Riku Markus Hahl (born November 1, 1980) 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 Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, who played most notably for HPK 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 the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

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 ...

(NHL).

Playing career

Hahl was drafted 183rd overall in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft by the

. Before coming to North America, Hahl played for his hometown team, HPK, in the Finnish

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 ...

, and was known for his defensive skills as a forward. In the autumn of 2000, Hahl left for Colorado, where he impressed the Avalanche coaches at training camp and was rewarded with 43 games in 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 following season, including 21 playoff games. In his NHL career, Hahl played a total of 92 regular season games scoring five goals for a total of thirteen points. He also played 34

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

games, recording two goals and four assists. During the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

Hahl played for HPK, and represented

HC Davos Hockey Club Davos is a professional Swiss ice hockey club based in Davos, Switzerland. Davos plays in the National League (NL). It is generally referred to by its abbreviation "HCD" by the fans. The team is usually a strong force in the league a ...

in the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

NLA during the 2005–06 season. Hahl represented Finland at the

2004 World Cup of Hockey The 2004 World Cup of Hockey was an international ice hockey tournament. It was the second installment of the National Hockey League (NHL)-sanctioned competition, eight years after the inaugural 1996 World Cup of Hockey. It was held from August ...

and scored his first goal on the national team in the final against Team Canada. Hahl signed with

Timrå IK Timrå IK is a professional Swedish ice hockey team based in Timrå, north of Sundsvall. It competes in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), which is the top-tier league in Sweden, since being promoted by winning 2021 SHL qualifiers. Previous sea ...

of Elitserien in the spring of 2006, and completed a two-year deal with the

Medelpad Medelpad ( or ) is a historical province or ''landskap'' in the north of Sweden. It borders Hälsingland, Härjedalen, Jämtland, Ångermanland and the Gulf of Bothnia. The province is a part of Norrland and as such considered to be Northe ...

team before leaving in 2008 for

Frölunda HC Frölunda Hockey Club, previously known as the Frölunda Indians, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They currently play in the highest Swedish league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), formerly the Elitserien, where th ...

. After three seasons with Frölunda as an

alternate captain In ice hockey, the captain is the player designated by a team as the only person authorized to speak with the game officials regarding rule interpretations when the captain is on the ice. At most levels of play each team must designate one captai ...

, Hahl returned to Finland to play for

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 ...

, signing a two-year deal on May 19, 2011. Hahl played four seasons with Jokerit, including the last campaign within the

Kontinental Hockey League 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 ...

, before opting to return to his original club in the Liiga with HPK on an optional two-year contract on July 24, 2015.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hahl, Riku 1980 births Colorado Avalanche draft picks Colorado Avalanche players Finnish ice hockey centres Frölunda HC players HC Davos players Hershey Bears players HPK players Jokerit players Living people Ice hockey people from Hämeenlinna Timrå IK players 21st-century Finnish sportsmen