Ville Pokka

Ville Pokka (born June 3, 1994) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenseman currently under contract with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Ville Pokka
Born (1994-06-03) June 3, 1994
Tornio, Finland
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Right
KHL team
Former teams		 Avangard Omsk
Oulun Kärpät
Rockford IceHogs
Belleville Senators
National team  Finland
NHL Draft 34th overall, 2012
New York Islanders
Playing career 2010–present

Playing career

Pokka played with Kärpät in the SM-Liiga during the 2010–11 season.[1] He was drafted 23rd overall by Avangard Omsk in the 2012 KHL Junior Draft and 34th overall by the New York Islanders in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

On May 28, 2014, Pokka was signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Islanders.[2]

Prior to the 2014–15 season, on October 4, 2014, Pokka was traded, along with T. J. Brennan and Anders Nilsson by the Islanders to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Nick Leddy and Kent Simpson.[3] He was then directly assigned to Blackhawks American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.[4]

After three seasons with the organization (all of which were spent with the IceHogs), the Blackhawks re-signed Pokka to a one-year, $650,000 contract extension on June 27, 2017.[5]

In the 2017–18 season, Pokka was familiarly reassigned to the IceHogs. On December 13, 2017, Pokka was recalled by the Blackhawks however remained a healthy scratch before returning to Rockford on December 18. After posting 22 points in 46 games, Pokka was traded by the Blackhawks to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Chris DiDomenico on February 15, 2018.[6] Pokka joined the Senators AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, and continued to provide offense from the blueline with 3 goals and 11 points in 23 games to end the season.

As an impending restricted free agent with the Senators, Pokka opted to leave North America by agreeing to a one-year contract with his Russian KHL draft club, Avangard Omsk, on May 8, 2018.[7]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Kärpät FIN U18 20 0 5 5 10 5 0 0 0 4
2010–11 Kärpät FIN U18 3 0 2 2 0 9 0 7 7 8
2010–11 Kärpät FIN U20 32 6 15 21 16 — — — — —
2010–11 Kärpä SM-l 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2010–11 Kiekko-Laser Mestis 3 0 3 3 0 — — — — —
2011–12 Kärpät FIN U20 4 3 4 7 2 — — — — —
2011–12 Kärpät SM-l 35 0 3 3 12 9 0 3 3 2
2012–13 Kärpät FIN U20 3 0 0 0 4 — — — — —
2012–13 Kärpät SM-l 47 6 6 12 8 3 0 2 2 0
2013–14 Kärpät Liiga 54 6 21 27 16 16 2 9 11 10
2014–15 Rockford IceHogs AHL 68 8 22 30 16 8 0 3 3 0
2015–16 Rockford IceHogs AHL 76 10 35 45 24 3 0 1 1 0
2016–17 Rockford IceHogs AHL 76 6 24 30 35 — — — — —
2017–18 Rockford IceHogs AHL 46 4 18 22 20 — — — — —
2017–18 Belleville Senators AHL 23 3 8 11 8 — — — — —
2018–19 Avangard Omsk KHL 61 7 10 17 8 19 2 1 3 6
2019–20 Avangard Omsk KHL 62 1 12 13 18 6 1 1 2 0
Liiga totals 138 12 30 42 38 28 2 14 16 12
KHL totals 123 8 22 30 26 25 3 2 5 6

International
Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing  Finland
World Championships
2016 Russia
World Junior Championships
2014 Malmö
Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2011 Finland WHC17 7th 5 1 0 1 4
2011 Finland WJC18 5th 6 0 0 0 2
2011 Finland IH18 4th 5 2 3 5 2
2012 Finland WJC 4th 7 1 3 4 4
2012 Finland WJC18 4th 7 1 5 6 4
2013 Finland WJC 7th 6 2 4 6 2
2014 Finland WJC 7 1 3 4 4
2016 Finland WC 10 0 2 2 0
2016 Finland WCH 8th 3 0 0 0 0
2018 Finland WC 5th 8 0 0 0 0
Junior totals 43 8 18 26 22
Senior totals 21 0 2 2 0

References
  1. "Kärpät team statistics". Eliteprospects.com. 2011-04-15. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
  2. "Pokka agrees to entry-level contract". New York Islanders. 2014-05-28. Retrieved 2014-05-28.
  3. "Blackhawks acquire prospects from Islanders for Leddy". Chicago Blackhawks. 2014-10-04. Retrieved 2014-10-04.
  4. "Islanders acquire Nick Leddy in trade with Blackhawks". National Hockey League. 2014-10-04. Retrieved 2014-10-04.
  5. "Blackhawks sign defenseman Ville Pokka to one-year deal". The Athletic. 2017-06-27. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
  6. "Senators acquire defenceman Ville Pokka from Chicago for Chris DiDomenico". National Hockey League. February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  7. "Finnish national defenseman Ville Pokka joins Avangard" (in Russian). Avangard Omsk. 2018-05-08. Retrieved 2018-05-08.


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