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| Position | Left wing |
| Shoots | Left |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg/14 st 4 lb) |
| SM-liiga Team F. teams |
Tappara New York Rangers Calgary Flames Chicago Blackhawks Pittsburgh Penguins Colorado Avalanche San Jose Sharks St. Louis Blues Malmö Redhawks |
| Nationality |  Finland |
| Born | April 6, 1977 , Tampere, Finland |
| NHL Draft | 78th overall, 1997 Colorado Avalanche |
| Pro career | 1999 – present |
| Olympic medal record | |||
| Men's Ice hockey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | 2006 Turin | Ice hockey | |
Ville Nieminen (born April 6, 1977 in Tampere, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward for Tappara and former for the Malmö Redhawks of the Allsvenskan (icehockey) in Sweden .
Nieminen started his professional hockey career with Tappara in the Finnish SM-liiga, in the 1994-95 season. He was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche as their third-round pick, #78 overall, in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. Nieminen spent three seasons in the AHL with the Hershey Bears, and moved to the NHL and won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2001.
Known for his non-stop motor and aggressive in-your-face style of play, Nieminen is an annoying opponent in the rink, whose style is heavily reminiscent of Esa Tikkanen. Nieminen has a relaxed personality outside the rink and his odd sense of humour is his trademark.
Nieminen has played for several teams in the NHL, and spent the 2004–05 lockout season playing for his home team, Tappara. He signed with the New York Rangers for the 2005–06 NHL season, and was traded to San Jose on March 8, 2006.
He represented Finland in international play at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and when he was unable to compete at the 2005 IIHF World Championships, he provided commentary on Finnish television with fellow NHL player Tuomo Ruutu. Ville is a popular colour commentator due to his sense of humour and knowledge of the game.
On February 27, 2007, he was traded to the St. Louis Blues. His contract expired in July, and he signed a two-year contract with the Malmö Redhawks, then of the Swedish Allsvenskan [1].
Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1994–95 | Tappara | SM-liiga | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1995–96 | Tappara | SM-liiga | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1996–97 | Tappara | SM-liiga | 49 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 120 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 1997–98 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 74 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 85 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998–99 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 67 | 24 | 19 | 43 | 127 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1999–00 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 74 | 21 | 30 | 51 | 54 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | ||
| 1999–00 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2000–01 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 28 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 48 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2000–01 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 50 | 14 | 8 | 22 | 38 | 23 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 20 | ||
| 2001–02 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 53 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 30 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2001–02 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002–03 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 75 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 93 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003–04 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 60 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 40 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003–04 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 19 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 24 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 55 | ||
| 2004–05 | Tappara | SM-liiga | 26 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 32 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 | ||
| 2005–06 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 53 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2005–06 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 22 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 24 | ||
| 2006–07 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 30 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2006–07 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2007–08 | Malmö Redhawks | HA | 34 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 124 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ||
| NHL Totals | 385 | 48 | 69 | 117 | 333 | 58 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 99 | ||||
International play
- Played for Team Finland in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
- Silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
International statistics
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Finland | WCH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | Finland | Olympics | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
External links
- Ville Nieminen's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
- Ville Nieminen on nhlfinns.com
