Ville Nieminen

Ville Nieminen
Born	(1977-04-06) 6 April 1977 Tampere, Finland
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Left Wing
Shot	Left
Played for	Tappara Colorado Avalanche Pittsburgh Penguins Chicago Blackhawks Calgary Flames New York Rangers San Jose Sharks St. Louis Blues HC Sibir Novosibirsk Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk Dinamo Riga Lukko
National team	Finland
NHL draft	78th overall, 1997 Colorado Avalanche
Playing career	1999–2015

Ville Juhani Nieminen (born April 6, 1977) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward who played over 400 games in the National Hockey League.

Playing career

Nieminen started his professional hockey career with Tappara in the Finnish SM-liiga, in the 1994–95 season. He was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche as their third-round pick, #78 overall, in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. Nieminen spent three seasons in the AHL with the Hershey Bears before moving to the NHL.

Known for his non-stop motor mouth and aggressive in-your-face style of play, Nieminen was infamous as an annoying opponent on the ice, whose style was heavily reminiscent of Esa Tikkanen. Nieminen was also known for a relaxed personality and his trademark odd sense of humour outside the rink.

Nieminen played for several teams in the NHL, and spent the 2004–05 lockout season playing for his home team, Tappara. He signed with the New York Rangers for the 2005–06 NHL season, and was traded to San Jose on March 8, 2006.

He represented Finland in international play at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and when he was unable to compete at the 2005 IIHF World Championships, he provided commentary on Finnish television with fellow NHL player Tuomo Ruutu. Ville is a popular colour commentator due to his sense of humour and knowledge of the game.

On February 27, 2007, he was traded to the St. Louis Blues. His contract expired in July, and he signed a two-year contract with the Malmö Redhawks, then of the Swedish Allsvenskan. After a single season Nieminen returned to his native land signing with his original club Tappara of the SM-liiga.

On June 16, 2010, Nieminen signed a one-year contract with Russian team, HC Sibir Novosibirsk, of the KHL. On May 6, 2011, Nieminen signed a one-year deal to remain in Russia Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. During the 2011–12 season, Nieminen remained unsettled, and moved twice in stints with Dinamo Riga and Örebro HK of the HockeyAllsvenskan.

Nieminen returned to Finland the following season, re-joining original club, Tappara on a two-year deal on May 2, 2012. During the 2012–13 season, Nieminen enjoyed a scoring resurgence, leading the team with 22 goals and 50 points in a second place regular season finish. He helped Tappara to a silver medal finish in the playoffs, leading the league with 41 penalty minutes.

Nieminen played a final professional season in 2014–15 with Lukko, scoring 14 points in 50 games, before opting to pursue a coaching career as head coach with Mestis club KeuPa.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1994–95	Tappara	SM-l		16	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Tappara	SM-l		4	0	1	1	8		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Tappara	SM-l		49	10	13	23	120		3	1	0	1	8
1997–98	Hershey Bears	AHL		74	14	22	36	85		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Hershey Bears	AHL		67	24	19	43	127		3	0	1	1	0
1999–00	Hershey Bears	AHL		74	21	30	51	54		9	2	4	6	6
1999–00	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Hershey Bears	AHL		28	10	11	21	48		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		50	14	8	22	38		23	4	6	10	20
2001–02	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		53	10	14	24	30		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		13	1	2	3	8		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		75	9	12	21	93		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		60	2	11	13	40		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Calgary Flames	NHL		19	3	5	8	18		24	4	4	8	55
2004–05	Tappara	SM-l		26	14	13	27	32		8	2	4	6	12
2005–06	New York Rangers	NHL		48	5	12	17	53		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	San Jose Sharks	NHL		22	3	4	7	10		11	0	2	2	24
2006–07	San Jose Sharks	NHL		30	1	1	2	14		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	St. Louis Blues	NHL		14	0	0	0	29		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Malmö Redhawks	Allsv		34	9	15	24	124		3	1	3	4	6
2008–09	Tappara	SM-l		55	21	20	41	82		—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Tappara	SM-l		50	15	14	29	142		9	3	3	6	16
2010–11	HC Sibir Novosibirsk	KHL		53	12	23	35	62		4	1	1	2	0
2011–12	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	KHL		6	1	0	1	4		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Dinamo Riga	KHL		16	0	1	1	14		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Örebro HK	Allsv		15	5	4	9	16		6	0	0	0	2
2012–13	Tappara	SM-l		57	22	28	50	132		15	3	3	6	41
2013–14	Tappara	Liiga		55	7	15	22	115		17	3	3	6	12
2014–15	Lukko	Liiga		50	4	10	14	28		4	0	1	1	2
NHL totals				385	48	69	117	333		58	8	12	20	99

International

Medal record
Representing Finland
Ice hockey
Men's Winter Olympics
	2006 Turin
World Cup
	2004 Toronto

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1997	Finland	WJC	5th		6	2	5	7	2
2002	Finland	OG	6th		4	0	1	1	2
2004	Finland	WCH			2	0	0	0	0
2006	Finland	OG			8	0	1	1	4
Junior totals					6	2	5	7	2
Senior totals					14	0	2	2	6

Awards and honours

Award	Year
NHL
Stanley Cup (Colorado Avalanche)	2001
Liiga
Kanada-malja Runner-up	2013, 2014

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database