Tuomas Oskar Grönman (born 22 March 1974) 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 who played 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 ...

and

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 ...

Playing career

Grönman was drafted in the second round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association (1972–1979) an ...

. After spending 4 years in Finland developing his skills, the Nordiques still owned his negotiating rights but Gronman was not offered a professional contract. Soon after, the Quebec franchise moved to Colorado, becoming the Avalanche; Gronman's NHL negotiating rights were traded to the Chicago Blackhawks by 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 ...

on 10 July 1996, in exchange for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

' second-round pick in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Colorado selected

Philippe Sauvé Philippe Sauvé (born February 27, 1980) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender who last played with the Hamburg Freezers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Sauvé played in the National Hockey League for the Colorado Avalanche, Ca ...

with that pick. A little more than a year later on 27 October 1997, the Blackhawks traded Gronman to the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

in exchange for veteran forward Greg Johnson. On 18 October 1998, while playing in a game for Pittsburgh's farm team, the

Kansas City Blades The Kansas City Blades were a professional ice hockey team in the International Hockey League (1945–2001), International Hockey League (IHL) from 1990 until 2001, when the league folded. The Blades were based in Kansas City, Missouri, at Kempe ...

of the IHL, Gronman suffered a significant knee injury causing him to miss the majority of the 1998-1999 IHL season. Soon after Gronman's contract expired, and with no NHL or minor league interest his professional North American career was over. He returned overseas and played for

TPS TPS or Tps may refer to: In arts and entertainment *Télévision Par Satellite, a French satellite television company *Third-person shooter, a game genre * Torsonic Polarity Syndrome, in ''South Park'' animation * Trailer Park Sex, a band from ...

Lukko Rauman Lukko (Finnish for "lock") is a Finnish sports club based in Rauma, Finland, Rauma, Finland, best known for its men's professional ice hockey team. The club was founded as Rauma Woodin Lukko in 1936. The representative team currently pla ...

and

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 ...

. Gronman would also help Finland win a bronze medal at the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* * * 1974 births Living people Chicago Blackhawks players Finnish ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Indianapolis Ice players Jokerit players Kansas City Blades players Lukko players Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players for Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey People from Viitasaari Pittsburgh Penguins players Quebec Nordiques draft picks Syracuse Crunch players Tacoma Rockets players HC TPS players Ice hockey people from Central Finland 20th-century Finnish people 21st-century Finnish people {{Finland-Winter-Olympic-medalist-stub