Tommy Salo
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| Position | Goaltender |
| Catches | Left |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 181 lb (82 kg) |
| SEL Team | Frölunda HC |
| Nationality |  Sweden |
| Born | February 1, 1971, Surahammar, SWE |
| NHL Draft | 118th overall, 1993 New York Islanders |
| Pro Career | 1990 – present |
Thomas ("Tommy") Mikael Salo (born February 1, 1971 in Surahammar) is a professional ice hockey goaltender from Sweden. He has played for Västerås IK, MODO Hockey and currently for Frölunda HC of the Swedish Elitserien; the Denver Grizzlies and Utah Grizzlies of the International Hockey League; and the New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, and Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League.
Selected by New York Islanders round 5, #118 overall in the 1993 NHL Entry draft.
Salo played goal during the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway when Sweden won the gold medal in a shoot out. He made a critical save against Canada's Paul Kariya in the final sudden death round of the shoot out to secure Sweden's first Olympic gold medal in ice hockey.
He is also remembered for the strange goal scored against him by Belarus in the quarter final of the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. The shot, taken from 70 feet out, bounced off Salo's mask, went up in the air, and bounced off of his back and into the net, Salo was erect the whole time. This goal eliminated Sweden from the tournament in a stunning upset.
Team Sweden's captain Mats Sundin complained over fans and media making Salo the scapegoat. "The entire team played subpar, a single fluke goal shouldn't cost us the game."[citation needed]
Salo also played for Sweden in several World Championships and was the top ranked Swedish goalie from 1994-2003.[citation needed]
Salo did not meet with the same degree of success in his National Hockey League career, although he did have some good years for the Edmonton Oilers after leaving the New York Islanders, and Salo played in the NHL All-Star Game in 2000 and in 2002. He never won a Stanley Cup Playoff series, and finished his NHL career with a 5-16 post-season record.
Salo is also famous for his reaction at an arbitration hearing in which then-New York Islanders General Manager Mike Milbury drove Salo to tears.
On March 17, 2005 Salo announced that he was retiring from hockey. However, on August 4th the same year he announced that he wanted to play again, this time for the Frölunda Indians. This led to a conflict with MoDo Hockey since they had agreed to terminate his contract upon his retirement. Now they wanted Frölunda to pay for Tommy. On August 11th the issue was settled, Salo would play for Frölunda and Modo withdrew their claim.
With this he replaced Henrik Lundqvist as the starting goaltender for the Indians, just as Lundqvist has replaced Salo as the starting goalie for the National Team.
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | T | GAA | GP | W | L | T | GAA | ||
| 1990-91 | Västerås IK | SEL | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1993-94 | Västerås IK | SEL | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | Denver Grizzlies | IHL | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | New York Islanders | NHL | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3.02 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1995-96 | Utah Grizzlies | IHL | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1995-96 | New York Islanders | NHL | 10 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4.02 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1996-97 | New York Islanders | NHL | 58 | 20 | 27 | 8 | 2.82 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1997-98 | New York Islanders | NHL | 62 | 23 | 29 | 5 | 2.64 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998-99 | New York Islanders | NHL | 51 | 17 | 26 | 7 | 2.62 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998-99 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 13 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2.31 | 4 | 0 | 4 | -- | 2.22 | ||
| 1999-00 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 70 | 27 | 28 | 13 | 2.33 | 5 | 1 | 4 | -- | 2.82 | ||
| 2000-01 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 73 | 36 | 25 | 12 | 2.46 | 6 | 2 | 4 | -- | 2.21 | ||
| 2001-02 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 69 | 30 | 28 | 10 | 2.22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 65 | 29 | 27 | 8 | 2.71 | 6 | 2 | 4 | -- | 3.14 | ||
| 2003-04 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 44 | 17 | 18 | 6 | 2.58 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003-04 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2.37 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2004-05 | MoDo Hockey | SEL | 36 | -- | -- | -- | 2.58 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | 3.18 | ||
| 2005-06 | Frölunda Indians | SEL | 37 | -- | -- | -- | 2.47 | 17 | -- | -- | -- | 2.35 | ||
[edit] External links
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements | 1971 births | Colorado Avalanche players | Edmonton Oilers players | Frölunda HC players | Living people | MODO Hockey players | New York Islanders players | Swedish ice hockey players | Olympic competitors for Sweden | Olympic gold medalists for Sweden | Hockey players at the 1994 Winter Olympics | Hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics
