Niko Hovinen

Niko Hovinen
Born March 16, 1988
Helsinki, Finland
Height 6 ft 7 in (201 cm)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
National team  Finland
NHL Draft 132nd overall, 2006
Minnesota Wild
Playing career 2005–present

Medal record
Competitor for Finland Finland
Ice hockey
World Championships
Gold 2011 Slovakia

Niko Hovinen (born March 16, 1988) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender.

Playing career

Jokerit

Niko Hovinen's SM-liiga career started during the 2005-06 season when Hovinen dressed for a single regular-season Jokerit game as backup to Joonas Hallikainen, after Tim Thomas abruptly left the team only a day before the start of the 2005–06 regular season. Hovinen returned to the junior team for the rest of the season. He made his first SM-liiga start on November 23, 2006, against SaiPa, again called up when three Jokerit goaltenders were injured.

During the 2007–08 season, Hovinen served as backup to Jussi Markkanen. Hovinen was relegated to no. 3 goaltender when Jokerit acquired Joni Puurula from SaiPa just before the end of regular season. Hovinen dressed up to serve as backup for Joni Puurula in several games during the 2007–08 playoffs as Jussi Markkanen got himself injured during the first game of playoffs.

Pelicans

During the off-season of 2007–08 SM-liiga season, Niko Hovinen was contracted to Pelicans. For the first time, Niko Hovinen will play outside of Jokerit-organization in 2008-09 season.

A tall goaltender at 196 cm, Hovinen covers the net very well and is considered a highly promising goaltender prospect.

Hovinen was ranked #10 on the International Scouting Service's list of goaltender prospects for the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He was drafted in the fifth round, 132nd overall, by the Minnesota Wild.

North America

Hovinen signed a two-year entry level contract with the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers on May 17, 2011.[1] He remained with the Pelicans through the 2011–12 season.[2]

On January 25, 2013 the Edmonton Oilers claimed Hovinen off unconditional waivers.[3] He was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Oklahoma City Barons, where he remained to end the 2013–14 season.

On July 2, 2013, Hovinen's NHL rights were retained by the Oilers after he was tendered a qualifying offer. He opted to return to Europe signing a contract with Metallurg Novokuznetsk of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T/OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2006–07 Jokerit SM-l 1 0 1 0 60 4 0 4.00 .871 — — — — — — — —
2007–08 Jokerit SM-l 4 0 1 0 125 12 0 5.78 .833 — — — — — — — —
2008–09 Pelicans SM-l 21 7 12 1 1110 54 2 2.92 .896 1 0 0 11 3 0 15.72 .667
2009–10 Pelicans SM-l 18 5 7 3 944 47 1 2.99 .914 — — — — — — — —
2010–11 Pelicans SM-l 49 17 25 5 2826 122 3 2.59 .921 — — — — — — — —
2011–12 Pelicans SM-l 41 21 12 6 2358 89 5 2.26 .921 8 5 2 442 17 2 2.30 .925
2012–13 Trenton Titans ECHL 16 4 6 3 841 44 0 3.14 .889 — — — — — — — —
2012–13 Oklahoma City Barons AHL 10 5 3 2 612 30 1 2.94 .892 — — — — — — — —
2013–14 Metallurg Novokuznetsk KHL 18 2 13 0 856 43 0 3.01 .916 — — — — — — — —
Liiga totals 134 50 58 5 7423 328 11 2.65 .910 9 5 2 454 20 2 2.64 .916

References

  1. ↑ "Flyers sign (G) Hivonen". philadelphiaflyers.com. 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  2. ↑ Sarah Baicker (2011-05-17). "Flyers sign goalie Hovinen to entry-level contract". CSNPhilly.com. Retrieved 2011-05-17.
  3. ↑ "Oilers claim G Niko Hovinen off waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers - Edmonton Oilers - Transactions". edmontonoilers.com. 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2013-01-25.

External links