Sami Aittokallio

Sami Aittokallio
230px Aittokallio with Lake Erie Monsters during 2013-14 AHL season.
Born	(1992-08-06) August 6, 1992 Tampere, Finland
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	172 lb (78 kg; 12 st 4 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
NHL team (P) Cur. team Former teams	Colorado Avalanche Oulun Kärpät (Liiga) Ilves
NHL Draft	107th overall, 2010 Colorado Avalanche
Playing career	2010–present

Sami Aittokallio (born August 6, 1992) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently under contract with Oulun Kärpät of the Finnish Liiga on loan from the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL)

Playing career

Aittokallio was selected in the fourth round, 107th overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Despite ranked as the number one European Goalie before the draft he was selected as the seventh goaltender to be taken.

In the 2009–10 season, Aittokallio made his debut in the SM-liiga as a 17-year-old playing in one game for Ilves. As well as representing Ilves in junior, Aittokallio spent a portion of the season on loan with Lempäälän Kisa in the Mestis league. On April 12, 2010, Aittokallio signed a two-year contract extension to remain with Ilves, his original team as a youth. In each season, he continued to split the year between Ilves youth team, LeKi and in the 2010–11 SM-liiga season, he played a career high 16 games for 5 wins.

After fulfilling his junior eligibility and his commitment to Ilves, Aittokallio was signed to a three-year entry level contract with the Avalanche on May 11, 2012.

File:Aittokallio Sami Ilves 2011 2.jpg

Aittokallio playing in Finland.

After 26 games with the Monsters, Aittokallio received his first NHL recall to the Avalanche during the lockout shortened 2012–13 season, to fill the back-up position after an injury to starting goaltender Semyon Varlamov on April 9, 2013. On April 11, 2013, he made his NHL debut against the Los Angeles Kings, becoming the youngest since Marc Denis to start for the Avalanche. Aittokallio failed to complete the game after suffering from dehydration with the game tied midway through the third period, and was replaced in the eventual shootout loss by veteran Jean-Sébastien Giguère.

In the 2014–15 season, Aittokallio suffered from injury and indifferent form, playing with the Monsters and the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL.

Despite being tendered a qualifying offer by the Avalanche, Aittokallio opted to return to Finland to further his development in signing a two-year contract with Liiga club, Oulun Kärpät on July 2, 2015. Later in the off-season on August 25, 2015, it was announced that Aittokallio agreed to a one-year contract to keep within Avalanche organization, with a European clause allowing the continuance of his contract with Kärpät.

International play

Medal record
Representing Finland
Men's ice hockey
IIHF World U18 Championships
	2010 Belarus

Aittokallio was first selected to represent Finland at the 2009 World U-17 Hockey Challenge tournament organised by Hockey Canada. With an understrength team, Aittokallio mirrored the Finnish team and went winless in three games for the tournament to finish tenth out of ten. Touted for his hockey intelligence, good reflexes and athleticism, Aittokallio was selected to be first choice goaltender for Finland at the 2010 World Under-18 Championships in Minsk, Belarus. Sami, however, missed the tournament after suffering an ankle injury as Finland went on to defend their Bronze medal against Russia.

Aittokallio was selected to serve as the backup goaltender to Joni Ortio for Finland at the 2011 World Junior Championships. He made a solitary appearance in relief for Ortio, playing the third period of a 6-0 victory over Slovakia on December 31, 2010.

Aittokallio returned for the 2012 World Junior Championships, and was Finland's starting goaltender, with Christopher Gibson serving as his back-up. In Finland's semifinal against Sweden, Aittokallio made 56 saves, but ultimately, Finland lost 2–3 in a shootout. Aittokallio was named Finland's player of the game with his impressive performance. Following that loss, they played in the bronze medal game against Canada, which they lost 0–4. However, Finland recorded their best performance in the World Juniors since 2006 with their 4th-place exit and Aittokallio was subsequently selected in Finland's top three players for the tournament.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season										Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T/OT	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
2009–10	Ilves	SM-l		1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00	1.000		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Ilves	SM-l		16	5	8	0	790	36	1	2.73	.909		2	0	2	116	5	0	2.57	.911
2011–12	Ilves	SM-l		11	1	6	0	596	28	0	2.82	.910		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Lake Erie Monsters	AHL		27	14	12	1	1540	77	1	3.00	.899		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		1	0	0	0	49	2	0	2.45	.920		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	Lake Erie Monsters	AHL		36	15	15	3	2060	91	4	2.65	.909		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	Colorado Avalanche	NHL		1	0	1	0	40	3	0	4.50	.833		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	Lake Erie Monsters	AHL		16	7	5	1	809	43	0	3.19	.900		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	Fort Wayne Komets	ECHL		4	3	1	0	245	20	0	4.90	.823		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Kärpät	Liiga		33	18	4	9	1922	63	2	1.97	.920		3	1	1	149	4	0	1.61	.931
Liiga totals				61	24	18	9	3309	127	3	2.30	.915		5	1	3	265	9	0	2.04	.921
NHL totals				2	0	1	0	89	5	0	3.36	.884		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
2009	Finland	WJC17	10th		3	0	3	0	153	16	0	6.27	.792
2011	Finland	WJC	6th		1	0	0	0	20	0	0	0.00	1.000
2012	Finland	WJC	4th		5	3	2	0	310	13	1	2.52	.937
Junior totals					9	3	5	0	483	29	1	3.60	.920

External links

• Sami Aittokallio's career statistics at EliteProspects.com
• Sami Aittokallio's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database