Tommy Salo
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| Position | Goaltender |
| Caught | Left |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 181 lb (82 kg/12 st 13 lb) |
| Pro clubs | Västerås IK (SEL) New York Islanders (NHL) Denver Grizzlies (IHL) Utah Grizzlies (IHL) Edmonton Oilers (NHL) Colorado Avalanche (NHL) MODO Hockey (SEL) Frölunda HC (SEL) |
| Nationality |  Sweden |
| Born | February 1, 1971 , Surahammar, SWE |
| NHL Draft | 118th overall, 1993 New York Islanders |
| Pro career | 1990 – 2007 |
Thomas "Tommy" Mikael Salo (born February 1, 1971 in Surahammar) is a former professional ice hockey goaltender from Sweden. His parents are both Finnish, which explains his non-Swedish last name.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
He played for Västerås IK, MODO Hockey and 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.
The New York Islanders selected him in 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.
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 replaced Salo as Team Sweden's number one goalie.
On December 9, 2006, in an interview with Swedish newspaper Expressen, Salo announced that the he would retire from hockey after the 2006-07 season.[1]
On March 5, 2007, hockey club Kungälvs IK of the Swedish tier III league announced an agreement with Tommy Salo as their head coach for the next two seasons.[2]
[edit] The Goal
In the quarter finals of the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, a shot, taken by Belarus defenceman Vladimir Kopat, 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. Because the whole star-studded Swedish team played poorly enough to only have managed to tie the inferior opponents, his 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]
[edit] Awards/ Accolades
- Member of gold-medal winning Swedish Olympic team, 1994.
- Winner, James Gatchene Memorial Trophy, 1994-95.
- Winner, James Norris Memorial Trophy, 1994-95.
- Winner, Gerry F. Longman Memorial Trophy, 1994-95.
- Named to IHL All-Star first team, 1994-95.
- Winner, N.R. (Bud) Poile Trophy, 1995-96.
- Goaltender for Swedish Olympic Team, February 1998.
- Played in NHL All-Star Game, 1999-2000.
- Played in NHL All-Star Game, 2001-02.
- Named NHL Player of the Week, March 25, 2002.
- Named NHL Player of the Week, March 10, 2003.
[edit] Records
- Holds the Edmonton Oilers all-time record by a goalie for lowest goals-against average (2.40).
[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 HC | SEL | 37 | -- | -- | -- | 2.47 | 17 | -- | -- | -- | 2.35 | ||
| 2006-07 | Frölunda HC | SEL | 22 | -- | -- | -- | 3.29 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
[edit] References
- ^ Mattias Eriksson (2006). Tommy Salo slutar (Swedish). Expressen.se. Retrieved on 2006-12-18.
- ^ Styrelsen, Kungälvs Ishockey Klubb (2007). Tommy Salo ny tränare i Kungälvs Ishockey Klubb (Swedish). Kungälv Hockey. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
[edit] External links
- Tommy Salo's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
- Salo's bio at hockeygoalies.org
- Tommy Salo Fan-Page
