# Sami Helenius

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**Sami "Helge" Helenius** (born January 22, 1974) is a [Finnish](/source/Finnish_people) former professional [ice hockey](/source/Ice_hockey) [defenceman](/source/Defenceman_(ice_hockey)) who played predominantly in the [SM-liiga](/source/SM-liiga) and [National Hockey League](/source/National_Hockey_League). He most recently was in a coaching role with [Haukat](/source/Haukat) of the [Suomi-sarja](/source/Suomi-sarja).

## Playing career

Helenius was drafted by the [Calgary Flames](/source/Calgary_Flames) as their fifth-round pick, 102nd overall, in the [1992 NHL entry draft](/source/1992_NHL_entry_draft). He started his professional career in [Jokerit](/source/Jokerit) in the Finnish [SM-liiga](/source/SM-liiga) in 1992, and made his way to North America for the 1994–95 season, and after spending five years mostly in the minor leagues, Helenius took his place as an [NHL](/source/National_Hockey_League) [defenceman](/source/Defenceman_(ice_hockey)), playing for several teams. Helenius became known as "the Fighting Finn," as he was one of the few Europeans to play in an [enforcer](/source/Enforcer_(ice_hockey)) role in North American hockey leagues.

In 2003, he returned to Finland to play in the [SM-liiga](/source/SM-liiga) again. After a year with [Jokerit](/source/Jokerit) where he served as team captain, Helenius represented both [Ilves](/source/Ilves) and Pelicans before returning to Jokerit after the 2006–07 season.

After three seasons with Jokerit and during the [2009–10](/source/2009%E2%80%9310_SM-liiga_season) season, Helenius rejoined previous club Pelicans on November 13, 2009.[1] After finishing the season out with Pelicans, Helenius agreed to join HC Keski-Uusimaa of the [Suomi-sarja](/source/Suomi-sarja) as a player-coach for the 2010–11 season on August 4, 2010, however only opted to coach upon the resumption of the season.[2]

## Coaching career

In the summer of 2022, Helenius signed a 1+1 year contract with the [Kouvola KooKoo](/source/KooKoo_(ice_hockey_club)).

"I look forward to new challenges at KooKoo! I’ve been watching the [Liiga](/source/Liiga) for a couple of years up close and I'm aware of the demands and currents of modern hockey, but I want to bring those good 'old school' elements to the game as well," Helenius said.

## Career statistics

### Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1990–91 Jokerit FIN U20 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1991–92 Jokerit FIN.2 U20 13 4 4 8 24 14 3 3 6 24 1992–93 Jokerit FIN.2 U20 3 2 2 4 4 13 2 3 5 18 1992–93 Jokerit SM-l 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1992–93 Vantaa HT FIN.2 21 2 3 5 50 — — — — — 1993–94 Reipas Lahti FIN.2 U20 1 1 0 1 2 11 3 4 7 48 1993–94 Reipas Lahti SM-l 37 2 3 5 46 — — — — — 1994–95 Saint John Flames AHL 69 2 5 7 217 — — — — — 1995–96 Saint John Flames AHL 68 0 3 3 231 10 0 0 0 9 1996–97 Saint John Flames AHL 72 5 10 15 218 2 0 0 0 0 1996–97 Calgary Flames NHL 3 0 1 1 0 — — — — — 1997–98 Saint John Flames AHL 63 1 2 3 185 — — — — — 1997–98 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 10 0 1 1 19 4 0 0 0 25 1998–99 Las Vegas Thunder IHL 42 2 3 5 193 — — — — — 1998–99 Calgary Flames NHL 4 0 0 0 8 — — — — — 1998–99 Chicago Wolves IHL 4 0 0 0 11 — — — — — 1998–99 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 4 1 0 1 15 — — — — — 1998–99 Hershey Bears AHL 8 0 0 0 29 5 0 0 0 16 1999–2000 Hershey Bears AHL 12 0 1 1 31 9 0 0 0 40 1999–2000 Colorado Avalanche NHL 33 0 0 0 46 — — — — — 2000–01 Dallas Stars NHL 57 1 2 3 99 1 0 0 0 0 2001–02 Dallas Stars NHL 39 0 0 0 58 — — — — — 2002–03 Dallas Stars NHL 5 0 0 0 6 — — — — — 2002–03 Utah Grizzlies AHL 4 0 0 0 14 — — — — — 2002–03 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 10 0 1 1 28 — — — — — 2003–04 Jokerit SM-l 55 0 1 1 103 — — — — — 2004–05 Ilves SM-l 53 0 0 0 162 7 0 2 2 4 2005–06 Pelicans SM-l 53 1 3 4 151 — — — — — 2006–07 Pelicans SM-l 53 1 0 1 126 6 0 0 0 2 2007–08 Jokerit SM-l 49 1 6 7 198 13 0 0 0 29 2008–09 Jokerit SM-l 45 0 0 0 76 2 0 0 0 2 2009–10 Jokerit SM-l 14 0 0 0 20 — — — — — 2009–10 Pelicans SM-l 34 0 2 2 170 — — — — — SM-l totals 394 5 15 20 1052 28 0 2 2 37 AHL totals 296 8 21 29 925 26 0 0 0 65 NHL totals 155 2 4 6 260 1 0 0 0 0

### International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 1992 Finland EJC 4th 6 0 0 0 22 1993 Finland WJC 5th 7 0 1 1 6 2003 Finland WC 5th 2 0 0 0 0 Junior totals 13 0 1 1 28 Senior totals 2 0 0 0 0

## References

1. ["Helenius Pelicans, Brooks Jokerit"](http://www.jokerit.com/index.php?id=1&nid=837) (in Finnish). [Jokerit](/source/Jokerit). 2009-11-13. Retrieved 2010-06-01.

1. ["Helenuis, Sammit join HCK crew!"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110720181423/http://hckjt.fi/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=322&Itemid=) (in Finnish). hckjt.fe. 2010-08-04. Archived from [the original](http://hckjt.fi/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=322&Itemid=) on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2011-02-22.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sami Helenius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_Helenius) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_Helenius?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.