Heikki Riihiranta
| Heikki Riihiranta | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Riihiranta at Helsinki Book Fair, 2016. | |||
| Born |
October 4, 1948 | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
SM-liiga HIFK WHA Winnipeg Jets | ||
| National team |
 Finland | ||
| Playing career | 1967–1983 | ||
Heikki "Hexi" Riihiranta (born October 4, 1948 in Helsinki, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga and World Hockey Association.
Playing career
Career in Finland
Riihiranta started out his career as a Forward in Helsinki club HIFK but was moved to play Defence by then HIFK Player-Coach and former NHL'er Carl Brewer.
Riihiranta had a good career in Finland and was one of the premier players for the National Team at his time.
Career in WHA
Heikki Riihiranta was one of the first Finns move to play in North America.
Riihiranta played for 3 full seasons in a Canadian WHA team, Winnipeg Jets, and won the Avco World Trophy with them in 1976.
After his retirement as a player in 1983, he was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991 for his achievements as a player.
Post-playing career
In 1993, Riihiranta was named as the Team Manager for Finnish National Ice Hockey Team. During his time, Riihiranta worked with three different head coaching staffs (Pentti Matikainen, Curt Lindström and Hannu Aravirta). He was part of the staff when Finland won the World Championships over Sweden in 1995. Riihiranta retired from his position after the 2003 Ice Hockey World Championships.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1970–71 | HIFK Helsinki | SM-sarja | 30 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971–72 | HIFK Helsinki | SM–sarja | 32 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | HIFK Helsinki | SM–sarja | 35 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 63 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974–75 | Winnipeg Jets | WHA | 64 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975–76 | Winnipeg Jets | WHA | 70 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | ||
| 1976–77 | Winnipeg Jets | WHA | 53 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977–78 | HIFK Helsinki | SM–liiga | 32 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1978–79 | HIFK Helsinki | SM–liiga | 36 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 82 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979–80 | HIFK Helsinki | SM–liiga | 32 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 41 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | ||
| 1980–81 | HIFK Helsinki | SM–liiga | 35 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 54 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 12 | ||
| 1981–82 | HIFK Helsinki | SM–liiga | 31 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | HIFK Helsinki | SM–liiga | 33 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 17 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| WHA totals | 187 | 10 | 38 | 48 | 84 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | ||||
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database