Anssi Salmela

Anssi Salmela (born 13 August 1984) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing with EHC Biel of the National League (NL).

Anssi Salmela
Born (1984-08-13) 13 August 1984
Nokia, Finland
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 201 lb (91 kg; 14 st 5 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NL team
Former teams		 EHC Biel
Tappara
Lahti Pelicans
New Jersey Devils
Atlanta Thrashers
Avangard Omsk
Modo Hockey
HV71
Färjestad BK
Brynäs IF
Kunlun Red Star
Linköpings HC
Dinamo Riga
National team  Finland
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2003–present

Playing career

Undrafted, Salmela's professional career started in the 2003–04 season with Finnish SM-liiga side Tappara, where he made his debut on 24 January 2004. His place was settled in Tappara for another year, but the next year he was transferred to Pelicans. In 2007, he moved back to Tappara.

Salmela was a member of Team Finland that won a bronze medal in the World Under-20 Championship. He made his debut for the senior national team in the 2008 IIHF World Championships held in Canada in 2008. On 22 May 2008, he signed a one-year, two-way contract with the New Jersey Devils of the NHL.[1]

In the 2008–09 season, Salmela made his NHL and North American debut with New Jersey in the season opener on 10 October 2008, in a 2–1 win over the New York Islanders.[2] However, Salmela spent the majority of his time with the Devils affiliate the Lowell Devils of the American Hockey League (AHL). On 2 March 2009, Salmela was traded by the Devils to the Atlanta Thrashers for Niclas Hävelid.[3] In his second game with the Thrashers Salmela scored his first career NHL goal in a 5–1 win against the Washington Capitals on 16 March 2009.[4]

On 4 February 2010, Salmela was traded back to the New Jersey Devils along with Ilya Kovalchuk for Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier and a 1st round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.[5] Salmela scored only one goal in 2010–11, but it was a big one. On 12 March, he scored an overtime goal against Al Montoya to give the Devils a 3–2 victory over the New York Islanders.[6] Salmela did not receive a qualifying offer from the Devils following the 2010–11 season, making him an unrestricted free agent.[7] He signed a two-year contract with Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), reportedly for US$1.5 million per season, on 15 July 2011.[8] When his contract was up at the end of the 2012–13 season, he moved to Sweden, penning a deal with Modo Hockey, before transferring to fellow SHL side HV71 during the 2013-14 campaign. In the following two years, he played for two more SHL clubs, Färjestad BK and Brynäs IF.

He was signed by newly founded KHL side Red Star Kunlun from Beijing, China, in July 2016[9] and left the team by mutual consent in November 2016.[10]

On June 5, 2018, Salmela agreed to a one-year contract with EHC Biel of the National League (NL). On December 4, 2018, Salmela was signed to an early one-year contract extension by Biel through the end of the 2019–20 season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2003–04 Tappara Tampere SM-l 10 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 2
2004–05 Tappara Tampere SM-l 48 1 5 6 49 8 0 0 0 0
2005–06 Tappara Tampere SM-l 8 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2005–06 Pelicans SM-l 48 8 8 16 59 — — — — —
2006–07 Pelicans SM-l 56 11 12 23 58 6 1 1 2 4
2007–08 Tappara Tampere SM-l 56 16 16 32 40 11 0 6 6 14
2008–09 New Jersey Devils NHL 17 0 3 3 6 — — — — —
2008–09 Lowell Devils AHL 38 8 16 24 41 — — — — —
2008–09 Chicago Wolves AHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2008–09 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 9 1 2 3 2 — — — — —
2009–10 Atlanta Thrashers NHL 29 1 4 5 22 — — — — —
2009–10 New Jersey Devils NHL 9 1 2 3 0 — — — — —
2010–11 New Jersey Devils NHL 48 1 6 7 14 — — — — —
2010–11 Albany Devils AHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2011–12 Avangard Omsk KHL 22 6 4 10 14 21 1 3 4 16
2012–13 Avangard Omsk KHL 37 2 12 14 37 11 0 1 1 6
2013–14 Modo Hockey SHL 8 2 4 6 20 — — — — —
2013–14 HV71 SHL 36 7 14 21 64 5 1 1 2 2
2014–15 Färjestad BK SHL 42 6 17 23 28 3 1 2 3 4
2015–16 Brynäs IF SHL 24 4 11 15 47 3 0 1 1 4
2016–17 Kunlun Red Star KHL 10 3 2 5 8 — — — — —
2016–17 Linköpings HC SHL 32 4 14 18 28 6 0 2 2 2
2017–18 Dinamo Riga KHL 33 5 12 17 18 — — — — —
2018–19 EHC Biel NL 49 10 11 21 28 12 0 5 5 6
2019–20 EHC Biel NL 37 5 11 16 10 — — — — —
Liiga totals 226 36 42 78 208 28 1 7 8 20
NHL totals 112 4 17 21 44 — — — — —
KHL totals 102 16 30 46 77 32 1 4 5 22

Salmela with Finland.
Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
World Championships
2011 Slovakia
2016 Russia
2008 Canada
World Junior Championships
2004 Finland

International
Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2004 Finland WJC 7 1 2 3 6
2008 Finland WC 8 0 0 0 37
2009 Finland WC 5th 7 1 0 1 2
2011 Finland WC 9 1 2 3 4
2012 Finland WC 4th 7 0 2 2 25
2015 Finland WC 6th 8 0 2 2 4
2016 Finland WC 5 0 1 1 2
Junior totals 7 1 2 3 6
Senior totals 44 2 7 9 74

Awards and honours
Award Year
Liiga
Bronze Medal (Tappara) 2007–08
Juha Rantasila Trophy (most goals for defenseman) 2007–08

References
  1. "Salmela joins New Jersey". (in Fin) yle.fi. 22 May 2008. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
  2. "Brodeur stops penalty shot, saves Devils in season opener". cbssportsline.com. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  3. "Devils acquire veteran defender Hävelid". cbcsports.ca. 2 March 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2009.
  4. "Lehtonen saves career-high 49 shots in Thrashers' sixth straight win". cbssports.com. 16 March 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  5. "Thrashers ship Kovalchuk to Devils for players, 1st rounder". The Sports Network. 4 February 2010. Archived from the original on 5 February 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
  6. "Anssi Salmela scores in overtime, surging Devils beat Islanders 3-2". The Hockey News. 12 March 2011. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  7. Chere, Rich (27 June 2011). "Devils qualify Matt Corrente, Vladimir Zharkov, Matt Taormina, Mark Fraser; Alexander Vasyunov to play in Russia". The Star-Ledger. NJ.com. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  8. "Ex-Devil Salmela signs with KHL's Avangard Omsk". 15 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  9. "Kunlun Red Star: First Press Conference". Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  10. "Энлунд переезжает в Китай и другие трансферы 14-15 ноября". Retrieved 15 November 2016.
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