Oskar Osala

Oskar Osala
Born December 26, 1987 (1987-12-26) (age 24)
Vaasa, FIN
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight 217 lb (98 kg; 15 st 7 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
KHL team
Former teams
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk
Washington Capitals
Carolina Hurricanes
National team  Finland
NHL Draft 97th Overall, 2006
Washington Capitals
Playing career 2004–present

Oskar Osala (born December 26, 1987 in Vaasa, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey Left Wing currently playing with the HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Contents

Playing career

He started his career with Vaasa-based Sport. He made his North American debut with the OHL's Mississauga IceDogs in 2005, and was drafted in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, 97th overall, 4th round, by the Washington Capitals.

Osala shared the goal scoring title in 2007 IIHF World Junior Championships. Osala scored five goals in six games, sharing the lead with four other players.

In the 2007–08 season, he played for the Espoo Blues of the SM-liiga. He also made his senior national team debut during the season. After the season, Osala was named SM-liiga rookie of the year.

Osala signed a three-year contract with the Capitals in June 2008, and was assigned to Washington's AHL affiliate in Hershey.[1] On December 10, 2008, Osala made his NHL debut replacing the injured Tomas Fleischmann in the Caps' 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins, playing two games total before being returned to the Bears. Osala finished the season with the Hershey Bears' Calder Cup winning team, scoring two goals in Game 1 of the Calder Cup Finals.

On March 3, 2010, Osala was traded along with Brian Pothier to the Carolina Hurricanes for Joe Corvo.[2] Osala made a brief NHL appearance with Carolina shortly after the trade, but spent most of the remainder of the season with the Albany River Rats.

Unable to find a role with the Hurricanes and subsequently assigned to AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers for the duration of the following season, on May 25, 2011, Osala signed a one-year contract with Russian team Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL.[3]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2003–04 Sport Fin-1 5 0 0 0 0
2004–05 Sport Fin-1 21 1 4 5 6 7 0 0 0 6
2005–06 Mississauga IceDogs OHL 68 17 26 43 86
2006–07 Mississauga IceDogs OHL 54 22 22 44 81 5 2 2 4 0
2007–08 Blues SM-l 53 18 17 35 62 17 7 3 10 8
2008–09 Hershey Bears AHL 75 23 14 37 47 22 6 4 10 17
2008–09 Washington Capitals NHL 2 0 0 0 0
2009–10 Hershey Bears AHL 53 15 14 29 57
2009–10 Albany River Rats AHL 16 10 3 13 11 8 2 1 3 2
2009–10 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 1 0 0 0 0
2010–11 Charlotte Checkers AHL 59 13 29 42 55 15 3 2 5 29
NHL totals 3 0 0 0 0

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM
2004 Finland WHC17 5 1 1 2 6
2005 Finland WJC18 6 0 0 0 27
2007 Finland WJC 6 5 3 8 4
2010 Finland WC 4 0 0 0 2
Junior int'l totals 17 6 4 10 37
Senior int'l totals 4 0 0 0 2

References

External links