Tommy Salo

Tommy Salo

Salo with Frölunda HC in August 2005
Born (1971-02-01) February 1, 1971
Surahammar, Sweden
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Elitserien
Västerås IK
Modo Hockey
Frölunda HC
NHL

New York Islanders
Edmonton Oilers
Colorado Avalanche
National team  Sweden
NHL Draft 118th overall, 1993
New York Islanders
Playing career 19902007

Tommy Mikael Salo (born February 1, 1971) is a Sweden-Finnish General Manager of Swedish ice hockey club Leksands IF of the SHL. He is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender and a former head coach of IK Oskarshamn.

Playing career

Salo began his career playing three seasons in the Elitserien with Västerås IK. He was chosen 118th overall, in the fifth round, by the New York Islanders in 1993. He debuted with the Islanders in 1994–95, but would play the majority of his first two seasons in North America with New York's International Hockey League (IHL) affiliate, the Utah Grizzlies. Playing in the IHL, Salo won back-to-back Turner Cups with the Grizzlies as league champions and earned the N.R. "Bud" Poile Trophy as playoff MVP in 1996. In his first year, he was named both league MVP and rookie of the year in 1995, in addition to First Team All-Star honours and a James Norris Memorial Trophy for allowing the fewest goals against.

In 1996–97, Salo emerged as the Islanders' starting goalie and played in that capacity for the club until March 20, 1999, when he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Mats Lindgren and an eighth round draft choice in 1999 (the Islanders used the pick to select Radek Martinek). Salo found his stride in Edmonton and was chosen to two All-Star Games in 2000 and 2002. In 2001–02, Salo recorded a career-best 2.22 goals against average (GAA).

On March 9, 2004, after six seasons with Edmonton, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche with a sixth round selection in 2004 in exchange for Tom Gilbert. As NHL play was suspended the following season due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Salo returned to Sweden, signing a one-year contract with Modo Hockey of the Elitserien.

After Modo was eliminated in the playoffs by Färjestad,[1] Salo announced his retirement from professional hockey on March 17, 2005, citing chronic hip pain.[2] Shortly thereafter, however, on August 4, he returned to the Elitserien, signing with the Frölunda Indians. This led to a conflict with Modo since they had agreed to terminate his contract on account of his retirement. In light of this, the club appealed for Frölunda to pay for Salo's salary. On August 11, the issue was settled as Modo withdrew their claim. By signing with Frölunda, Salo replaced the departed Henrik Lundqvist, who incidentally, had taken over Salo's starting position on Sweden's national team.

On December 9, 2006, in an interview with Swedish newspaper Expressen, Salo announced that he would retire from hockey after the 2006-07 season.[3]

International play

Tommy Salo
Medal record
Representing  Sweden
Ice hockey
Winter Olympics
1994 Lillehammer

Salo first competed for Sweden in the 1991 World Junior Championships. He played in six games and posted a 3.32 goals-against-average.

Several years later, he played an integral role in Sweden's gold medal victory at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Salo made critical saves in the gold medal game, as they defeated Canada in a shootout to secure Sweden's first Olympic gold medal in ice hockey.

In 1998, Salo once again competed in the Winter Olympics, as NHL players were allowed to compete for the first time. He played in four games as Sweden failed to medal.

In the 2002 Winter Olympics, Salo started for Sweden once more and were favourites to win the gold medal, placing first in the round robin. However, in the quarter-final game against Belarus, with the game tied late in the third period, Salo surrendered a 20-metre goal from defenceman Vladimir Kopat. The long slap shot puck bounced off Salo's mask after he had hopped, went up in the air, and bounced off of his back and into the net. Sweden would not recover and Salo was made the scapegoat in one of the biggest upsets in international hockey history. Team Sweden's captain Mats Sundin berated fans and media for singling Salo out asserting that "the entire team played subpar, a single fluke goal shouldn't cost us the game." Some would claim that Salo was never the same after the incident.[4]

Coaching and executive career

Shortly after the completion of his playing career, on March 5, 2007, hockey club Kungälvs IK of the Swedish tier III league announced Salo would be their head coach for the next two seasons.[5] Following his tenure with the club, he signed with IK Oskarshamn on March 12, 2009.[6]

On December 1, 2010, Salo left his post at IK Oskarshamn to become General Manager for his hometown club Leksands IF.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T GAA SV% SO GP W L GAA SV% SO
1990–91 Västerås IK SEL 2 6.60 .851 0
1991–92 IK Westmannia-Köping SWE-2 29 3.23 .882
1992–93 Västerås IK SEL 24 2.47 .918 2 2 3.00 .895 0
1993–94 Västerås IK SEL 32 3.35 .885 0 4 4.75 .852 0
1994–95 Denver Grizzlies IHL 65 45 14 4 2.60 .910 3 8 7 0 3.07 .890 0
1994–95 New York Islanders NHL 6 1 5 0 3.02 .905 0
1995–96 Utah Grizzlies IHL 45 28 15 2 2.65 .902 4 22 15 7 2.28 .919 3
1995–96 New York Islanders NHL 10 1 7 1 4.02 .860 0
1996–97 New York Islanders NHL 58 20 27 8 2.82 .904 5
1997–98 New York Islanders NHL 62 23 29 5 2.64 .906 4
1998–99 New York Islanders NHL 51 17 26 7 2.62 .904 5
1998–99 Edmonton Oilers NHL 13 8 2 2 2.31 .903 0 4 0 4 2.23 .926 0
1999–00 Edmonton Oilers NHL 70 27 28 13 2.33 .914 2 5 1 4 2.83 .895 0
2000–01 Edmonton Oilers NHL 73 36 25 12 2.46 .904 8 6 2 4 2.22 .920 0
2001–02 Edmonton Oilers NHL 69 30 28 10 2.22 .913 6
2002–03 Edmonton Oilers NHL 65 29 27 8 2.71 .899 4 6 2 4 3.15 .888 0
2003–04 Edmonton Oilers NHL 44 17 18 6 2.58 .896 3
2003–04 Colorado Avalanche NHL 5 1 3 1 2.37 .912 0 1 0 0 0.00 1.00 0
2004–05 Modo Hockey SEL 36 2.58 .909 0 6 3.18 .888 1
2005–06 Frölunda HC SEL 37 2.47 .911 0 17 2.35 .920 1
2006–07 Frölunda HC SEL 22 3.29 .875 1
NHL totals 526 210 225 73 2.55 .905 37 22 5 16 2.55 .909 0

Awards

International

IHL

NHL

Elitserien

Records

References

  1. "Without injured Forsber, Modo ousted from playoffs". USA Today. 2005-03-18. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  2. "Salo retires from hockey due to hip injuries". CBC Sports. 2005-03-17. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
  3. Mattias Eriksson (2006). "Tommy Salo slutar" (in Swedish). Expressen.se. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
  4. http://www.ourhometown.ca/edmonton/sports/RS0391.php
  5. Styrelsen, Kungälvs Ishockey Klubb (2007). "Tommy Salo ny tränare i Kungälvs Ishockey Klubb" (PDF) (in Swedish). Kungälv Hockey. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  6. "Tommy Salo new coach in IKO" (in Swedish). IK Oskarshamn. 2009-03-12.
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