Kari Lehtonen

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Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
Nickname	"Kärppä"
Height Weight	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg)
NHL Team	Atlanta Thrashers
Nationality	Finland
Born	November 16, 1983, Helsinki, FIN
NHL Draft	2nd overall, 2002 Atlanta Thrashers
Pro Career	2004 – present

Kari Lehtonen (born November 16, 1983 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender. He was drafted 2nd overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers. In 2001, as the youngest goalie in the SM-liiga, he earned the league's playoff MVP award, while he was playing for Jokerit.

During the 2003-2004 NHL season he played four games for the Thrashers, winning all four of them and posting one shutout. On opening night of the 2005-2006 season, Lehtonen suffered a serious groin injury when Florida Panthers center Nathan Horton collided with Lehtonen. The injury sidelined him for 35 games. Lehtonen was once again injured on April 6, 2006 when Tampa Bay Lightning forward Chris Dingman collided with him. Lehtonen tried to get to his feet but sprained his ankle in the process.

Shortly into the 2006-2007 NHL Season Kari Lehtonen broke the Atlanta Thrashers shutout streak record previously held by Michael Garnett.

AirTran Airways, a low-cost airline with an Atlanta hub with more than 250 departures per day, signed Kari Lehtonen as an endorser for the 2006-2007 season.

On February 8, 2007 Lehtonen became the Thrashers franchise leader for wins by a goaltender with 49, surpassing Pasi Nurminen's record of 48.

[edit] Awards

Urpo Ylönen trophy for best SM-liiga goaltender - 2002 and 2003
Jari Kurri trophy for best player during the playoffs - 2002

[edit] Trivia

He had a depiction of Lil Jon on his helmet, who is an avid Thrashers fan.
In the past, Lehtonen has worn a helmet featuring characters Yuna and Rikku from the video game Final Fantasy X-2.
Lehtonens boyhood hero is retired Finnish goaltender Jarmo Myllys.
Lehtonens current mask features Uma Thurman and Lucy Lui's characters from Kill Bill.

[edit] External links

Lehtonen's biography at atlantathrashers.com
Lehtonen's statistics at hockeydb.com
Kari Lehtonen on nhlfinns.com
Kari Lehtonen an unofficial website

Preceded by Jussi Markkanen	Winner of the Urpo Ylönen trophy 2001-02 & 2002-03	Succeeded by Niklas Bäckström
Preceded by Jussi Tarvainen	Winner of the Jari Kurri trophy 2001-02	Succeeded by Esa Pirnes