Toni Lydman

Toni Petteri Lydman (born 25 September 1977) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He first played competitively in his native Finland with Tappara, and HIFK of the SM-liiga before enjoying a lengthy career in the National Hockey League with the Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres and the Anaheim Ducks.

Toni Lydman
Born	25 September 1977 Lahti, Finland
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	202 lb (92 kg; 14 st 6 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Played for	Tappara HIFK Calgary Flames Buffalo Sabres Anaheim Ducks
National team	Finland
NHL Draft	89th overall, 1996 Calgary Flames
Playing career	1996–2013

Playing career

Lydman was drafted by Calgary in the fourth round, 89th overall at the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. He spent four seasons playing in Finland's SM-liiga for Tappara in Tampere and HIFK in Helsinki before making his NHL debut for the Flames in the 2000–01 NHL season.

His best season came in 2001-02, when he scored 28 points on 6 goals and 22 assists, tying for fifth for his team in assists and sixth in points scoring. In the 2002–03 NHL season, Lydman led his defense in points with 26 and managed to remain injury-free the whole season, only missing one game due to illness. Calgary made it to the Stanley Cup finals in the 2003–04 NHL season, but Lydman missed most of their playoff campaign due to injury. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, which wiped out the entire 2004–05 NHL season, Lydman returned to Helsinki for HIFK but only managed to play eight games.

On 25 August 2005, Lydman was traded from Calgary to the Buffalo Sabres for a third-round draft pick (John Armstrong) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft,

In the 2007-08 season, Lydman had the 16th most hits in the league for a defenceman.

Having lost the Olympic final (2006), World Championship final (1998, 1999), World Cup final (2004) and Stanley Cup final (2004), Lydman and his fellow countrymen Jarkko Ruutu and Sami Salo (Kimmo Timonen also belonged to the club before winning the Stanley Cup at the end of his career(2015)), are the only members of the unofficial "Quadruple Silver Club", a somewhat humorous reference to the Triple Gold Club and the unofficial "Quadruple Gold Club" for players who have won the most important championships available to the sport.

On July 1, 2010 signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Ducks for $9 million over three years.[1] His Ducks debut was delayed until mid-October because of problems with double vision.

After completion of the lockout shortened 2012–13 season, in which he finished the season heavily concussed from a Justin Abdelkader hit in a playoff series loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Lydman retired from professional hockey and accepted a TV analyst role to cover Finnish Hockey.[2]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1994–95	Reipas Lahti	FIN U18		9	7	4	11	12		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Reipas Lahti	FIN.2 U20		26	6	4	10	10		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Reipas Lahti	FIN.2 U20		8	2	2	4	6		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Reipas Lahti	FIN.2		39	5	2	7	30		3	0	1	1	0
1996–97	Tappara	SM-l		49	1	2	3	65		3	0	0	0	6
1997–98	Tappara	SM-l		48	4	10	14	48		4	0	2	2	0
1998–99	HIFK	SM-l		42	4	7	11	36		11	0	3	3	2
1999–2000	HIFK	SM-l		46	4	18	22	36		9	0	4	4	6
2000–01	Calgary Flames	NHL		62	3	16	19	30		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Calgary Flames	NHL		79	6	22	28	52		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Calgary Flames	NHL		81	6	20	26	28		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Calgary Flames	NHL		67	4	16	20	30		6	0	1	1	2
2004–05	HIFK	SM-l		8	1	2	3	2		5	0	3	3	0
2005–06	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		75	1	16	17	82		18	1	4	5	18
2006–07	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		67	2	17	19	55		16	2	2	4	14
2007–08	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		82	4	22	26	74		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		80	3	20	23	70		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		67	4	16	20	30		6	0	1	1	6
2010–11	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		78	3	22	25	42		6	0	0	0	2
2011–12	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		74	0	13	13	46		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Anaheim Ducks	NHL		35	0	6	6	12		3	0	0	0	0
SM-l totals				193	14	39	53	187		32	0	12	12	14
NHL totals				847	36	206	242	551		55	3	8	11	42

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1995	Finland	EJC18			5	2	3	5	2
1996	Finland	WJC	6th		6	0	2	2	6
1997	Finland	WJC	5th		6	2	0	2	6
1998	Finland	WC			10	0	1	1	31
1999	Finland	WC			10	0	0	0	4
2000	Finland	WC			9	1	0	1	12
2002	Finland	WC	4th		9	1	1	2	0
2003	Finland	WC	5th		7	2	1	3	6
2004	Finland	WCH			6	0	3	3	6
2006	Finland	OG			8	1	0	1	10
2010	Finland	OG			6	0	0	0	2
Junior totals					17	4	5	9	14
Senior totals					65	5	6	11	71

Awards

• Pekka Rautakallio trophy for best defenceman in the SM-liiga - 2000
• Silver Medal Winner at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Men's Ice Hockey
• Bronze Medal Winner at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Men's Ice Hockey

References

1. "Ducks sign Lydman to 3-year deal". Anaheim Ducks. 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
2. "Lydman to replace Niittimayki on channel four's hockey team". iltasanomat.fi. 2013-08-30. Retrieved 2013-08-30.

External links

• Toni Lydman career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Toni Lydman player profile at NHL.com