Ville Leino

Infobox Ice Hockey Player


image_size=
team = Detroit Red Wings
former_teams = Jokerit
HPK
Ilves
SaPKo
league = NHL
prospect_team = Grand Rapids Griffins
prospect_league = AHL
position = Left Wing
shoots = Left
height_ft = 6
height_in = 1
weight_lb = 183
nickname =
nationality = FIN
birth_date = birth date and age|1983|10|6
birth_place = Savonlinna, FIN
draft =
draft_year =
draft_team =
career_start = 2002

Ville Leino (born October 6, 1983 in Savonlinna, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward, currently playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings organization.

Leino started playing men's hockey at age 17 for his hometown team SaPKo in the Suomi-sarja. He was recruited into the SM-liiga by Ilves, and later moved on to HPK, where he led the team in scoring in the 2005-06 season when HPK won their first SM-liiga championship.

In 2007, Leino was signed by Jokerit. In his first season with the team, he broke the franchise record for most points in the regular season when he surpassed Timo Sutinen's record of 73 [http://www.jatkoaika.com/smliiga.php?ottelu=21371&versio=raportti] . He went on to finish second in scoring, and won the Lasse Oksanen trophy for the best player during the regular season. [http://www.sm-liiga.fi/arkisto/jokerit/jokerien-ville-leino-runkosarjan-paras-pelaaja.html]

On May 10th, 2008, Leino signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings.

Awards

*SM-liiga all-star 2006 [http://www.jatkoaika.com/smliiga.php?sivu=uutiset&id=5623]
*SM-liiga player of the month, January 2006 and October 2007
*Lasse Oksanen trophy for best player of the regular season, 2008

Career statistics

International play

Leino made his international debut on Team Finland on the 2006-07 Euro Hockey Tour.

External links

* [http://www.jatkoaika.com/smliiga.php?pelaaja=3689 Jatkoaika.com player profile (in Finnish)]
* [http://redwings.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=363098&page=NewsPage&service=page Leino signs 1 year contract with the Detroit Red Wings]
*hockeydb|70492