Latest news with #Genève-Servette
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ex-Oiler, Finnish Olympian Returns Home
Finnish forward Teemu Hartikainen, 35, with KalPa, the reigning Liiga champion announced on Friday. KalPa is the club Kuopio-born Hartikainen grew up playing for, but hasn't played there since 2010. 'It feels good to be here,' said Hartikainen. 'We have been able to settle down with our family in peace, and after the summer we won't have to go out into the world anymore. After all, we've been waiting for this for the past few years, to be able to settle down at home with our family again.' Hartikainen was chosen in the sixth round, 163rd overall, by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Between 2010 and 2013, he split three seasons between the Oilers and the AHL's Oklahoma City Barons. In 52 NHL games, he recorded six goals, seven assists and 16 penalty minutes for the Oilers. Hartikainen then spent nine seasons playing in the KHL for Salavat Yulaev Ufa. In 2018-19, he made the KHL First All-Star Team and led the playoffs in points and plus/minus. In 2020-21, he had 64 points in 53 regular-season games, which led all non-Russian players in the league. Hartikainen spent the last three seasons in Switzerland playing for Genève-Servette, where he amassed 136 points in 161 National League regular-season and playoff games. In 2022-23, he helped the team win its first-ever national title and the following season Genève-Servette won the Champions Hockey League. Hartikainen was one of numerous Finns on the Genève-Servette team; most of whom have since returned home. Finnish teammates of Hartikainen in Switzerland included goaltender Antti Raanta, defenseman Sami Vatanen and forwards Valtteri Filppula and Markus Granlund. Confirmed: Sami Vatanen Returns To Hometown Club It had been rumored since early last season and now it's official. Finnish defenseman Sami Vatanen, 33, has signed a two-year contract to play with his hometown club JYP, the Liiga club announced in a press conference on Tuesday. Internationally, Hartikainen represented Finland at three IIHF World Championships and one Winter Olympics, winning gold in each three months apart in 2022. Hartikainen represents the only KalPa player under contract for 2025-16 that has any NHL, Olympic or World Championship experience, but he's nonetheless confident about the club's continued success. 'The club is growing year by year and there is a way of doing things here in the long term,' he said. 'It has been great to see how many of our own young people have grown up here to become Liiga players and under their leadership we are able to win the Finnish championship. It's great to be a part of this.' Photo © Anne-Marie Sorvin-Imagn Images Antti Raanta Signs With Hometown Finnish Team Antti Raanta is finally going home. On Monday, Liiga club Lukko, located in Raanta's hometown of Rauma, on Finland's west coast, announced that the 36-year-old goaltender had signed a one-year contract.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Canadian-Swiss Cody Almond Retires
Canadian-Swiss center Cody Almond, 35, has retired, according to numerous Swiss sources on Friday, including one of his former teams, Genève-Servette. Almond had not played at all in the 2024-25 season. 𝑪𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝑨𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒆 ! ✨Après avoir passé 7️⃣ saisons au GSHC et inscrit 159 points en 248 matchs, Almond annonce sa retraite sportive. 👏Merci pour tout et bonne continuation Cody 👋 — Genève-Servette HC (@officialGSHC) February 28, 2025 Almond was born and raised in Calgary and played junior hockey for the Kelowna Rockets, where he was part of the team's 2008-09 WHL championship and played in that year's Memorial Cup. Almond was chosen in the fifth round, 140th overall, by the Minnesota Wild in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Between 2009 and 2012, Almond played 15 NHL games for the Wild, scoring two goals and tallying 26 penalty minutes. Marco Rossi after comeback vs Canada: 'In 50 years, I'll think back on that game' It was the biggest deficit in the history of the top division of the IIHF World Championship that a team has ever had and managed to take a point. Down 6-1 entering the third period, The Austrians scored five in the third period to force overtime, eventually losing 7-6. The tying goal with 49 seconds left in regulation time was scored by the team's lone NHLer, Marco Rossi of the Minnesota Wild. He spoke about it afterward. Since 2012, Almond has played almost all of his career in Switzerland's National League, first with Genève-Servette for seven seasons, followed by five with Lausanne HC. Over 12 seasons, Almond played 465 National League regular-season and playoff games, recording 224 points and 731 penalty minutes. Almond became a Swiss citizen and represented Switzerland at two IIHF World Championships and at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Andres Ambühl Will Retire At Season's End Andres Ambühl – the holder of multiple Swiss and international hockey records – will retire at the end of this, his 25th season as a professional hockey player.
