Henrik Haapala

Henrik Haapala
Born (1994-02-28) 28 February 1994
Lempäälä, Finland
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 176 lb (80 kg; 12 st 8 lb)
Position Left Wing
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Florida Panthers
Tappara
National team  Finland
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2012–present

Henrik Haapala (born 28 February 1994) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who is currently under contract with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Playing career

He is a skilled offensive forward whose biggest asset is his ability to change his skating direction very rapidly alongside with his clever passes. He is rather small for a professional hockey player which might be an issue when the play gets physical, though.[1]

Haapala first played as a 14-year old youth within the Tappara system in 2008. He played his first professional game with Tappara in the 2011–12 season. Early in the 2012–13 season he formed a great line with NHL-veteran Ville Nieminen and Aleksander Barkov as his linemates. Haapala had 13 points in 12 games counting from the start of the season, but after an injury, he lost the pace. He played most of spring 2013 for Tappara's junior team.

In the 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons, he was a regular in Tappara's professional squad, but injuries were holding his development back. There was notable progress in each season however. Haapala agreed to his third contract extension to remain in Tappara by signing a 3-year deal on May 12, 2016.[2]

In the 2016–17 season, Haapala finally made his breakthrough to international level. He scored 15 goals and had 45 assists in 51 regular season games and was awarded the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy for leading the league in total points at the end of the regular season. In the post-season, he had 2 goals and 7 assists in 16 games as Haapala's team Tappara marched to their second consecutive championship. Haapala represented the men's national team in six games in which he had two goals and an assist.

On June 1, 2017, Haapala was signed as a free agent by the Florida Panthers to a two-year, entry-level contract.[3]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2010–11 Tappara Jr. A 18 2 3 5 6 — — — — —
2011–12 Tappara Jr. A 46 16 29 45 18 — — — — —
2011–12 Tappara SM-l 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2012–13 Tappara Jr. A 7 2 5 7 0 8 3 4 7 4
2012–13 Tappara SM-l 32 3 10 13 12 — — — — —
2012–13 LeKi Mestis 4 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2013–14 Tappara Jr. A 2 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 1 0
2013–14 Tappara Liiga 36 1 3 4 2 15 2 1 3 4
2014–15 Tappara Liiga 25 4 6 10 14 20 3 7 10 8
2015–16 Tappara Liiga 47 12 18 30 20 18 3 3 6 10
2016–17 Tappara Liiga 51 15 45 60 18 16 2 7 9 6
Liiga totals 192 35 82 117 66 69 10 18 28 28
Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
2014 Sweden

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2012 Finland WJC18 4th 7 4 6 10 2
2014 Finland WJC 1st, gold medalist(s) 7 1 2 3 8
Junior totals 14 5 8 13 10

References

  1. ↑ "NHL:ään siirtyvä Haapala epäilijöille: "Minulle sanottiin jo vuosia sitten, että olen liian pieni"". Aamulehti.fi (in Finnish). Aamulehti. Retrieved 2 June 2017. Nopeus ja pyörähdykset ovat minun juttuni, mutta voimaa, painoa ja lihasta tarvitsee lisätä. Miehen pitäisi jämäköityä. Kaukalo on pienempi, joten tilannenopeutta pitää kehittää.
  2. ↑ "Tappara release next seasons contract situation" (in Finnish). Tappara. 2016-05-12. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  3. ↑ "Panthers Sign Henrik Haapala and Maxim Mamin to Entry-Level Contracts". Florida Panthers. 2017-06-01.
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