Petri Vehanen

Medal record
Representing Finland
Ice hockey
World Championships

Born	9 October 1977 (age 47); Rauma, Finland
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	Lukko; Viking Hockey ; HC Val Pusteria Wolves; Mora IK; HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk; Ak Bars Kazan; HC Lev Praha; Eisbären Berlin
National team	Finland
Playing career	1995–2018

Petri Vehanen (born 9 October 1977 in Rauma, Finland) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender. During his career, he played for clubs in his native Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic and Germany. He won the World Championship with the Finnish national team in 2011.

Playing career

Liiga

Vehanen has played his entire SM-liiga career for Lukko which is his hometown team. Vehanen has established himself as the starting goaltender for Lukko and played a solid season in 2007-08 season, earning himself a spot at the Finnish National Team roster. In the 2009 Karjala Tournament he was selected as the best goaltender.

Vehanen also has played for Mestis teams Jääkotkat and FPS.

Europe

Vehanen has played in Europe for HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of Russia, Viking Hockey of Norway, where he was voted best goaltender, HC Val Pusterial Wolves in Italy and Mora IK in Sweden. Midway through the 2009-10 season, he joined the Kontinental Hockey League with Ak Bars Kazan, he made an immediate impact to help Kazan claim the Gagarin Cup, compiling the best Goals against average, save percentage and selected as the league's best goaltender.

After three seasons with Ak Bars, Vehanen returned to Lukko for a solitary season before again resuming his career in the KHL with HC Lev Praha.^[1] Vehanen took Praha to their maiden Gagarin Cup finals in the 2013-14 season, before the club disbanded.

On 20 July 2014 Vehanen opted to sign with German club, Eisbären Berlin of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), on a one-year contract.^[2] He eventually stayed until the conclusion of the 2017–18 season. He announced his retirement in late April 2018 shortly after falling short in the DEL finals.^[3]

International Play

Vehanen played in his first International tournament in 2008, when he was selected to Finnish national team to play in 2008 Ice Hockey World Championships. Vehanen's World Championship debut came when he played against Norway which Finland won 3-2 after overtime. In 2011 Ice Hockey World Championships Finland won gold with Vehanen as a starting goaltender. In the final game Vehanen made 32 saves leading his team to a 6-1 win against Sweden.

Awards

Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) Runners-up in 2017–18
KHL Runner-up in 2013-14
Won the Gagarin Cup in 2009-10
KHL best goalkeeper in 2009–10
Karjala Tournament Best Goaltender in 2009
Karjala Tournament All-Star team in 2009
GET-ligaen All-Star team in 1998-99

References

^ "Lev amour for a second season". HC Lev Praha (in Czech). 2013-04-15. Archived from the original on 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
^ "Berlin sign Petri Vehanen". Eisbären Berlin (in German). 2014-07-20. Archived from the original on 2014-07-24. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
^ "Uwe Krupp steht kurz vor einem Abschied aus Berlin, Torhüter Petri Vehanen verkündet Karriere-Ende". www.eishockeynews.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-04-27.

External links

Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

[1] "Lev amour for a second season". HC Lev Praha (in Czech). 2013-04-15. Archived from the original on 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2013-04-15.

[2] "Berlin sign Petri Vehanen". Eisbären Berlin (in German). 2014-07-20. Archived from the original on 2014-07-24. Retrieved 2014-07-20.

[3] "Uwe Krupp steht kurz vor einem Abschied aus Berlin, Torhüter Petri Vehanen verkündet Karriere-Ende". www.eishockeynews.de (in German). Retrieved 2018-04-27.

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