Ilkka Sinisalo

Ilkka Sinisalo
Born	(1958-07-10) July 10, 1958 Valkeakoski, Finland
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Right Wing
Shot	Left
Played for	NHL Philadelphia Flyers Minnesota North Stars Los Angeles Kings SM-liiga HIFK HPK Ilves Kiekko-Espoo
National team	Finland
NHL Draft	Undrafted
Playing career	1978–1996

Ilkka Antero Jouko Sinisalo (born July 10, 1958) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Minnesota North Stars and Los Angeles Kings. He is currently a scout for the Flyers.

Playing career

Sinisalo played in the NHL from 1981–1992, scoring 204 goals and 426 points, mostly with the Flyers. He is ranked the all time most successful goal scorer among the European players in the history of Philadelphia Flyers. He is also ranked the fourth successful Finnish goal scorer in NHL history, which gave him an honor to be member of the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997.

When Sinisalo started his ice hockey career in the 1970s, the NHL teams did not scout extensively from Finland. The first Finnish ice hockey player in NHL was Matti Hagman in 1976-77 for Boston Bruins. However, the NHL scouts were so impressed by his talents that they made an exception of hiring him as a free agent after his 1980-81 season in HIFK, SM-Liiga where he scored 27 goals in 36 games. He signed his first NHL contract on February 17, 1981. Sinisalo started his first season with Flyers by making history by scoring his first NHL score against Pittsburgh Penguins. Sinisalo became the first Flyers player to score his first NHL goal on a penalty shot, and the third of five NHL players in history. During the 1984-85 season, Sinisalo become one of the Mike Keenan’s most trusted players with 73 points in 70 games, with a +32 rating. 1989-90 was Sinisalo’s last season with Flyers, after which he played one season for Minnesota North Stars and two seasons for Los Angeles Kings.

He retired from hockey in 1996 with his last team, the Kiekko-Espoo from SM-Liiga. Sinisalo was originally a junior product of HIFK.

Career after retirement

After playing his last season of professional ice hockey for Kiekko-Espoo in 1995-96 in Finland he took a job as the General Manager of the club. His last season of Kiekko-Espoo GM was 1998-99. He was then hired as the European based NHL Scout by San Jose Sharks General Manager, Dean Lombardi on September 12, 1998. In July 2004, he was back in the Flyers organization as their European Scout.

Personal life

His son Tomas Sinisalo is a professional ice hockey player, primarily in Finland. Tomas attended the Flyers training camp in 2009.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1976–77	PiTa Pitajanmaki	Fin-2		35	22	16	38	8		—	—	—	—	—
1977–78	HIFK	SM-l		36	9	3	12	18		—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	HIFK	SM-l		30	6	4	10	16		6	4	1	5	2
1979–80	HIFK	SM-l		35	16	9	25	16		7	1	3	4	4
1980–81	HIFK	SM-l		36	27	17	44	14		6	5	3	8	4
1981–82	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		66	15	22	37	22		4	0	2	2	0
1982–83	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		61	21	29	50	16		3	1	1	2	0
1983–84	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		73	29	17	46	29		2	2	0	2	0
1984–85	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		70	36	37	73	16		19	6	1	7	0
1985–86	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		74	39	37	76	31		5	2	2	4	2
1986–87	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		42	10	21	31	8		18	5	1	6	4
1987–88	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		68	25	17	42	30		7	4	2	6	0
1988–89	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		13	1	6	7	2		8	1	1	2	0
1989–90	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		59	23	23	46	26		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Minnesota North Stars	NHL		46	5	12	17	24		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		7	0	0	0	2		2	0	1	1	0
1991–92	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		3	0	1	1	2		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Phoenix Roadrunners	IHL		42	19	21	40	32		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	HPK	SM-l		46	13	16	29	55		12	2	3	5	8
1993–94	Kärpät	Fin-2		28	27	15	42	20		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Ilves	SM-l		12	1	6	7	10		4	1	0	1	6
1994–95	Ilves	SM-l		30	2	7	9	45		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Kiekko-Espoo	SM-l		16	7	7	14	6		4	0	3	3	4
1995–96	Kiekko-Espoo	SM-l		44	7	12	19	36		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				582	204	222	426	208		68	21	11	32	6
SM-l totals				285	88	81	169	216		39	13	13	26	28
Fin-2 totals				63	49	31	80	28		—	—	—	—	—

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1978	Finland	WJC		6	1	7	8	4
1981	Finland	WEC		5	0	1	1	4
1981	Finland	CC		5	1	0	1	6
1982	Finland	WEC		5	1	1	2	6
1983	Finland	WEC		8	0	2	2	4
Junior int'l totals				6	1	7	8	4
Senior int'l totals				23	2	4	6	20

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NHL.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database