Antti Niemi (ice hockey)

Antti Niemi (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈɑntːi ˈniemi]; born 29 August 1983) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). During the 2009–10 season as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, he became the first Finnish goaltender to win the Stanley Cup. Niemi signed a contract to play for Pelicans in the SM-liiga in Finland during the 2012–13 NHL lockout.
Niemi left the Blackhawks and played with the San Jose Sharks from 2011 to 2014. The Sharks traded his negotiation rights to the Dallas Stars on 27 June 2015, who signed him to a three-year deal on 29 June.

Early years

Niemi played junior-level hockey for Kiekko-Vantaa from 1998 until 2005, where he also worked part-time as a Zamboni driver. He turned pro with the Pelicans of the Finnish SM-liiga in 2005, playing three seasons with the team. In November 2007, Niemi debuted for the Finnish national team. He then signed with the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL as an undrafted free agent in 2008. Assigned to Chicago's minor league affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, Niemi spent the majority of the 2008–09 season in the American Hockey League (AHL), alternating starts with Corey Crawford. In February 2009, he was called up to the Blackhawks as an injury replacement. He made his NHL debut on 27 February, playing one period in a 5–4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Niemi recorded his first NHL start and win several days later on 1 March, a 4–2 victory versus the Los Angeles Kings.

Stanley Cup season with Chicago

The following season, Niemi made the Blackhawks lineup out of training camp. The Blackhawks began their season with a back-to-back season opening series against the Florida Panthers, held in Niemi's native Finland in the city of Helsinki. The first game of the season opener was held 2 October 2009. Niemi started the second game, held on 3 October. In that game, Niemi stopped all 23 shots he faced against the Panthers to earn his first NHL shutout.

Compiling a very respectable record of 26–7–4 during the regular season, Niemi was named the Blackhawks' starting goaltender for the playoffs near the end of the 2009–10 NHL regular season and prior to the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, replacing Cristobal Huet. During game two of the opening series, Niemi recorded a shutout victory against the Nashville Predators at United Center, making him the first Blackhawks goaltender since Ed Belfour in 1996 to record a post-season shutout.

Niemi with the Blackhawks in 2010

On 22 April 2010, Niemi stopped 33 shots to record his second shutout of the post-season, making him the first Chicago goaltender since Tony Esposito in 1974 to record two shutouts in one playoff series. On 16 May 2010, Niemi made 44 saves in a 2–1 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final. Chicago ended up sweeping the series against San Jose in four games.

In only his second Stanley Cup Finals game, Niemi made 32 saves, earning the Player of the Game honors from the NHL. On 9 June 2010, Niemi led the Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup championship with a 4–3 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Niemi was the third Finnish goaltender to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals and the first ever to win the Cup.

Niemi filed for arbitration during the off-season, and was eventually awarded $2.75 million. Chicago officially walked away from the deal on 2 August due to salary cap restraints and signed veteran goaltender Marty Turco from the Dallas Stars for $1.3 million.

San Jose Sharks

On 2 September 2010, Niemi officially signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the San Jose Sharks. He made 30 saves in his first regular season victory with the Sharks, a 3–2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. After a poor start to the season, Niemi was platooned with fellow Finnish netminder Antero Niittymäki, but strong play in the month of February, which saw him go 14–2–1 with a 1.91 goals against average (GAA) and .924 save percentage, cemented him as the Sharks' starting goaltender. On 1 March 2011, Niemi signed a four-year contract extension with San Jose worth $15.2 million. His nickname with the Sharks was "Nemo."

In October 2012, Niemi signed a one-month contract with Pelicans in Finland during the 2012–13 NHL lockout. In the 2012–13 season, Niemi led the Sharks in GAA with 2.16, while leading the NHL in minutes played with 2,581, tied for the League lead with 24 wins in 43 starts, along with finishing third in the NHL with 1,127 saves. On 8 May 2013, Niemi was nominated for the Vezina Trophy, but ultimately lost out to Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Dallas Stars

On 27 June 2015, the second day of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Niemi's rights were traded to the Dallas Stars in exchange for the 193rd pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. The Stars signed Niemi, forming a partnership with fellow Finnish starting goaltender Kari Lehtonen, on a three-year deal worth $13.5 million on 29 June. On 8 October 2015, Niemi started the first game of the season for the Dallas Stars instead of longtime starter Kari Lehtonen, posting a 37 save shutout and picking up two assists in the 3–0 Dallas Stars victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Niemi won a Bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics, dressing for four of Finland's six games but he did not see any ice time.

Regular season and playoffs

• 2010 Stanley Cup (Chicago Blackhawks)
• 2013 THN Gilles Villemure Award (Best Shootout Goalie)
• Kiekko-Vantaa retired number.