Karri Rämö facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Karri Rämö
Ramo warming up with the Flames
Born	(1986-07-01) July 1, 1986 (age 39) Asikkala, Finland
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
team Former teams	Free Agent Lahti Pelicans HPK Tampa Bay Lightning Avangard Omsk Calgary Flames Jokerit Djurgårdens IF HC TPS ERC Ingolstadt
National team	Finland
NHL Draft	191st overall, 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning
Playing career	2003–present

Karri Rämö (born July 1, 1986) is a talented Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender. A goaltender is the player who tries to stop the puck from going into their team's net. Karri is currently a free agent, meaning he is not signed with any team right now.

He started his professional hockey journey in Finland's top league, the SM-Liiga. He played for the Lahti Pelicans and then HPK. With HPK, he helped his team win the Kanada-malja championship in the 2005–06 season. The Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL chose him in the 2004 draft. He played 48 games for the Lightning between 2006 and 2009 before going back to play in Europe.

Karri Rämö played four seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) for Avangard Omsk. He was even chosen twice to play in the KHL All-Star Game. He returned to the NHL for the 2013–14 season, joining the Calgary Flames. He played 111 games for the Flames over three seasons until 2016. After that, he played in the KHL again, then in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) for Djurgårdens IF, and later for ERC Ingolstadt in Germany.

Karri Rämö's Hockey Journey

Starting in Finland and the NHL Draft

Karri Rämö was picked by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the sixth round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He was the 191st player chosen overall. Karri grew up playing hockey with the Lahti Pelicans team in Finland. He made his first appearance in Finland's top league, the SM-liiga, during the 2003–04 season.

The next season, he played 26 games for the Pelicans. After that, he signed a contract with HPK for the 2005–06 season. At HPK, Karri shared the goaltending duties with another player, Miika Wiikman. They both played very well, and their team won the SM-liiga championship that season. Karri also played for the Finnish junior team in the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He was the backup goalie to Tuukka Rask in that tournament.

Playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning

After winning the championship with HPK, Karri Rämö signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He started playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) for the Norfolk Admirals. This was Tampa's main minor league team.

Karri made his first NHL appearance on December 2, 2007, against the Ottawa Senators. He came into the game to replace another goalie. On December 19, he was called up to the Lightning again. The very next day, he won his first NHL game as a starter against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The final score was 2–1. He ended the 2007–08 season with 7 wins and 11 losses.

Rämö after a game with Avangard Omsk in 2011.

For the 2008–09 season, the Lightning signed an experienced goalie named Olaf Kölzig. This meant Karri started the season back with the Norfolk Admirals in the AHL. However, the Lightning called him up many times during the season. He played 24 games that year, but only got 4 wins.

Moving to the KHL

Since it looked like he might go back to the AHL for the 2009–10 season, Karri Rämö decided to sign a two-year contract with a Russian team. On June 23, 2009, he joined Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Later, on August 16, 2010, Karri's NHL rights were traded to the Montreal Canadiens. This happened in a trade for another goalie named Cédrick Desjardins.

In January 2011, Karri was chosen to be the starting goalie for the Eastern Conference in the Kontinental Hockey League All-Star Game. He received more fan votes than any other player in the league! However, he couldn't play in the game because of an injury.

Return to the NHL with the Calgary Flames

On January 12, 2012, Karri Rämö was part of a big trade. He was traded to the Calgary Flames along with Michael Cammalleri and a draft pick. In return, the Flames sent Rene Bourque, Patrick Holland, and another draft pick to Montreal.

On July 5, 2013, Karri signed a new two-year contract with Calgary. This contract was worth $5.8 million and meant he would return to the NHL. Before the 2013–14 season began, he won the job as Calgary's main starting goalie. He took over from the retired Miikka Kiprusoff, beating out other goalies like Joey MacDonald and Reto Berra.

During the 2014–15 season, Karri had a record of 15 wins, 9 losses, and 3 overtime losses. He shared the goaltending duties with Jonas Hiller, who had recently joined the team. Hiller started more games, including the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs. Karri didn't play in the playoffs until he replaced Hiller in Game 6 of their series against the Vancouver Canucks. The Flames won that game and the series.

After Hiller didn't play well in Game 1 of the next series against the Anaheim Ducks, Karri started all the remaining playoff games for the Flames. Even though he played well, the Flames lost the series in five games. He finished the playoffs with 2 wins and 3 losses.

On July 1, 2015, Karri signed another one-year contract with Calgary, reportedly worth $3.8 million. He had a tough start to the season and was sent down to the AHL. But after Hiller got injured, Karri was called back up and played most of Calgary's games. Unfortunately, a serious knee injury in a game against the San Jose Sharks ended his season early.

Later Career and Injuries

After recovering from his injury, Karri Rämö was a free agent. In December 2016, he signed a try-out contract with the Toronto Marlies in the AHL. He played three games for them but didn't get any wins. In February 2017, he was released from his contract and went back to Finland to continue getting healthy.

In the 2018–19 KHL season, Karri signed for a second time with Avangard Omsk. However, injuries kept him from playing any games that season.

As a free agent in the 2019–20 season, Karri showed he was healthy again. He signed a one-year contract with the Swedish team, Djurgårdens IF, in October 2019. He was signed to help the team when other goalies were injured. He agreed that his contract could end after six weeks if his injuries came back.

He later played for TPS in Finland during the 2020–21 season and for ERC Ingolstadt in Germany during the 2021–22 season.

Career Statistics

Regular Season and Playoffs