Ville Nieminen

Ville Juhani Nieminen (born April 6, 1977) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward who played over 400 games in the National Hockey League.

Ville Nieminen
Born (1977-04-06) 6 April 1977
Tampere, Finland
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shot Left
Played for Tappara
Colorado Avalanche
Pittsburgh Penguins
Chicago Blackhawks
Calgary Flames
New York Rangers
San Jose Sharks
St. Louis Blues
HC Sibir Novosibirsk
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
Dinamo Riga
Lukko
National team  Finland
NHL Draft 78th overall, 1997
Colorado Avalanche
Playing career 1999–2015

Playing career

Nieminen started his professional hockey career with Tappara in the Finnish SM-liiga, in the 1994–95 season. He was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche as their third-round pick, #78 overall, in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. Nieminen spent three seasons in the AHL with the Hershey Bears before moving to the NHL.

Known for his non-stop motor mouth and aggressive in-your-face style of play, Nieminen was infamous as an annoying opponent on the ice, whose style was heavily reminiscent of Esa Tikkanen. Nieminen was also known for a relaxed personality and his trademark odd sense of humour outside the rink.

Nieminen played for several teams in the NHL, and spent the 2004–05 lockout season playing for his home team, Tappara. He signed with the New York Rangers for the 2005–06 NHL season, and was traded to San Jose on March 8, 2006.

He represented Finland in international play at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and when he was unable to compete at the 2005 IIHF World Championships, he provided commentary on Finnish television with fellow NHL player Tuomo Ruutu. Ville is a popular colour commentator due to his sense of humour and knowledge of the game.

On February 27, 2007, he was traded to the St. Louis Blues. His contract expired in July, and he signed a two-year contract with the Malmö Redhawks, then of the Swedish Allsvenskan.[1] After a single season Nieminen returned to his native land signing with his original club Tappara of the SM-liiga.

On June 16, 2010, Nieminen signed a one-year contract with Russian team, HC Sibir Novosibirsk, of the KHL.[2] On May 6, 2011, Nieminen signed a one-year deal to remain in Russia Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk.[3] During the 2011–12 season, Nieminen remained unsettled, and moved twice in stints with Dinamo Riga and Örebro HK of the HockeyAllsvenskan.

Nieminen returned to Finland the following season, re-joining original club, Tappara on a two-year deal on May 2, 2012.[4] During the 2012–13 season, Nieminen enjoyed a scoring resurgence, leading the team with 22 goals and 50 points in a second place regular season finish. He helped Tappara to a silver medal finish in the playoffs, leading the league with 41 penalty minutes.

Nieminen played a final professional season in 2014–15 with Lukko, scoring 14 points in 50 games, before opting to pursue a coaching career as head coach with Mestis club KeuPa.[5]

Coaching career

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1993–94 Tappara FIN.18 29 13 20 33 66 5 1 2 3 0
1994–95 Tappara FIN.18 15 14 18 32 58 7 2 16 18 22
1994–95 Tappara FIN.2 U20 12 10 17 27 30 4 1 4 5 27
1994–95 Tappara SM-l 16 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1995–96 Tappara FIN.2 U20 6 9 10 19 29 14 11 13 24 34
1995–96 Tappara SM-l 4 0 1 1 8 — — — — —
1995–96 KOOVEE I.div 7 2 1 3 4 — — — — —
1996–97 Tappara SM-l 49 10 13 23 120 3 1 0 1 8
1997–98 Hershey Bears AHL 74 14 22 36 85 — — — — —
1998–99 Hershey Bears AHL 67 24 19 43 127 3 1 0 1 0
1999–00 Hershey Bears AHL 74 21 30 51 54 — — — — —
1999–00 Colorado Avalanche NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2000–01 Hershey Bears AHL 28 10 11 21 48 — — — — —
2000–01 Colorado Avalanche NHL 50 14 8 22 38 23 4 6 10 20
2001–02 Colorado Avalanche NHL 53 10 14 24 30 — — — — —
2001–02 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 13 1 2 3 8 — — — — —
2002–03 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 75 9 12 21 93 — — — — —
2003–04 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 60 2 11 13 40 — — — — —
2003–04 Calgary Flames NHL 19 3 5 8 18 24 4 4 8 55
2004–05 Tappara SM-l 26 14 13 27 32 8 2 4 6 12
2005–06 New York Rangers NHL 48 5 12 17 53 — — — — —
2005–06 San Jose Sharks NHL 22 3 4 7 10 11 0 2 2 24
2006–07 San Jose Sharks NHL 30 1 1 2 14 — — — — —
2006–07 St. Louis Blues NHL 14 0 0 0 29 — — — — —
2007–08 Malmö Redhawks Allsv 34 9 15 24 124 10 2 4 6 10
2008–09 Tappara SM-l 55 22 20 42 82 — — — — —
2009–10 Tappara SM-l 50 15 14 29 142 9 3 3 6 16
2010–11 Sibir Novosibirsk KHL 53 12 23 35 62 4 1 1 2 0
2011–12 Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk KHL 6 1 0 1 4 — — — — —
2011–12 Dinamo Riga KHL 16 0 1 1 14 — — — — —
2011–12 Örebro HK Allsv 15 4 5 9 16 6 0 0 0 2
2012–13 Tappara SM-l 57 22 28 50 132 15 3 3 6 41
2013–14 Tappara Liiga 55 7 15 22 115 17 3 3 6 12
2014–15 Lukko Liiga 50 4 10 14 28 13 0 3 3 2
Liiga totals 362 94 114 208 659 65 12 16 28 91
NHL totals 385 48 69 117 333 58 8 12 20 99

International
Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
Men's Winter Olympics
2006 Turin
World Cup
2004 Toronto
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
1997 Finland WJC 5th 6 2 5 7 2
2002 Finland OG 6th 4 0 1 1 2
2004 Finland WCH 2 0 0 0 0
2006 Finland OG 8 0 1 1 4
Junior totals 6 2 5 7 2
Senior totals 14 0 2 2 6

Awards and honours
Award Year
NHL
Stanley Cup (Colorado Avalanche) 2001
Liiga
Kanada-malja Runner-up 2013, 2014

References
  1. "Nieminen signs with Malmo Redhawkes" (in Swedish). Malmö Redhawks. 2007-07-20. Archived from the original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  2. "In Siberia: Stanley cup champion" (in Russian). HC Sibir Novosibirsk. 2010-06-16. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  3. "Ville Nieminen joins KHL's Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk". Sports.ru. 2011-05-06. Retrieved 2011-05-06.
  4. "Tapola and Barkov coaching the team" (in Finnish). Tappara. 2012-05-02. Archived from the original on 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2012-05-02.
  5. "Nieminen finishes career" (in Finnish). mtv.fi. 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
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