Niko Hovinen

Niko Hovinen
Niko Hovinen meeting fans
Born	March 16, 1988 (1988-03-16) (age 23) Helsinki, Finland
Height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
NHL team (P) Cur. team Former teams	Philadelphia Flyers Pelicans (SM-liiga) Jokerit
National team	Finland
NHL Draft	132nd overall, 2006 Minnesota Wild
Playing career	2005–present

Medal record
Competitor for Finland
Ice hockey
World Championships
Gold	2011 Slovakia

Niko Hovinen (born March 16, 1988) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender who currently plays for the Pelicans of the SM-liiga.

Playing career

Jokerit (2005–2008)

Niko Hovinen's SM-liiga career started during the 2005-06 season when Hovinen dressed for a single regular-season Jokerit game as backup to Joonas Hallikainen, after Tim Thomas abruptly left the team only a day before the start of the 2005–06 regular season. Hovinen returned to the junior team for the rest of the season. He made his first SM-liiga start on November 23, 2006, against SaiPa, again called up when three Jokerit goaltenders were injured.

During the 2007–08 season, Hovinen served as backup to Jussi Markkanen. Hovinen was relegated to no. 3 goaltender when Jokerit acquired Joni Puurula from SaiPa just before the end of regular season. Hovinen dressed up to serve as backup for Joni Puurula in several games during the 2007–08 playoffs as Jussi Markkanen got himself injured during the first game of playoffs.

Pelicans (2008–current)

During the off-season of 2007–08 SM-liiga season, Niko Hovinen was contracted to Pelicans. For the first time, Niko Hovinen will play outside of Jokerit-organization in 2008-09 season.

A tall goaltender at 196 cm, Hovinen covers the net very well and is considered a highly promising goaltender prospect.^{[citation needed]}

Hovinen was ranked #10 on the International Scouting Service's list of goaltender prospects for the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He was drafted in the fifth round, 132nd overall, by the Minnesota Wild.

NHL Philadelphia Flyers (2011)

Hovinen signed a two-year entry level contract with the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers on May 17, 2011.^[1] He will remain with the Pelicans through the 2011–12 season.^[2]

Career statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	Sv%
2005–06	Jokerit	SM-liiga		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
2006–07	Jokerit	SM-liiga		1	0	0	1	59.56	4	0	4.00	87.1%
2007–08	Jokerit	SM-liiga		4	0	1	0	60.00	12	0	5.78	83.3%
2008–09	Pelicans	SM-liiga		21	7	12	1	1110.00	12	2	2.92	89.6%
2009–10	Pelicans	SM-liiga		18	5	7	3	944.00	47	1	2.99	91.4%
SM-liiga Totals				44	12	20	5	2173.56	75	3	2.25	87.8%

References

1. ^ "Flyers sign (G) Hivonen". philadelphiaflyers.com. 2011-05-17. http://flyers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=563023. Retrieved 2011-05-17. 
2. ^ Sarah Baicker (2011-05-17). "Flyers sign goalie Hovinen to entry-level contract". CSNPhilly.com. http://www.csnphilly.com/05/17/11/Flyers-sign-goalie-Hovinen-to-entry-leve/news_flyers.html?blockID=524112&feedID=704. Retrieved 2011-05-17. "His Finnish team, in a press release, said he will remain with them through the duration of next season." 

External links

• Niko Hovinen's career stats at Eliteprospects.com
• Niko Hovinen's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Niko Hovinen's NHL player profile
• Jatkoaika.com player profile (in Finnish)

Persondata
Name	Hovinen, Niko
Alternative names
Short description	Finnish ice hockey player
Date of birth	March 16, 1988
Place of birth	Helsinki, Finland
Date of death
Place of death