Saku Salminen (born October 20, 1994) 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 most notably played 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

Salminen was selected by the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. The Lightning compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the ...

in the 7th round (184th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Salminen made his

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 ...

debut playing with

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 ...

during the

2012–13 SM-liiga season The 2012–13 SM-liiga season was the 38th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland, since the league's formation in 1975. The title was won by Ässät Pori who defeated Tappara Tampere in the finals. Teams * Head coache ...

Personal life

Salminen has two hockey-playing brothers, older brother Sami who played for

Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designa ...

and 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 ...

, and younger brother Samu, who was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft by the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

and as of the 2024–25 season plays for the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

. Their father Pekka was a minor professional hockey player in Finland before switching to coaching.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* 1994 births Living people Anglet Hormadi Élite players Finnish ice hockey forwards HPK players Jokerit players ESV Kaufbeuren players Kiekko-Vantaa players SaiPa players Ice hockey people from Helsinki Tampa Bay Lightning draft picks TuTo players Vimmerby HC players 21st-century Finnish sportsmen {{Finland-icehockey-player-stub