Heikki Riihiranta

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Position	Defence
Shoots	Left
Nickname(s)	Hexi
Height Weight	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 185 lb (84 kg/13 st 3 lb)
Pro clubs	SM-liiga HIFK WHA Winnipeg Jets
Nationality	Finland
Born	October 4, 1948 (1948-10-04) (age 59), Helsinki, FIN
Pro career	1967 – 1983

Heikki Riihiranta (born October 4, 1948 in Helsinki, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga and World Hockey Association.

Contents 1 Playing career 1.1 Career in Finland 1.2 Career in WHA 2 Non-Playing Career 2.1 Team Manager for Finnish National Team

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Career in Finland

Riihiranta started out his career as an Forward in Helsinki club HIFK but was moved to play Defence by then HIFK Player-Coach and former NHL'er Carl Brewer.

Riihiranta had a good career in Finland and was one of the premier players for the National Team at his time.

[edit] Career in WHA

Heikki Riihiranta was one of the first Finns move to play in North America.

Riihiranta played for 3 full seasons in Winnipeg Jets, a Canadian WHA team.

After his retirement as a player in 1983, he was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991 for his doings as a player.

[edit] Non-Playing Career

[edit] Team Manager for Finnish National Team

In 1993, Heikki Riihijärvi was named as the Team Manager for Finnish National Ice Hockey Team.

During his time, Riihiranta worked with 3 different Head Coaches. The coaches were: Pentti Matikainen, Curt Lindström and Hannu Aravirta.

Riihiranta had his finest moment when he shed tears in the players bench after Finland won the World Championships over Sweden in 1995.

Riihiranta retired from his position after the 2003 Ice Hockey World Championship's.

Preceded by Kimmo Heino

Captain of HIFK 1977–83

Succeeded by Matti Hagman