Janne Niskala
| Janne Niskala | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
22 September 1981 Västerås, Sweden | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0.5 in (184 cm) | ||
| Weight | 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| Liiga team Former teams |
Lukko Färjestad BK Tampa Bay Lightning Frölunda HC Metallurg Magnitogorsk Atlant Moscow Oblast HC Dinamo Minsk | ||
| National team |
 Finland | ||
| NHL Draft |
147th overall, 2004 Nashville Predators | ||
| Playing career | 2000–present | ||
Janne Juhani Niskala (born 22 September 1981) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for Lukko of the Finnish Liiga.
Playing career
Niskala was drafted by the Nashville Predators in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft in 5th round as the 147th pick overall. He is known for his good offensive skills and his power play scoring ability.[1]
Niskala has played in Finland for the SM-liiga club Lukko for five seasons. During the 2000–01 season he played in the Finnish second tier division but also for the British club Manchester Storm. He has spent one season with the Swiss club EV Zug and one for the Swedish Elitserien club Färjestads BK. In Sweden he was reunited with his former team mate from Lukko, Esa Pirnes. During the 2006–07 season in Sweden, Niskala led all defensemen in both points and goals. He also finished first in the plus/minus statistics with a plus-25 rating.[1]
Following his big season with Färjestad, Niskala signed a one-year contract with the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL), but spent the entire 2007–08 season with the farm team Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL). Niskala was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers on 24 June 2008 in exchange for Triston Grant and a 7th round draft pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. On 30 June 2008, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 6th round draft pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He scored a goal in his first NHL preseason game on 20 September 2008 against the Penguins. He then scored his first NHL goal in his third NHL game, on 11 October against Michael Leighton of the Carolina Hurricanes.[2] Niskala only play six games for the Lightning before asking to be waived since he had been cut off the roster. On 13 November, he signed a two-year contract with Frölunda HC in Elitserien.
On 4 May 2011, he moved from KHL's Metallurg Magnitogorsk to Atlant Mytishchi.[3]
On 9 October 2012, Atlant Mytishchi traded Janne Niskala to HC Dinamo Minsk for Jonas Frögren. He returned to Atlanta after completion of the 2012–13 season with Minsk.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2000–01 | Lukko | SML | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Jää-Kotkat | Fin-2 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Manchester Storm | BISH | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 2001–02 | Lukko | SML | 55 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 81 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Lukko | SML | 46 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Lukko | SML | 55 | 21 | 15 | 36 | 73 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| 2004–05 | Lukko | SML | 44 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 63 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 | ||
| 2005–06 | EV Zug | NLA | 44 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 50 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 2006–07 | Färjestads BK | SEL | 53 | 19 | 30 | 49 | 62 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 | ||
| 2007–08 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 80 | 19 | 25 | 44 | 81 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 2008–09 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Frölunda HC | SEL | 35 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 20 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 | ||
| 2009–10 | Frölunda HC | SEL | 50 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 34 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 | ||
| 2010–11 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | KHL | 54 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 30 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 14 | ||
| 2011–12 | Atlant Mytishchi | KHL | 54 | 12 | 22 | 34 | 32 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2012–13 | Atlant Mytishchi | KHL | 14 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Dinamo Minsk | KHL | 37 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Atlant Mytishchi | KHL | 38 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| SML totals | 218 | 41 | 45 | 86 | 257 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 22 | ||||
| SEL totals | 138 | 40 | 56 | 96 | 116 | 27 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 28 | ||||
| KHL totals | 197 | 33 | 57 | 90 | 98 | 31 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 20 | ||||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's ice hockey | ||
| Representing Finland
| ||
| Olympic Games | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 2010 Vancouver | |
| World Championships | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 2011 Bratislava | |
| | 2008 Quebec | |
| World Junior Championships | ||
.svg.png){kind=icon} | 2001 Moscow | |
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Finland Jr. | WJC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| 2008 | Finland | WC | 9 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2009 | Finland | WC | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2010 | Finland | OG | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2011 | Finland | WC | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |
| Senior int'l totals | 28 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 10 | |||
References
- 1 2 "Janne Niskala". Elite Prospects. Retrieved 2007-05-22.
- ↑ "Carolina Hurricanes at Tampa Bay Lightning". hockeyreference.com. 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
- ↑ "Atlant sign Janne Niskala, but lose Jan Bulis". Sports.ru. 2011-05-04. Retrieved 2011-12-01.
External links
- Janne Niskala's career statistics at EliteProspects.com
- Janne Niskala's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
- Janne Niskala profile at Eurohockey.com