35), and Helminen headed for 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 ...

in the fall of 1985. He finished his rookie season with an outstanding 40 points in 66 games. The next fall, however, the new team management sold most of their young players and Helminen ended up with the

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

Difficulties and success

The next season proved more difficult, and Helminen ended up playing a lot in the minor leagues. In the fall of 1987 he returned to home soil to play for Ilves again. He proved to be a success and secured a place in the national team for the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

. There he helped his country win their first Olympic medal (silver) in ice hockey. His performance included 10 points in seven games and assisting two goals in Finland's surprise 3–1 victory over gold medal hopefuls Canada. The tournament left

scouts wondering why this player was not playing in North America. Eventually Helminen got another chance to play in the

, this time for the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

Back problems and Sweden

In the spring of 1988 Helminen started having back problems that would hinder his career for the next couple of years. Because of this injury his 1988–89 season for the Islanders was a disappointment—although he played spectacularly for New York's AHL

Springfield Indians The Springfield Indians were two separate minor professional ice hockey franchises, originally based in West Springfield, Massachusetts and later Springfield, Massachusetts. The original Indians were founding members of the American Hockey Leagu ...

farm team for a month—and he left the Islanders for

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

IF in Sweden. Helminen's play in

Malmö IF Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

was at times very good and he earned the respect of the fans. However, his back would not heal properly until the summer of 1992 after Malmö had won the Swedish Elitserien, the top ice hockey league in the country. After being Elitserien's first ever foreign scoring winner in 1993, Helminen helped

win another championship in 1994.

Late career

In 1996 Helminen returned again to his home town to play for Ilves and quickly became a fan favorite again. In 1998 Ilves won silver medals in the SM-liiga and Helminen was voted the best player of the season. He was also selected for the league's All-Star team in three consecutive years having remained one of the top scorers. Helminen also made the SM-liiga record for most penalty minutes in one game with (55PIM), when he first spat towards the referee and after that tried to assault him, first with his stick and then with his fists, verbally abusing the referee all the while. In 2014 Markus Palmroth broke the record with 59 PIM. Helminen served as the captain of Ilves from 1999 until the end of his career in 2008, although he was temporarily stripped of his captaincy during the 2006–07 season after being thrown out during a game (he was reinstated after one game). At 44 years of age, Helminen was the oldest active player during the SM-liiga 2007–08 season. Helminen officially retired after the 2007–08 SM-liiga season ended for Ilves, when they were defeated by Kärpät in the quarter-finals of the SM-liiga playoffs.

International play

Helminen played in a few international tournaments throughout the 1980s and was on the silver winning team of the

. This was almost the last international glory Helminen was ever to get as then current National team head coach Pentti Matikainen decided that Helminen's time in the national team was over. After Matikainen was fired and the new head coach, Swede Curt "Curre" Lindström took over in 1994 Helminen was re-instated to the national team. In the 1990s Finland began gaining consistent success in international ice hockey. This included World Championship medals 1994 (silver) and 1995 (gold) and Olympic medals in 1994 (bronze) and 1998 (bronze). Helminen remained a favourite pick in the national team consistently through the decade and played an important role in the national team's successes. Helminen participated in 11

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 ...

tournaments between 1985 and 2002. Helminen holds a world record of most international games. Helminen played a total of 331 times for Finland and scored 52 goals and assisted 155, totaling 207 points. His number originally was 14, but he had to change it to 41 when Ilves retired 14 in honour of Lasse Oksanen, a former player of the team. Helminen continued to wear 14 when he played for Team Finland. At the beginning of the 2008–09 season, Ilves announced that Helminen's number 41 would also be retired. The 2002 World Championship Tournament was Helminen's last World Championship tournament callup since Helminen was dropped as the last player from the 2003 World Championship squad by Hannu Aravirta In February 2008, Helminen returned to the national team for one game, his farewell match. Finland faced the Czech Republic in the LG Hockey Tournament, which is part of the European Hockey Tour. Although the tournament is held in Sweden, the match was played in Tampere, which is Helminen's hometown. Helminen recorded an assist on a goal scored by Tuomas Pihlman four seconds before the end of the game. Finland won the game 6–1. In 1998, Helminen and Dieter Hegen (Germany) became the third and fourth ice hockey players to compete at five Olympics, after Udo Kießling (Germany) and Petter Thoresen (Norway). Helminen's appearance at the 2002 Olympics made him the first ice hockey player to compete at six Olympics, with compatriot

Teemu Selänne Teemu Ilmari Selänne (; born July 3, 1970) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger. He began his professional career in 1989–90 with Jokerit of the SM-liiga and played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Winn ...

becoming the second in 2014.

Coaching career

Helminen has been assistant coach of Ilves since late parts of the 2009–10 season, when Juha Pajuoja got the job as the head coach. Pajuoja was sacked in late October in 2011 and replaced by Seppo Hiitelä. He was also assistant coach of the Finnish U20 team in the 2010 and 2011 World Championship, before being promoted to head coach for the 2012 tournament. Helminen coached

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 the Liiga finals in the 2024-25 season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Coaching history

Head coach * Finland U20,

World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), sometimes referred to as World Juniors, is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world. It is traditionally ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2013,

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 ...

* TPS 2020-2021,

* HC Pustertal 2021-2022, ICEHL * HC '05 BB 2023-2024, Tipos Extraliga *

2024-2026,

Asst. coach *

2010–2012, SM-liiga * Finland U20,

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 ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Barys Astana Hockey Club Barys ( ), also referred to as Barys Astana or HC Barys, is a professional ice hockey club based in Astana, Kazakhstan. It is a member of the Chernyshev Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). It is one of the founding members ...

2014-2015,

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; ) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs based in Russia (20), Belarus (1), Kazakhstan (1), and China (1) for a total of 23 clubs. It was considered in ...

Dinamo Riga Dinamo Riga () is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It most recently was a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LBTU. The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of a D ...

2015-2016,

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 ...

2016-2019,

2022-2023,

Awards

* SM-liiga, Kanada-malja champion – 1984-85 * SM-liiga, Runners-up – 1997-98 * SM-liiga, Bronze – 2000-01 * Elitserien, Le Mat Trophy champion – 1991-92, 1993-94 * Swedish Division 1, Promotion (Malmö) – 1989-90 *

Lasse Oksanen trophy The Lasse Oksanen trophy is an ice hockey trophy awarded by the Finland, Finnish Liiga to the best player of the season during regular season play. Trophy winners: 1993-94: Esa Keskinen (TPS (ice hockey), TPS) 1994-95: Saku Koivu (TPS) 1995-96 ...

for best player during the SM-liiga regular season – 1998 * Kultainen kypärä trophy for best player as voted by the players – 1998

Achievements

*Best Player of Team Finland with Esa Tikkanen and Jarmo Myllys ( World Championships 1984) *All Star Team ( World Championships 1984; SM-liiga 1987–88, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99) *Most assists ( Elitserien, 1992–93) *Most points ( Elitserien, 1993–94) *The first foreign player to be the top scorer of the Swedish Elitserien (1993–94) *Best Player ( SM-liiga 1997–98) *Most assists (155) and points (207) scored for Team Finland *World record holder for most international games played (331) *One of the only two (with Selänne) ice hockey players who have participated in six

: Sarajevo 1984, Calgary 1988, Albertville 1992, Lillehammer 1994, Nagano 1998 and Salt Lake City 2002 *Inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Helminen, Raimo 1964 births Finnish ice hockey centres Finnish ice hockey world championship gold medalists Ice hockey players at the 1984 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1988 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ice hockey people from Tampere Ice hockey players with retired numbers Ilves players IIHF Hall of Fame inductees Living people Malmö Redhawks players Minnesota North Stars players New Haven Nighthawks players New York Islanders players New York Rangers draft picks New York Rangers players Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players for Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for Finland Springfield Indians players Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics