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Mika Noronen

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Mika Noronen
C20A9646 (39832070164).jpg
Noronen with the Rochester Americans in 2002
Born (1979-06-17) 17 June 1979 (age 45)
Tampere, Finland
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 201 lb (91 kg; 14 st 5 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Tappara
Buffalo Sabres
HPK
Vancouver Canucks
Ak Bars Kazan
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
Linköpings HC
JYP Jyväskylä
HIFK
Lukko
HC Davos
EHC München
Malmö Redhawks
National team  Finland
NHL draft 21st overall, 1997
Buffalo Sabres
Playing career 2000–2016

Mika Noronen (born 17 June 1979) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 71 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks between 2000 and 2006. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1997 to 2016, was mainly spent in Finland. Internationally Noronen played for the Finnish national team at the junior and senior level, including at the 2004 World Championships.

Playing career

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Noronen was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft 21st overall. In his native Finland, he played for Tappara and HPK in the SM-liiga. He also played for the Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League.

While with the Rochester Americans, he gained some notoriety in a 2002 game against the Syracuse Crunch. A Crunch forward fired a slap shot past Noronen which hit the cross bar and bounced away. However, the goal judge signaled it was a goal. Play was stopped and the goal was counted. Noronen proceeded to spray the contents of his water bottle on the glass and wipe it away, pretending to clean the glass for the goal judge.[1]

Noronen was the first Finnish goaltender to be credited with a goal in the National Hockey League, a rare feat in itself. He was also the first Buffalo Sabres goaltender to accomplish the feat when he was the last Buffalo player to touch the puck before it entered the opponent's empty net on a delayed penalty on February 14, 2004.[2]

At the trade deadline in the 2005–06 season, Noronen was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. On March 14, 2006, Noronen played his first game as a Vancouver Canuck, allowing five goals in a 5–0 loss to the Nashville Predators.

In August 2006, Noronen opted to sign with Russian Hockey Super League team AK Bars Kazan rather than serving as back up to Roberto Luongo, making Noronen an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Then he joined Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the RSL. In January 2009 Noronen joined Linköpings HC of Elitserien. Noronen returned to Finland for the 2009–10 season. He began the season by signing a short-term contract with JYP Jyväskylä. After the contract had expired, he signed a contract with HIFK Helsinki. He retired after the 2016 season.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1993–94 Tappara U16 FIN U16
1994–95 Tappara U18 FIN U18
1995–96 Tappara U18 FIN U18 5 299 13 2.61 5 300 8 1.60
1995–96 Tappara Jr FIN Jr 16 962 37 2 2.31
1996–97 Tappara Jr FIN Jr 17 13 1.99 .924
1996–97 Kokkolan Hermes FIN-2 2 91 11 0 7.25 .868
1996–97 Tappara FIN 5 1 3 0 215 17 0 4.73 .876
1997–98 Tappara Jr FIN Jr 6 4 1 1 365 13 2.14 .933 4 2 2 262 11 0 2.52 .919
1997–98 Tappara FIN 31 14 12 3 1703 83 1 2.92 .900 4 1 2 196 12 0 3.67 .878
1998–99 Tappara FIN 43 18 20 5 2494 135 2 3.25 .893
1999–00 Rochester Americans AHL 54 33 13 4 3089 112 6 2.18 .920 21 13 8 1235 37 6 1.80 .936
2000–01 Buffalo Sabres NHL 2 2 0 0 109 5 0 2.77 .872
2000–01 Rochester Americans AHL 47 26 15 5 2753 100 4 2.18 .913 4 1 3 250 11 0 2.64 .885
2001–02 Buffalo Sabres NHL 10 4 3 1 518 23 0 2.66 .894
2001–02 Rochester Americans AHL 45 16 17 12 2764 115 3 2.50 .906 1 0 1 59 3 0 3.06 .870
2002–03 Buffalo Sabres NHL 16 4 9 3 892 36 1 2.42 .912
2002–03 Rochester Americans AHL 19 5 9 5 1169 55 2 2.82 .903
2003–04 Buffalo Sabres NHL 35 11 17 2 1797 77 2 2.57 .906
2004–05 HPK FIN 27 14 8 4 1614 54 1 2.01 .927 9 4 4 482 21 1 2.61 .918
2005–06 Buffalo Sabres NHL 4 1 2 0 169 12 0 4.27 .844
2005–06 Vancouver Canucks NHL 4 1 1 0 171 10 0 3.52 .870
2005–06 Rochester Americans AHL 2 0 2 0 121 6 0 2.99 .898
2006–07 Ak Bars Kazan RSL 33 18 5 4 1877 66 2 2.11 .911 16 10 4 941 35 0 2.23 .886
2007–08 Ak Bars Kazan RSL 15 9 4 0 906 37 0 2.45 .886
2008–09 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 14 2 9 2 713 34 1 2.86 .890
2008–09 Linköping HC SWE 3 1 1 0 160 11 0 4.13 .895 3 1 2 221 8 1 2.17 .896
2009–10 JYP Jyväskylä FIN 6 5 1 0 365 14 0 2.30 .898
2009–10 HIFK FIN 25 17 8 0 1487 58 2 2.34 .918 6 2 4 372 15 1 2.42 .917
2010–11 Lukko FIN 27 13 10 4 1598 55 5 2.06 .929 12 6 6 757 28 1 2.22 .915
2011–12 Lukko FIN 50 17 22 8 2868 125 2 2.61 .914 1 0 1 58 5 0 5.19 .800
2012–13 Tappara FIN 1 1 0 0 60 3 0 3.00 .919 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 1.000
2012–13 LeKi FIN-2 2 124 2 1 0.97 .965
2013–14 HC Davos NLA 15 7 8 0 891 42 1 2.83 .919
2013–14 EHC München DEL 5 2 3 0 312 11 0 2.12 .946 3 1 2 179 10 0 3.35 .915
2014–15 LeKi FIN-2 4 2.01 .937 5 1.67 .957
2014–15 Tappara FIN 1 0 1 64 2 0 1.89 .895
2015–16 Tappara FIN 3 1 0 2 189 5 0 1.59 .930
2015–16 Malmö Redhawks SWE 1 0 1 0 40 4 0 6.00 .750
2015–16 LeKi FIN-2 6 3.73 .887
NHL totals 71 23 32 6 0 3653 163 3 2.68 .901

International

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Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1996 Finland EJC 3 180 3 0 1.00
1997 Finland EJC 5 300 8 0 1.60
1997 Finland WJC 2 120 4 0 2.00 .945
1998 Finland WJC 5 5 0 0 314 8 1 1.53 .934
1999 Finland WJC 3 1 2 0 159 11 0 4.14 .831
2004 Finland WC 5 2 2 1 309 12 1 2.33 .909
Junior totals 18 1073 34 1 1.90
Senior totals 5 2 2 1 309 12 1 2.33 .909

Awards and honours

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Award Year
AHL
All-Rookie Team 2000
Second All-Star Team 2000, 2001
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award 2000
Hap Holmes Memorial Award (with Tom Askey) 2001
All-Star Game 2002 [3]

References

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  1. ^ "Video of Noronen Cleaning the Glass". YouTube. 2002-01-04. Retrieved 2006-12-04.
  2. ^ "Associated Prees recap of Noronen goal". Yahoo! Sports. 2004-02-14. Archived from the original on 2005-04-22. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
  3. ^ "Canadian All-Stars 13, Planet USA All-Stars 11". American Hockey League. 2002-02-14. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by Buffalo Sabres first round draft pick
1997
Succeeded by