Antti Niemi (ice hockey)

This article is about the ice hockey goaltender. For the ice hockey defenseman, see Antti-Jussi Niemi.
Antti Niemi
Niemi warms up before a game in 2010
Born August 29, 1983
Vantaa, Finland
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team
Former teams 		San Jose Sharks
Chicago Blackhawks
National team  Finland
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2005–present

Antti Niemi (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈɑntːi ˈniemi]; born August 29, 1983) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL). During the 2009–10 season as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, he became the first Finnish goaltender to win the Stanley Cup. Niemi signed a contract to play for Pelicans in the SM-liiga in Finland during the 2012–13 NHL lockout.

Playing career

Early years

Niemi played junior-level hockey for Kiekko-Vantaa from 1998 until 2005, where he also worked part-time as a Zamboni driver.[1] He turned pro with the Pelicans of the Finnish SM-liiga in 2005, playing three seasons with the team. In November 2007, Niemi debuted for the Finnish national team.[2] He then signed with the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL as an undrafted free agent in 2008. Assigned to Chicago's minor league affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, Niemi spent the majority of the 2008–09 season in the American Hockey League (AHL), alternating starts with Corey Crawford. In February 2009, he was called up to the Blackhawks as an injury replacement. He made his NHL debut on February 27, playing one period in a 5–4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Niemi recorded his first NHL start and win several days later on March 1, a 4–2 victory versus the Los Angeles Kings.

Stanley Cup season with Chicago

Niemi with the Blackhawks in 2010

The following season, Niemi made the Blackhawks lineup out of training camp. The Blackhawks began their season with a back-to-back season opening series against the Florida Panthers, held in Niemi's native Finland in the city of Helsinki. The first game of the season opener was held October 2, 2009. Niemi started the second game, held on October 3.[3] In that game, Niemi stopped all 23 shots he faced against the Panthers to earn his first NHL shutout.

Compiling a very respectable record of 26–7–4 during the regular season, Niemi was named the Blackhawks' starting goaltender for the playoffs near the end of the 2009–10 NHL regular season and prior to the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, replacing Cristobal Huet. During game two of the opening series, Niemi recorded a shutout victory against the Nashville Predators at United Center, making him the first Blackhawks goaltender since Ed Belfour in 1996 to record a post-season shutout.[4]

On April 22, 2010, Niemi stopped 33 shots to record his second shutout of the post-season, making him the first Chicago goaltender since Tony Esposito in 1974 to record two shutouts in one playoff series. On May 16, 2010, Niemi made 44 saves in a 2–1 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final. Chicago ended up sweeping the series against San Jose in four games.

In only his second Stanley Cup Finals game, Niemi made 32 saves, earning the Player of the Game honors from the NHL.[5] On June 9, 2010, Niemi led the Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup championship with a 4–3 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Niemi was the third Finnish goaltender to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals and the first ever to win the Cup.

Niemi filed for arbitration during the off-season, and was eventually awarded $2.75 million. Chicago officially walked away from the deal on August 2 due to salary cap restraints and signed veteran goaltender Marty Turco from the Dallas Stars for $1.3 million.

San Jose Sharks

On September 2, 2010, Niemi officially signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the San Jose Sharks.[6] He made 30 saves in his first regular season victory with the Sharks, a 3–2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. After a poor start to the season, Niemi was platooned with fellow Finnish netminder Antero Niittymäki, but strong play in the month of February, which saw him go 14–2–1 with a 1.91 goals against average (GAA) and .924 save percentage, cemented him as the Sharks' starting goaltender.[6] On March 1, 2011, Niemi signed a four-year contract extension with San Jose worth $15.2 million.[6] His nickname with the Sharks is "Nemo."[7]

In October 2012, Niemi signed a one-month contract with Pelicans in Finland during the 2012–13 NHL lockout.[8] In the 2012–13 season, Niemi led the Sharks in GAA with 2.16, while leading the NHL in minutes played with 2,581, tied for the League lead with 24 wins in 43 starts, along with finishing third in the NHL with 1,127 saves.[9] On May 8, 2013, Niemi was nominated for the Vezina Trophy, but ultimately lost out to Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets.[10]

International

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Competitor for  Finland
Winter Olympics
Bronze 2014 Sochi Team

Niemi won a Bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, dressing for four of Finland's six games but he did not see any ice time.[11]

Awards and achievements

Career statistics

Regular season

Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2005–06PelicansSM-liiga4012178— 226310332.73.916
2006–07Pelicans SM-liiga4818217— 278011932.57.918
2007–08Pelicans SM-liiga4926146— 279110942.35.926
2008–09Chicago BlackhawksNHL311—114180 3.40.864
2008–09Rockford IceHogsAHL3818143— 20958522.43.910
2009–10Chicago BlackhawksNHL39267— 421908272.25.912
2010–11San Jose SharksNHL603518— 6352414062.38.920
2011–12San Jose SharksNHL683422— 9393615962.42.915
2012–13San Jose SharksNHL432412— 6 25819342.16.924
2013–14San Jose SharksNHL643917— 7 374014942.39.913
2014–15San Jose SharksNHL613123— 7 358715552.59.914
NHL totals 338190100— 4019,700786322.39.916
AHL totals3818143— 20948522.43.910
SM-liiga totals137565221— 7834331102.55.899

Playoffs

   
Season Team League GP W L MIN GA SA GAA SV%
2006–07 Pelicans SM-liiga 6 2 4 370 9 175 1.46 .951
2007–08 Pelicans SM-liiga 6 2 4 328 21 158 3.83 .883
2009–10 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 22 16 6 1,322 58 645 2.63 .910
2010–11 San Jose Sharks NHL 18 8 9 1,044 56 538 3.22 .896
2011–12 San Jose Sharks NHL 5 1 4 318 13 151 2.45 .914
2012–13 San Jose Sharks NHL 11 7 4 673 21 298 1.87 .930
2013–14 San Jose Sharks NHL 6 3 3 305 19 164 3.74 .884
NHL totals 62 35 26 3,662 167 1,796 2.74 .907
SM-liiga totals 12 4 8 698 30 333 2.50 .917

References

  1. ↑ "Fortunate phone call sparked Niemi's career". blackhawks.nhl.com. 28 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2 June 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  2. ↑ "Maalivahti Niemellä kelpo debyytti Leijonissa". MTV3 (in Finnish). 8 November 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  3. ↑ "In front of home crowd, goalie Niemi gives Blackhawks shutout". Associated Press. 2008-10-03. Archived from the original on 8 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  4. ↑ "Antti Niemi posts Chicago Blackhawks' first playoff shutout since 1996". Chicago Tribune. 2010-04-18. Archived from the original on 22 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  5. ↑ http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Ice_hockey:_Blackhawks_take_2-0_series_lead_in_the_2010_Stanley_Cup_Finals?dpl_id=188836
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Sharks Add Niemi". San Jose Sharks. 2 September 2010.
  7. ↑ "Niemi, Sharks blank Coyotes". WPTZ. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013. San Jose players call goaltender Antti Niemi "Nemo," and it is not hard to find him.
  8. ↑ Kurz, Kevin. "Niemi to Finland; Stuart's no-trade clause". csnbayarea.com. October 5, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  9. ↑ "2012-13 Season Infographic - 6/25/2013". San Jose Sharks. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ http://stats.iihf.com/Hydra/388/IHM400000_83_58_0_FIN.pdf

External links