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Sami Lepistö
Sami Lepistö Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg.JPG
Born (1984-10-17) 17 October 1984 (age 40)
Espoo, Finland
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
National team Flag of Finland.svg Finland
NHL Draft 66th overall, 2004
Washington Capitals
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.

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
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 3 7 4 4 8 10
2008 Finland WC 3 7 1 1 2 10
2010 Finland OG 3 6 0 1 1 6
2011 Finland WC 1 9 0 3 3 6
2013 Finland WC 4th 10 0 4 4 2
2014 Finland OG 3 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
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