Raimo Helminen

Raimo Ilmari Helminen (born 11 March 1964 in Tampere, Finland) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player.Helminen has himself said that he developed most of his skills when he was young and spent all his free time playing in outdoor ice rinks in Koivistonkylä, Tampere.Helminen started his career in his native town, playing for one of oldest teams in the country, Ilves.This attracted the attention of people scouting new talent for the professional teams in the National Hockey League in North America.The next fall, however, the new team management sold most of their young players and Helminen ended up with the Minnesota North Stars.His performance included 10 points in seven games and assisting two goals in Finland's surprise 3–1 victory over gold medal hopefuls Canada.However, his back would not heal properly until the summer of 1992 after Malmö had won the Swedish Elitserien, the top ice hockey league in the country.After Matikainen was fired and the new head coach, Swede Curt "Curre" Lindström took over in 1994 Helminen was re-instated to the national team.Helminen recorded an assist on a goal scored by Tuomas Pihlman four seconds before the end of the game.
Helminen playing his last international game for Finland.
TampereCentreNew York RangersMinnesota North StarsNew York IslandersMalmö IF RedhawksFinlandNHL draftice hockeymost Olympic GamesIIHF Hall of Famesaucer passKoivistonkyläfootballSM-liigaNational Hockey LeagueOlympic GamesSarajevo1984 NHL Entry Draft1988 Winter OlympicsOlympicSpringfield IndiansMalmöMalmö IFElitserienKärpät1988 Calgary1994 Lillehammer1998 NaganoWorld Championships1995 Sweden1994 Italy1998 Switzerland1999 Norway2001 Germany2000 RussiaWorld Junior Championships1984 SwedenPentti MatikainenCurt "Curre" LindströmLasse OksanenTeam Finland2002 World Championship Tournament2003 World ChampionshipHannu AravirtaTuomas PihlmanDieter HegenUdo KießlingPetter ThoresenTeemu SelänneJuha PajuojaRegular seasonPlayoffsSeason1982–831983–841984–851985–861986–87New Haven Nighthawks1987–881988–891989–901990–911991–921992–931993–941994–951995–961996–971997–981998–991999–20002000–012001–022002–032003–042004–052005–062006–072007–08Finland U20World Junior Ice Hockey ChampionshipsHC PustertalHC '05 BBTipos ExtraligaBarys AstanaDinamo RigaJokeritKanada-malja1984-851997-982000-01Le Mat Trophy1991-921993-94Swedish Division 11989-90Lasse Oksanen trophyKultainen kypäräEsa TikkanenJarmo MyllysWorld Championships 1984Sarajevo 1984Calgary 1988Albertville 1992Lillehammer 1994Nagano 1998Salt Lake City 2002List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic GamesIltalehtiPodnieks, AndrewInternational Ice Hockey FederationKimmo RintanenBrian RafalskiJani HurmeJan CalounPresident's trophyJanne OjanenCaptainPasi Määttänen