| Simo Saarinen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
February 14, 1963 Helsinki, FIN | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 178 lb (81 kg; 12 st 10 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
HIFK New York Rangers | ||
| National team |
Finland | ||
| NHL Draft |
193rd overall,
1982 New York Rangers | ||
| Playing career | 1980–1996 | ||
Simo Olavi Saarinen (born February 14, 1963, in Helsinki, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman
Playing career
Simo Saarinen started his career in his hometown team Helsingin IFK. Saarinen played once in the European Junior Ice Hockey Championships and twice in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and was soon noticed by NHL scouts. Saarinen was drafted by New York Rangers in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. After 1984 Olympic Ice Hockey tournament Saarinen went to NHL. Saarinen was injured during his debut season for New York Rangers. Due to the injuries Saarinen did not play in the 1985–86 season and returned to HIFK for 1986–87 season. Saarinen played for HIFK until 1996 when he finally retired from active playing.
After retirement
After retiring in 1996 Saarinen started to referee ice hockey games in Finland. Saarinen refereed his first SM-liiga games in the 2001–2002 SM-Liiga season. Currently Saarinen referees hockey games in Helsinki and Southern Finland area.
International play
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Ice hockey | ||
 |
1988 Calgary | Ice hockey |
For Finland Saarinen played twice in Ice Hockey World Championships and three times in Olympic Hockey Tournament. Saarinen was part of the historic Ice Hockey at the 1988 Winter Olympics Ice Hockey Team which won Finland's first international tournament medal, a silver one.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1980–81 | HIFK | SM-l | 20 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1981–82 | HIFK | SM-l | 36 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 1982–83 | HIFK | SM-l | 36 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | ||
| 1983–84 | HIFK | SM-l | 36 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1984–85 | New York Rangers | NHL | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | New Haven Nighthawks | AHL | 13 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 11 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | HIFK | SM-l | 36 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1987–88 | HIFK | SM-l | 39 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 29 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 1988–89 | HIFK | SM-l | 34 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1989–90 | HIFK | SM-l | 41 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 38 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1990–91 | HIFK | SM-l | 27 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | HIFK | SM-l | 43 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1992–93 | HIFK | SM-l | 46 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1993–94 | HIFK | SM-l | 40 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1994–95 | HIFK | SM-l | 42 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 40 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1995–96 | HIFK | SM-l | 30 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| SM-l totals | 506 | 71 | 104 | 175 | 331 | 54 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 30 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Finland | EJC | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 1982 | Finland | WJC | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | |
| 1983 | Finland | WJC | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | |
| 1984 | Finland | OG | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | |
| 1988 | Finland | OG | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 1989 | Finland | WC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1990 | Finland | WC | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
| 1992 | Finland | OG | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| Junior totals | 19 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 12 | |||
| Senior totals | 30 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 34 | |||
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
- 1963 births
- Finnish ice hockey defencemen
- HIFK (ice hockey) players
- Ice hockey players at the 1984 Winter Olympics
- Ice hockey players at the 1988 Winter Olympics
- Ice hockey players at the 1992 Winter Olympics
- Ice hockey players with retired numbers
- Living people
- New Haven Nighthawks players
- New York Rangers draft picks
- New York Rangers players
- Olympic ice hockey players for Finland
- Olympic silver medalists for Finland
- Ice hockey people from Helsinki
- Olympic medalists in ice hockey
- Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics