Jori Lehterä

Jori Lehterä
Born (1987-12-23) 23 December 1987
Lempäälä, Finland
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 212 lb (96 kg; 15 st 2 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Left
NHL team
Former teams		 St. Louis Blues
Jokerit
Tappara
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Sibir Novosibirsk
National team  Finland
NHL Draft 65th overall, 2008
St. Louis Blues
Playing career 2006–present

Jori Jonatan Lehterä (born 23 December 1987) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player currently playing for the St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey League (NHL). A centreman, he was selected by the Blues in the third round, 65th overall, of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. He won a bronze medal with Finland at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Playing career

Lehterä dominated the Jokerit junior team in scoring, and earned himself a place on the team's SM-liiga roster in the fall of 2006. He was selected to represent Finland at the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships 2006 World Under-20's Championships in Sweden,[1] but could not play due to an injury. In April 2007, he signed a three-year contract with Tappara.[2]

Lehterä was drafted by the St. Louis Blues at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in the third round, 65th overall. He made the move to North America for the 2008–09 season to play for the Peoria Rivermen, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Blues. However, he played just seven games for Peoria, recording just one assist, before returning to Tappara in Finland to close out the season, where he was ultimately named the SM-liiga's Most Valuable Player (MVP) after scoring 19 goals and 50 assists for 69 points.[3][4]

After playing one season with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), Lehterä moved to KHL rivals Sibir Novosibirsk from 2011–12 to 2013–14, the latter of which he scored 12 goals and 32 assists to lead the team in points, with 44.[5] After yearly consistent performances for Novosibirsk, he played for Finland at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where he scored one goal and three assists in four games for the bronze medal-winning Finns.[6]

On 1 July 2014, Lehterä signed a two-year, $5.5 million contract with the St. Louis Blues, the organization still retaining his NHL rights after initially drafting him in 2008.[7] He was named the NHL's First Star of the Week for 10–17 November after posting four goals and two assists in just three games for St. Louis.[8]

Personal

Lehterä's uncle, Tero Lehterä, was a member of Finland's 1995 Ice Hockey World Championships gold medal team.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2006–07 Jokerit SM-l 28 6 6 12 14 — — — — —
2007–08 Tappara SM-l 54 13 29 42 32 11 4 2 6 8
2008–09 Tappara SM-l 58 9 38 47 34 — — — — —
2008–09 Peoria Rivermen AHL 7 0 1 1 2 7 1 1 2 10
2009–10 Tappara SM-l 57 19 50 69 58 9 1 9 10 8
2010–11 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 53 16 21 37 38 18 0 3 3 14
2011–12 Sibir Novosibirsk KHL 25 10 16 26 10 — — — — —
2012–13 Sibir Novosibirsk KHL 52 17 29 46 46 3 0 2 2 0
2013–14 Sibir Novosibirsk KHL 48 12 32 44 22 10 0 6 6 2
2014–15 St. Louis Blues NHL 75 14 30 44 48 5 0 2 2 0
2015–16 St. Louis Blues NHL 79 9 25 34 38 20 3 6 9 10
NHL totals 154 23 55 78 86 25 3 8 11 10
Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing  Finland
Winter Olympics
2014 Sochi
World Championships
2014 Minsk

International

Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2010 Finland WC 6th 5 0 0 0 0
2014 Finland Oly 3rd, bronze medalist(s) 6 1 3 4 0
2014 Finland WC 2nd, silver medalist(s) 10 3 9 12 10
2016 Finland WCH 8th 3 0 0 0 2
Senior totals 24 4 12 16 12

References

  1. ↑ Suomen nuorten MM-leiriryhmä nimetty – uutiset – Maajoukkue – www.jatkoaika.com
  2. ↑ Lehterä ja Salmela Tapparaan – uutiset – SM-liiga – www.jatkoaika.com
  3. ↑ Jori Lehterä lainasopimuksella rapakon taakse | Jääkiekko | Iltalehti.fi
  4. ↑ "Tapparan Jori Lehterä runkosarjan paras pelaaja" (in Finnish). Liiga. 2010-03-01. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  5. ↑ "Blues sign forward Lehtera to two-year contract". NHL.com. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
  6. ↑ Mahiban, Dhiren (2014-08-24). "Looking to make the leap: Jori Lehtera". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
  7. ↑ "Blues sign Lehtera to 2-year contract". St. Louis Blues. 2014-07-01. Retrieved 2014-07-01.
  8. ↑ The Canadian Press (2014-11-17). "Lehtera, Price, Forsberg named NHL's three stars of the week". CBC. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
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