Riku Helenius (born March 1, 1988) is a
Finnish professional
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) 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. In ice hockey, two o ...
goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...
currently playing for
Dresdner Eislöwen in the
DEL2
DEL2 (also known as DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany, below the ''Deutsche Eishockey Liga'' (DEL) and ahead of the '' Oberliga''. Founded in 2013 to replace the defunct '' 2nd Bundesliga'', DEL2 is administered by ESBG, ...
.
Playing career
Helenius was selected 15th overall in the
2006 NHL Entry Draft by the
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...
, partly on the strength of his silver medal-winning performance for the
Finnish national men's hockey team in the 2006 under-18
World Junior Championships. He played for
Ilves
Ilves (; Finnish for "Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Tampere Deck Arena.
The colors of Ilves, green, yellow, and black, were taken from what was then the coat of arms of the ci ...
during the 2006–07 season but due to a shoulder injury only played four games.
The
Seattle Thunderbirds selected Helenius with the 46th overall selection in the 2007 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft. Helenius joined the Thunderbirds roster at the start of the 2007–2008 season. In December 2007, Helenius was selected as goalie for the Finnish World Junior Team in the 2008
IIHF World Junior Championships
The IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC), or simply the "World Juniors" in ice hockey circles, 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 t ...
.
On October 17, 2008, Helenius was assigned to the
Augusta Lynx of the
ECHL
The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL).
Th ...
. He played first NHL game on January 30, 2009, against the
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wel ...
.
In 2009, he went on to play for
Södertälje SK
Södertälje Sportklubb, also known as Södertälje SK and often referred to as SSK, is a Swedish professional ice hockey club playing in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second highest level of pro hockey in Sweden. Södertälje were charter members of El ...
after playing just 10 game for the
Norfolk Admirals.
For the
2011–12 season he returned to Finland and signed with
JYP Jyväskylä of the
SM-liiga
The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...
, where he won the league championship and the
Urpo Ylönen trophy for best goaltender.
After a great season in Finland,
Steve Yzerman
Stephen Gregory Yzerman (; born May 9, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player currently serving as executive vice president and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he spent all 22 seasons of his NHL playing c ...
, General Manager of the
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...
, expressed interest in bringing Helenius back to North America, as he was still a Lightning prospect. On June 13, 2012, Helenius signed a two-year contract with the Lightning.
In the midst of the
2013–14 season, with Helenius unable to make an impact up the Lightning's depth chart, on February 22, 2014, he was placed on $125 unconditional waivers, which would bring his contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning to an mutual end.
On April 14, 2014, Helenius agreed to a multi-year contract with Finnish club
Jokerit of the KHL.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
References
External links
*
1988 births
Living people
Augusta Lynx players
Dresdner Eislöwen players
Elmira Jackals (ECHL) players
Florida Everblades players
Ilves players
Jokerit players
JYP Jyväskylä players
KalPa players
Lahti Pelicans players
Mississippi Sea Wolves players
National Hockey League first-round draft picks
Norfolk Admirals players
People from Pälkäne
Seattle Thunderbirds players
Södertälje SK players
Syracuse Crunch players
Tampa Bay Lightning draft picks
Tampa Bay Lightning players
Finnish ice hockey goaltenders
Sportspeople from Pirkanmaa
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