Sami Lepistö facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sami Lepistö |
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| Born | 17 October 1984 Espoo, Finland |
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| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| NL team Former teams |
SCL Tigers Jokerit Washington Capitals Phoenix Coyotes Columbus Blue Jackets Chicago Blackhawks Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Lev Prague Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg Salavat Yulaev Ufa Luleå HF |
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| National team |  Finland |
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| NHL Draft | 66th overall, 2004 Washington Capitals |
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| Playing career | 2003–2023 | ||
Sami Lepistö (born 17 October 1984) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played for many teams during his career. These included teams in Finland, the United States, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland. Sami was chosen by the Washington Capitals in the third round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. This means he was the 66th player picked overall that year. His father, Jussi Lepistö, was also a famous hockey defenceman.
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Sami Lepistö's Hockey Journey
Sami Lepistö had a long and successful career in ice hockey. He played in top leagues around the world. These included the NHL in North America and the KHL in Europe. He also proudly represented his home country, Finland, in many international tournaments.
Early Career with Jokerit
Sami started his professional hockey journey with Jokerit in the Finnish SM-liiga. In his first season, 2003–04, he played 53 games. He scored 3 goals and had 7 points. He also played for the Finnish junior team. They competed in the 2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Sami scored four goals and eight points in seven games there.
His scoring numbers kept getting better. In the 2004–05 season, he got 7 goals and 25 points in 55 games. He also played well in the playoffs for Jokerit. He scored 1 goal and 8 points in 12 playoff games.
Sami returned to Jokerit for the 2005–06 season. He scored 8 goals and 29 points in 56 games. However, the 2006–07 season was tough due to injuries. He only played 26 games, scoring 1 goal and 10 points. On May 31, 2007, Sami signed his first contract with the Washington Capitals. This was his step towards playing in the NHL.
Playing in the NHL
When Sami joined the Washington Capitals, he first played for their minor league team. This team was the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League (AHL). In the 2007–08 season, he played 55 games. He scored 4 goals and had 45 points. He also had a great plus/minus rating of +29.
Sami made his first NHL appearance on February 16, 2008, with the Capitals. He played seven games in the 2007–08 season and got one assist. After the season, he played for Finland in the 2008 IIHF World Championship. He scored one goal and one assist in seven games.
Sami spent most of the 2008–09 season with the Hershey Bears again. He scored 4 goals and 42 points in 70 games. He also played seven games with the Capitals, getting four assists. On June 27, 2009, Sami was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes.
He played the entire 2009–10 season with the Phoenix Coyotes. He scored 1 goal and 11 points in 66 games. He helped the team reach the playoffs. In seven playoff games with the Coyotes, he scored one goal. Sami also played for Finland at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He had one assist in six games there. He continued with the Coyotes for the 2010–11 season. He scored 4 goals and 11 points in 51 games.
On February 28, 2011, Sami was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Then, on July 15, 2011, he signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Time in the KHL
On June 4, 2012, Sami Lepistö decided to move to the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He signed a one-year contract to play for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl.
On January 12, 2013, Sami was traded to Lev Prague in the KHL. In the summer of 2013, he signed a two-year contract with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. After that, he signed a one-year contract with Salavat Yulaev Ufa. During the 2016 playoffs, he was one of the top-scoring defencemen. He had 13 points, tying with two other players.
After two seasons with Ufa, Sami returned to his original club, Jokerit. By then, Jokerit was also playing in the KHL. This was announced on May 22, 2017.
After KHL
For the 2021–22 season, Sami Lepistö joined Luleå HF in the Swedish Hockey League. After that, he spent a year playing for SCL Tigers in the Swiss National League. He had planned to play for HIFK in the Finnish Liiga for the 2023–24 season. However, he had to end his career before it started. Doctors found a serious heart condition called an aortic aneurysm. This made it too risky for him to continue playing contact sports.
Career Statistics
Here are Sami Lepistö's statistics from his time playing in regular seasons and playoffs.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1999–2000 | Jokerit | FIN U16 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 16 | ||
| 2000–01 | Jokerit | FIN U16 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2001–02 | Jokerit | FIN U18 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 12 | ||
| 2001–02 | Jokerit | FIN U20 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Jokerit | FIN U20 | 36 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 34 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8 | ||
| 2003–04 | Jokerit | SM-l | 53 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2004–05 | Jokerit | SM-l | 55 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 44 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 12 | ||
| 2005–06 | Jokerit | SM-l | 56 | 8 | 21 | 27 | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Jokerit | SM-l | 26 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 32 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2007–08 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 55 | 4 | 41 | 45 | 51 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2007–08 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 70 | 4 | 38 | 42 | 80 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 7 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 66 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 60 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2010–11 | Phoenix Coyotes | NHL | 51 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Columbus Blue Jackets | NHL | 19 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 26 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | KHL | 26 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Lev Prague | KHL | 11 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2013–14 | Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | KHL | 53 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 67 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2014–15 | Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg | KHL | 60 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 44 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2015–16 | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | KHL | 60 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 33 | 19 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 16 | ||
| 2016–17 | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | KHL | 53 | 6 | 25 | 31 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2017–18 | Jokerit | KHL | 56 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 34 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 8 | ||
| 2018–19 | Jokerit | KHL | 59 | 8 | 28 | 36 | 65 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | Jokerit | KHL | 61 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 58 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2020–21 | Jokerit | KHL | 27 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2021–22 | Luleå HF | SHL | 39 | 4 | 25 | 29 | 24 | 17 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 20 | ||
| 2022–23 | SCL Tigers | NL | 52 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| SM-l totals | 190 | 19 | 52 | 71 | 164 | 30 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 20 | ||||
| NHL totals | 176 | 6 | 29 | 35 | 137 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||||
| KHL totals | 466 | 54 | 161 | 215 | 391 | 63 | 9 | 24 | 33 | 48 | ||||
International Play
Sami Lepistö also had a great career playing for the Finnish national team. He won several medals in major international tournaments.
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  Finland |
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| Ice hockey | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Bronze | 2010 Vancouver | |
| Bronze | 2014 Sochi | |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 2011 Slovakia | |
| Bronze | 2008 Canada | |
| World Junior Championships | ||
| Bronze | 2004 Finland | |
Here are Sami Lepistö's statistics from his international games.
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Finland | WJC |  |
7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | |
| 2008 | Finland | WC | |
7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |
| 2010 | Finland | OG | |
6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 2011 | Finland | WC |  |
9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
| 2013 | Finland | WC | 4th | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2014 | Finland | OG | |
6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2015 | Finland | WC | 6th | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 2016 | Finland | WCH | 8th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2018 | Finland | OG | 6th | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | |
| Junior totals | 7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 10 | ||||
| Senior totals | 54 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 34 | ||||
Awards and Honours
Sami Lepistö received several awards and honours during his hockey career.
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| AHL | ||
| Calder Cup champion | 2009 | |
| International | ||
| WJC Best Defenceman | 2004 | |
| WJC All-Star Team | 2004 | |
