Finnish hockey players who left for the NHL this summer all playing in the farm league

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Eight Finnish ice hockey professionals left teams in the SM-Liiga - the premier domestic competition - during the summer to pursue a career across the Atlantic in the lucrative National Hockey League (NHL).
      Today all of them are playing in the AHL or American Hockey League, the feeder or "farm" league for the NHL, and are earning smaller salaries than they might have picked up back home.
     
The player who came closest was probably Anssi Salmela, who left Tappara of Tampere for the New Jersey Devils. Salmela actually played three NHL games for the Devils in four days, but is now plying his trade with the Devils' feeder team the Lowell Devils.
      The general rule of thumb in the NHL is that one has to seize an opportunity with both hands when it comes. It remains to be seen whether Salmela can climb back up or whether he has squandered his chances in record time.
     
Others who left at the same time as Salmela were Oskar Osala and Mikko Lehtonen (Espoo Blues), Janne Pesonen (Oulu Kärpät), Ville Leino (Helsinki Jokerit), Jesse Joensuu (Pori Ässät), Teemu Laakso (Helsinki IFK), and Antti Niemi (Lahti Pelicans).
      Osala is playing with the Washington Capitals' farm team the Hershey Bears and Lehtonen suits up for the Providence Bruins, affiliated with the Boston Bruins of the NHL. Pittsburgh Penguins sent Janne Pesonen to play with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
      Ville Leino (Detroit Red Wings) is now playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins, Jesse Joensuu (NY Islanders) is with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and Teemu Laakso (Nashville Predators) plays for the Milwaukee Admirals.
      Goaltender Niemi (Chicago Blackhawks) was sent to the Rockford Ice Hogs.
     
And what of the SM-Liiga's foreign imports who went off to NHL training camps in the autumn?
      HIFK's Ryan Vesce, Jokerit's Tim Stapleton, Rauma Lukko's Janis Sprukts, and JYP Jyväskylä's Dwight Helminen are all in farm teams.
      Aside from the eight players mentioned above, another nine Finns have been on the ice in the AHL this season, including three goalies.
      Heading the Finnish names in the AHL goals and assists table is center Petri Kontiola, with 4+2 from five matches with the Rockford Ice Hogs. Kontiola played 12 times for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2007/2008 NHL season.


Links:
  American Hockey League
  NHL Finns.com

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