Ville Peltonen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ville Peltonen |
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Ville Peltonen with HIFK in October 2010
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| Born | 24 May 1973 Vantaa, Finland |
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| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 182 lb (83 kg; 13 st 0 lb) | ||
| Position | Left wing | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | NHL San Jose Sharks Nashville Predators Florida Panthers SM-liiga Jokerit HIFK Elitserien Frölunda HC Nationalliga A HC Lugano KHL HC Dynamo Minsk |
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| National team |  Finland |
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| NHL Draft | 58th overall, 1993 San Jose Sharks |
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| Playing career | 1991–2014 | ||
Ville Sakari Peltonen was born on May 24, 1973, in Vantaa, Finland. He is a Finnish ice hockey coach and a former professional ice hockey player. He played as a forward.
Ville Peltonen was chosen by the San Jose Sharks in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. He was the 58th player picked overall. During his career, he played 382 games in the NHL for the Sharks, Nashville Predators, and Florida Panthers. He also played for the Finland men's national ice hockey team. In 2016, he was added to the IIHF Hall of Fame, which is a special honor for hockey legends.
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Playing Career Highlights
Ville Peltonen started playing hockey with a team called Etelä-Vantaan Urheilijat (EVU). When he was ten, he moved to HIFK. He first played in the top Finnish league, SM-liiga, during the 1991–92 SM-liiga season. The next year, he scored 13 goals and 37 points for HIFK. He won the Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy as the best new player of the season.
The NHL team San Jose Sharks picked Peltonen in the 1993 draft. He stayed with HIFK for two more seasons before going to the NHL. In his first NHL season (1995–96 NHL season), he played 31 games for the Sharks and scored 13 points. He scored his first NHL goal on February 26, 1996, against the Montreal Canadiens. He also played for the Sharks' minor league team, the Kansas City Blades.
After two years in the NHL, Peltonen went back to Europe. He played for Västra Frölunda HC in the Swedish league. He was the top scorer in that league with 51 points in 49 games. After this great season, Peltonen returned to the NHL to play for the Nashville Predators. He got injured after only 14 games but had already scored 10 points. He played two more seasons with the Predators.
Later, Peltonen returned to the Finnish SM-liiga. He signed with Jokerit, a rival team of his old club HIFK. He became the team's captain. Even though he was injured and played only 30 games, Jokerit and Peltonen won the Kanada-malja championship. He continued with Jokerit for another season, scoring 42 points. He won the Raimo Kilpiö trophy as the league's "gentleman player" and was chosen for the league's All-Star team.
After playing for Jokerit, Peltonen moved to Switzerland to play for HC Lugano. He had three amazing seasons there. In his first year, he scored a career-high 72 points in 48 games, becoming the league's top scorer. In his last season with Lugano, he was named captain. He led the team to win the league championship, scoring the game-winning goal in the playoffs.
His success in Switzerland gave him another chance in the NHL with the Florida Panthers. In his first season with Florida, he scored 37 points. The next season, a leg injury caused him to miss 24 games. After one more season with the Panthers, he moved to the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) to play for HC Dinamo Minsk. He was also captain of this team.
In 2010, Peltonen returned to his old team, HIFK, and was named captain. He had a fantastic season, scoring 28 goals and 65 points. He was chosen as the best player of the regular season, winning the Lasse Oksanen trophy. He also won the Raimo Kilpiö trophy again and the Kultainen kypärä (The Golden Helmet), which is awarded by other players. HIFK won the Kanada-malja championship, led by Peltonen and other star players.
Peltonen continued to play for HIFK for a few more seasons. In March 2014, he announced he was retiring as a player. His last game was when HIFK was eliminated from the playoffs.
International Play for Finland
 Peltonen at the 2008 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 | ||
| Silver | 2006 Turin | |
| Bronze | 1994 Lillehammer | |
| Bronze | 1998 Nagano | |
| Bronze | 2010 Vancouver | |
| World Cup | ||
| Silver | 2004 Toronto | |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 1995 Sweden | |
| Silver | 1994 Italy | |
| Silver | 1998 Switzerland | |
| Silver | 1999 Norway | |
| Silver | 2007 Russia | |
| Bronze | 2000 Russia | |
| Bronze | 2006 Latvia | |
| Bronze | 2008 Canada | |
| IIHF European Junior Championships | ||
| Bronze | 1991 Czechoslovakia | |
Ville Peltonen played for the Finnish national team many times. He started playing for Finland in November 1993. He played in 19 out of 25 international tournaments since the 1994 Winter Olympics. This ties him with another Finnish hockey legend, Raimo Helminen.
He was also the captain of his team six times at the IIHF World Championships. Peltonen is the most successful Finnish hockey player, with 13 medals from his 19 tournaments. The next best player has nine medals.
At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Peltonen played on a strong line with Jere Lehtinen and Saku Koivu. Finland won a bronze medal. Peltonen also played in the 1994 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships, where Finland won a silver medal.
In the 1995 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, Peltonen made history. He scored three goals (a hat trick) in the final game against Sweden. This led his team to a 4-1 victory and Finland's first-ever World Championship title! Peltonen, Lehtinen, and Koivu were all named to the tournament's All-Star team.
At the 1998 Winter Olympics, Peltonen helped Finland win another bronze medal. He scored the game-winning goal against Canada. In the World Championships that same year, he tied the game against Canada with only ten seconds left. Finland reached the finals again but lost to Sweden.
Coaching Career
After retiring as a player in 2014, Ville Peltonen immediately started coaching. He became the head coach for his hometown club HIFK's under-20 team. He also worked as an assistant coach for the Finnish national team. He helped coach Finland in the 2015 and 2016 World Championships.
In 2016, Peltonen moved to Switzerland to be an assistant coach for SC Bern. He helped Bern win the Swiss national championship in 2017. After that, he became the head coach for Lausanne HC. In the 2018-19 season, he led Lausanne to the semifinals of the Swiss league.
In 2021, he was an assistant coach for Germany's national team. Later that year, he signed a three-year contract to be the head coach for his home team, HIFK. His contract was extended until 2026.
Personal Life
Ville Peltonen is married to Hanna, who is a Finnish figure skater. They have four children: twin sons Alex and Jesper (born around 1997), Emmi Peltonen (a Finnish figure skater born in 1999), and Nelli (born around 2005).
Awards and Honors
Ville Peltonen has won many awards throughout his career:
SM-liiga Awards
- Kanada-malja championship (Finnish League Championship) in 2002 and 2011
- Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy (Best new player of the league) in 1993
- Raimo Kilpiö trophy (The gentleman player of the league) in 2003 and 2011
- Lasse Oksanen trophy (Best player of the regular season) in 2011
- Kultainen kypärä (The best player of the league, voted by other players) in 2011
- President's Trophy (For influencing ice hockey the most) in 2005
- Chosen to the SM-liiga All-Star team in 2003 and 2011
Other Awards
- Ice Hockey World Championships Tournament All-Star in 1995, 1998, and 2004
- NLA-league Championship (Swiss League) in 2006
- Leading scorer in the Swedish Elitserien in 1998
- Leading scorer in the Swiss NLA-league in 2004
- The Most Valuable Player of the national team in 2005
- Spengler Cup Winner in 2009
- Inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2016
