Kari Lehtonen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kari Lehtonen |
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Lehtonen with the Dallas Stars in October 2014
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| Born | November 16, 1983 Helsinki, Finland |
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| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) | ||
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb) | ||
| Position | Goaltender | ||
| Caught | Left | ||
| Played for | Jokerit Atlanta Thrashers Dallas Stars |
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| National team |  Finland |
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| NHL Draft | 2nd overall, 2002 Atlanta Thrashers |
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| Playing career | 1999–2018 | ||
Kari Lehtonen (born November 16, 1983) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played for 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). His teams were the Atlanta Thrashers and the Dallas Stars.
Kari was picked second overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Thrashers. This made him the highest-drafted European goaltender ever. He also tied with Patrik Laine, Alexander Barkov, and Kaapo Kakko as the highest-drafted Finnish player in NHL history.
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Playing Career Highlights
Starting Out in Finland
Kari Lehtonen was chosen second overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. This happened after he had a fantastic season in the Finnish SM-liiga. He started as a backup goalie for Jokerit, a Finnish team. But he soon became the main goalie.
That season, he won the Urpo Ylönen trophy for the best goalie. He also won the Jari Kurri trophy as the playoff MVP. Lehtonen played one more season with Jokerit. Then, he moved to North America to play in the NHL.
Time with the Atlanta Thrashers
During the 2003–04 season, Lehtonen mostly played for the Chicago Wolves. This team was linked to the Thrashers in the American Hockey League (AHL). He was called up to play four games for the Thrashers. He won all four games and even had one shutout. A shutout means the goalie stops every shot and the other team scores no goals.
Lehtonen spent the 2004–05 NHL lockout season with the Wolves. This helped him get used to playing hockey in North America. After playing 57 games for the Wolves, he became the starting goalie for Atlanta in the 2005–06 season.
On the first night of the 2005–06 season, Lehtonen got a serious injury. A player from the Florida Panthers crashed into him. This injury kept him from playing for 35 games. He got hurt again later that season.
In the 2006–07 season, Lehtonen broke a team record. He had the longest shutout streak for the Atlanta Thrashers. He also set new personal bests in many areas. On February 8, 2007, he became the Thrashers' all-time leader in wins for a goalie. He had 49 wins, passing the old record. On April 12, 2007, Lehtonen was the starting goalie for the Thrashers' first ever playoff game.
After a tough start to the 2007–08 season, Lehtonen got another groin injury. He missed 16 games. He finished the season with good stats, but the Thrashers did not make the playoffs.
Joining the Dallas Stars
On February 9, 2010, Lehtonen was traded to the Dallas Stars. He was traded for another player and a draft pick.
Before the 2010–11 season, the Stars signed Lehtonen to a new contract. In his first full season with Dallas, he won 34 games. The Stars just barely missed the 2011 playoffs. They finished only two points behind the last playoff spot.
On September 4, 2012, Lehtonen signed a five-year contract with the Stars.
Lehtonen made the playoffs with the Stars for the first time in 2014. The team was the eighth and final seed in their conference. They lost in six games to the top-seeded Anaheim Ducks.
Before the 2015–16 season, the Stars got another Finnish goalie, Antti Niemi. He and Lehtonen often took turns playing. In the 2016 playoffs, Lehtonen became the main goalie. However, in a key playoff game, he was taken out after letting in three goals. The Stars lost that game and were out of the playoffs.
On December 13, 2017, he earned his 300th career win. He made 32 saves in a game against the New York Islanders. The Stars won 5–2.
Playing for Finland
Lehtonen has played for Finland's national hockey teams many times. He won a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics. He played in two games there: one win and one loss in the semi-finals.
Awards and Honours
 Lehtonen at the 2007 IIHF World Championship |
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| Medal record | ||
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| Men's ice hockey | ||
| Representing Finland |
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| Olympic Games | ||
| Bronze | 2014 Sochi | |
| World Championships | ||
| Silver | 2007 Russia | |
| World Cup | ||
| Silver | 2004 World Cup of Hockey | |
| World Junior Championships | ||
| Silver | 2001 Russia | |
| Bronze | 2002 Czech Republic | |
| Bronze | 2003 Canada | |
| IIHF World U18 Championship | ||
| Gold | 2000 Switzerland | |
| Silver | 2001 Finland | |
- Urpo Ylönen trophy for best SM-liiga goaltender — 2002 and 2003
- Jari Kurri trophy for best player during the playoffs — 2002
- SM-liiga champion 2002
- 2004 World Cup of Hockey (runner-up)
- Silver Medal in the 2007 IIHF World Championship
- Best Goaltender in the 2007 IIHF World Championship
- Bronze Medal in the 2014 Winter Olympics
Hockey Mask Designs
Kari Lehtonen was known for his cool and unique hockey mask designs.
- When he played for the Chicago Wolves, his mask showed the Hamburglar. He got this nickname because he loved McDonald's hamburgers after moving from Finland.
- He also had a picture of rapper Lil Jon on his mask. Lil Jon was a big fan of the Thrashers.
- In the past, Lehtonen's helmets featured characters like Yuna and Rikku from the video game Final Fantasy X-2. He also had Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu's characters from Kill Bill. Even though he used video game characters, he said he never played the game. He just thought the commercials looked awesome.
- He once had a mask with Optimus Prime from Transformers. He only wore this mask during warm-ups, not in a game.
- Another mask showed Heath Ledger's Joker character from The Dark Knight. It also had a cool "ATL" design on the other side.
- His first mask for the Dallas Stars showed Clint Eastwood's character from the movie The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
- His second mask for the Stars featured Chuck Norris.
- His last mask for the Dallas Stars had characters and scenes from the movie Tombstone.
Personal Life
On July 2, 2011, Kari Lehtonen married his longtime girlfriend, Abbe Schutter. They had a private ceremony in Florida. Kari and Abbe met when he was playing in Atlanta.
When he was a kid, Kari's hero was a famous Finnish goalie named Jarmo Myllys.
Images for kids
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Lehtonen with the Dallas Stars in October 2014
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Lehtonen with the Dallas Stars in March 2011
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Lehtonen at the 2007 IIHF World Championship
