| Sami Helenius | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born | (1974-01-22)January 22, 1974 (age 51) Helsinki, Finland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) | ||
| Weight | 230 lb (104 kg; 16 st 6 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | Jokerit Pelicans Calgary Flames Tampa Bay Lightning Colorado Avalanche Dallas Stars Chicago Blackhawks Ilves | ||
| National team |  Finland | ||
| NHL draft | 102nd overall,1992 Calgary Flames | ||
| Playing career | 1992–2010 | ||
Sami "Helge" Helenius (born January 22, 1974) is aFinnish former professionalice hockeydefenceman who played predominantly in theSM-liiga andNational Hockey League. He most recently was in a coaching role withHaukat of theSuomi-sarja.
Helenius was drafted by theCalgary Flames as their fifth-round pick, 102nd overall, in the1992 NHL Entry Draft. He started his professional career inJokerit in the FinnishSM-liiga in 1992, and made his way to North America for the 1994–95 season, and after spending five years mostly in the minor leagues, Helenius took his place as anNHLdefenceman, playing for several teams. Helenius became known as "the Fighting Finn," as he was one of the few Europeans to play in anenforcer role in North American hockey leagues.
In 2003, he returned to Finland to play in theSM-liiga again. After a year withJokerit where he served as team captain, Helenius represented bothIlves and Pelicans before returning to Jokerit after the 2006–07 season.
After three seasons with Jokerit and during the2009–10 season, Helenius rejoined previous club Pelicans on November 13, 2009.[1] After finishing the season out with Pelicans, Helenius agreed to join HC Keski-Uusimaa of theSuomi-sarja as a player-coach for the 2010–11 season on August 4, 2010, however only opted to coach upon the resumption of the season.[2]
In the summer of 2022, Helenius signed a 1+1 year contract with theKouvola KooKoo.
"I look forward to new challenges at KooKoo! I’ve been watching theLiiga for a couple of years up close and I'm aware of the demands and currents of modern hockey, but I want to bring those good 'old school' elements to the game as well," Helenius said.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1990–91 | Jokerit | FIN U20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Jokerit | FIN.2 U20 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 24 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 24 | ||
| 1992–93 | Jokerit | FIN.2 U20 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 18 | ||
| 1992–93 | Jokerit | SM-l | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Vantaa HT | FIN.2 | 21 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993–94 | Reipas Lahti | FIN.2 U20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 48 | ||
| 1993–94 | Reipas Lahti | SM-l | 37 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 69 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 217 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 68 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 231 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 1996–97 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 72 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 218 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1996–97 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Saint John Flames | AHL | 63 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 185 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Las Vegas Thunder | IHL | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | ||
| 1998–99 | Las Vegas Thunder | IHL | 42 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 193 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Chicago Wolves | IHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||
| 1999–2000 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | ||
| 1999–2000 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 57 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 99 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Dallas Stars | NHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Utah Grizzlies | AHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Jokerit | SM-l | 55 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 103 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004–05 | Ilves | SM-l | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2005–06 | Pelicans | SM-l | 53 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 151 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Pelicans | SM-l | 53 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 126 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2007–08 | Jokerit | SM-l | 49 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 198 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | ||
| 2008–09 | Jokerit | SM-l | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2009–10 | Jokerit | SM-l | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Pelicans | SM-l | 34 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 170 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| SM-l totals | 394 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 1052 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 37 | ||||
| AHL totals | 296 | 8 | 21 | 29 | 925 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 65 | ||||
| NHL totals | 155 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 260 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Finland | EJC | 4th | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | |
| 1993 | Finland | WJC | 5th | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 2003 | Finland | WC | 5th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 28 | ||||
| Senior totals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||