Ville Pokka (born 3 June 1994) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenseman, who currently plays for Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).
| Ville Pokka | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Pokka in 2015 | |||
| Born |
3 June 1994 Tornio, Finland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shoots | Right | ||
| SHL team Former teams |
Färjestad BK Oulun Kärpät Rockford IceHogs Belleville Senators Avangard Omsk | ||
| National team |
 Finland | ||
| NHL draft |
34th overall, 2012 New York Islanders | ||
| Playing career | 2010–present | ||
Playing career
editPokka played with Kärpät in the SM-Liiga during the 2010–11 season.[1] He was drafted 23rd overall by Avangard Omsk in the 2012 KHL Junior Draft and 34th overall by the New York Islanders in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
On 28 May 2014, Pokka was signed to a three-year entry-level contract with the Islanders.[2]
Prior to the 2014–15 season, on 4 October 2014, Pokka was traded, along with T. J. Brennan and Anders Nilsson by the Islanders to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Nick Leddy and Kent Simpson.[3] He was then directly assigned to Blackhawks American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.[4]
After three seasons with the organization (all of which were spent with the IceHogs), the Blackhawks re-signed Pokka to a one-year, $650,000 contract extension on 27 June 2017.[5]
In the 2017–18 season, Pokka was familiarly reassigned to the IceHogs. On 13 December 2017, Pokka was recalled by the Blackhawks however remained a healthy scratch before returning to Rockford on 18 December. After posting 22 points in 46 games, Pokka was traded by the Blackhawks to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Chris DiDomenico on 15 February 2018.[6] Pokka joined the Senators AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, and continued to provide offense from the blueline with 3 goals and 11 points in 23 games to end the season.
As an impending restricted free agent with the Senators, Pokka opted to leave North America by agreeing to a one-year contract with his Russian KHL draft club, Avangard Omsk, on 8 May 2018.[7]
In March 2022, Pokka left Avangard Omsk during playoffs due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[8][9] As a free agent in the off-season, Pokka signed a one-year contract in moving to Sweden with Färjestad BK of the SHL, on 5 June 2022.[10]
Career statistics
editRegular season and playoffs
edit| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2009–10 | Kärpät | FIN U18 | 20 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2010–11 | Kärpät | FIN U18 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 8 | ||
| 2010–11 | Kärpät | Jr.A | 32 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Kärpät | SM-l | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Kiekko–Laser | Mestis | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Kärpät | Jr. A | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | Kärpät | SM-l | 35 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13 | Kärpät | Jr. A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Kärpät | SM-l | 47 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | Kärpät | Liiga | 54 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 16 | 16 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 10 | ||
| 2014–15 | Rockford IceHogs | AHL | 68 | 8 | 22 | 30 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | Rockford IceHogs | AHL | 76 | 10 | 35 | 45 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | Rockford IceHogs | AHL | 76 | 6 | 24 | 30 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Rockford IceHogs | AHL | 46 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017–18 | Belleville Senators | AHL | 23 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2018–19 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 61 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 8 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2019–20 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 62 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 31 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 24 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 | ||
| 2021–22 | Avangard Omsk | KHL | 39 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2022–23 | Färjestad BK | SHL | 49 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Liiga totals | 138 | 12 | 30 | 42 | 38 | 28 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 12 | ||||
| KHL totals | 193 | 15 | 39 | 54 | 50 | 51 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 18 | ||||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Finland
| ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
2022 Beijing | |
| World Championships | ||
| |
2022 Finland | |
 |
2016 Russia | |
| |
2021 Latvia | |
| World Junior Championships | ||
| |
2014 Malmö | |
International
edit| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Finland | U17 | 7th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2011 | Finland | WJC18 | 5th | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2011 | Finland | IH18 | 4th | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | |
| 2012 | Finland | WJC | 4th | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |
| 2012 | Finland | WJC18 | 4th | 7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | |
| 2013 | Finland | WJC | 7th | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2014 | Finland | WJC | 
|
7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |
| 2016 | Finland | WC | 
|
10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2016 | Finland | WCH | 8th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018 | Finland | WC | 5th | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | Finland | WC |
|
10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 2022 | Finland | OG |
|
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2022 | Finland | WC |
|
8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 43 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 22 | ||||
| Senior totals | 45 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 4 | ||||
Awards and honors
edit| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Liiga | ||
| Matti Keinonen Trophy | 2014 | |
| Kanada-malja (Oulun Kärpät) | 2014 | |
| AHL | ||
| All-Rookie Team | 2015 | |
| KHL | ||
| Gagarin Cup (Avangard Omsk) | 2021 | [11] |
References
edit- ^ "Kärpät team statistics". Eliteprospects.com. 2011-04-15. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
- ^ "Pokka agrees to entry-level contract". New York Islanders. 2014-05-28. Retrieved 2014-05-28.
- ^ "Blackhawks acquire prospects from Islanders for Leddy". Chicago Blackhawks. 2014-10-04. Retrieved 2014-10-04.
- ^ "Islanders acquire Nick Leddy in trade with Blackhawks". National Hockey League. 2014-10-04. Retrieved 2014-10-04.
- ^ "Blackhawks sign defenseman Ville Pokka to one-year deal". The Athletic. 2017-06-27. Retrieved 2017-06-27.
- ^ "Senators acquire defenceman Ville Pokka from Chicago for Chris DiDomenico". National Hockey League. February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
- ^ "Finnish national defenseman Ville Pokka joins Avangard" (in Russian). Avangard Omsk. 2018-05-08. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ "Suomalaiskiekkoilijoiden joukkopako KHL:stä jatkuu – lähde: Pokka ja Kaski jättävät seuransa, myös Tuohimaa pois Venäjältä". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
- ^ "Ville Pokka and Oliwer Kaski leave Avangard". Avangard Omsk. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
- ^ "Double gold medalist signs for Färjestad BK" (in Swedish). Färjestad BK. 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
- ^ "Avangard is crowned 2021 Gagarin Cup Champions" (in Russian). Kontinental Hockey League. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
External links
edit- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
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