Hannu Virta
| Hannu Virta | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
March 22, 1963 Turku, FIN | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) | ||
| Position |
Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
Nationalliga B Grasshopper Zürich | ||
| National team |
 Finland | ||
| NHL draft |
38th overall, 1981 Buffalo Sabres | ||
| Playing career | 1981–1998 | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Finland
| ||
| Men's ice hockey | ||
World Junior Championships
| ||
 |
1982 Canada & USA |
|
World Championships
| ||
 |
1995 Sweden |
|
 |
1994 Italy |
|
Winter Olympics
| ||
|
1994 Lillehammer | |
Hannu Markus Virta (born March 22, 1963, in
Finnish Elite League (SM-liiga) four times, and was a five-time all-star. He also won the Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy as rookie of the year in 1981–82.[1]
Career
Virta was drafted in the second round, 38th overall, by the
1981 NHL Entry Draft. He played 245 National Hockey League
games with the Sabres over five seasons, scoring 25 goals and adding 101 assists. He also appeared in 17 playoff games with Buffalo, scoring one goal and tallying three assists.
He returned to the SM-liiga in Finland in 1986, where he played for
Internationally, Virta won a bronze medal at the Under-20 World Junior Championships in 1982. As an adult, he won a bronze medal at the
IIHF World Championships, winning gold in 1995 and silver in 1994, and leading the tournament in assists in 1996. He also played in the 1987 Canada Cup and 1996 World Cup of Hockey.[2]
Virta's number 23 was retired by
TPS Turku
.
Coaching career
He coached in the SM-liiga with the
Hockey Club Lugano.[4]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season
|
Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1978–79 | TPS | FIN U18 | 22 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979–80 | TPS | FIN U20 | 26 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1980–81 | TPS | FIN U20 | 29 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980–81 | TPS | SM-l
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 1981–82 | TPS | SM-l | 36 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1981–82 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1982–83 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 74 | 13 | 24 | 37 | 18 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1983–84 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 70 | 6 | 30 | 36 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1984–85 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 51 | 1 | 23 | 24 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 47 | 5 | 23 | 28 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | TPS | SM-l | 41 | 13 | 30 | 43 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 1987–88 | TPS | SM-l | 44 | 10 | 28 | 38 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | TPS | SM-l | 43 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 30 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1989–90 | TPS | SM-l | 41 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 10 | ||
| 1990–91 | TPS | SM-l | 43 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 40 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 1991–92 | TPS | SM-l | 43 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 32 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1992–93 | TPS | SM-l | 39 | 1 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 | ||
| 1993–94 | TPS | SM-l | 47 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1994–95 | GCK Lions | CHE.2
|
36 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 2 | ||
| 1995–96 | GCK Lions | CHE.2 | 35 | 12 | 26 | 38 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 | ||
| 1996–97 | TPS | SM-l | 48 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 24 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 1997–98 | ZSC Lions | NDA
|
46 | 4 | 25 | 29 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| SM-l totals | 426 | 63 | 202 | 265 | 222 | 81 | 9 | 30 | 39 | 48 | ||||
| NHL totals | 245 | 25 | 101 | 126 | 66 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Finland | EJC | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1982 | Finland | WJC
|
7 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | |
1987
|
Finland | WC
|
8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| 1987 | Finland | CC | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
1989
|
Finland | WC | 10 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 6 | |
1991
|
Finland | WC | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 1994 | Finland | OLY
|
8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
1994
|
Finland | WC | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
1995
|
Finland | WC | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
1996
|
Finland | WC | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 4 | |
| 1996 | Finland | WCH | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
1997
|
Finland | WC | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | |
| Junior totals | 12 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 4 | |||
| Senior totals | 71 | 8 | 27 | 35 | 44 | |||
References
- ^ "Home". azhockey.com.
- ^ a b "Hannu Virta". Elite Prospects.
- ^ http://www.nordictrophy.com/teams.php On 27 October 2008 he was sacked
- ^ "Lugano engagiert Hannu Virta als Coach (Sport, Eishockey, NZZ Online)". www.nzz.ch. Archived from the original on 2012-03-18.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database