Quick Facts
Biography
Sean Bergenheim (born February 8, 1984) is a Finnish professional ice hockey winger, currently playing with Frölunda HC in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He has formerly played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild.
Playing career
Bergenheim played in Jokerit of the SM-liiga for three seasons, from 2001 to 2004, winning the Finnish championship in 2002. He was drafted by the New York Islanders as their first pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, 22nd overall.
He signed a three-year deal with the New York Islanders in 2003, and played 18 games for the Islanders in his debut season, 2003–04. Bergenheim scored his first NHL goal - a short-handed goal - against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was transferred back to Jokerit in January 2004, and moved back to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in April for the American Hockey League (AHL) playoffs and the subsequent lockout season.
Bergenheim spent most of the 2005–06 season playing for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. His breakout in the AHL finally brought him back to the New York Islanders, but he was unable to agree on a new contract with the team in the 2006 offseason, and subsequently signed with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the Russian Superleague (RSL).
On October 31, 2006, Bergenheim signed a one-year contract with Frölunda HC of the Swedish Elitserien. In Frölunda, he found instant chemistry with fellow forwards Steve Kariya and Martin Plüss to form a very successful line.
On June 18, 2007 Bergenheim signed a one-year contract to return to the NHL with the New York Islanders. During the 2007–08 season, his first full season in the NHL, Bergenheim became the 350th different New York Islander skater to register a goal at Madison Square Garden on March 4, 2008.
Scoring 10 goals in 78 games with the Islanders for the season Bergenheim signed a two-year contract extension on July 14, 2008. With higher expectations for the 2008–09 season, Sean scored 7 points in the first 16 games before he was felled by injury and illness that caused him to miss 26 games. Returning to health in the second half of the season Bergenheim had his first multi-goal game with two goals to help the Islanders shutout the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 on February 28, 2009. His strong form with New York continued and on March 7, 2009, Bergenheim recorded his first career hat trick against the New Jersey Devils. He finished the season with a career high 15 goals in only 59 games.
After the 2009–10 season Bergenheim left the Islanders and signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning on August 17, 2010. In his first appearance in the NHL playoffs, despite having only 14 goals in 80 games during the regular season, Bergenheim finished with 9 goals in 16 games en route to victories over the Pittsburgh Penguins and a sweep of the Washington Capitals before finally falling to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions Boston Bruins in seven games.
On July 1, 2011, Bergenheim signed a four-year contract worth $11 million with the Florida Panthers.
In the final year of his contract in the 2014–15 season, Bergenheim was used in rotation, and after requesting a trade was dealt on February 24, 2015, along with a seventh round selection in 2016 to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a third-round draft pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
At the conclusion of his contract and as an un-signed free agent over the summer, Bergenheim returned to Europe and signed a one-year contract with the option for two more years for the 2015–16 season in Switzerland with SC Bern of the NLA on October 7, 2015. In signing with Bern, Bergenheim re-united with former NHL head coach Guy Boucher from his tenure with the Lightning. Under Boucher's successor Lars Leuenberger, he won the 2016 Swiss championship with Bern, but missed parts of the season, including the playoffs, with a concussion.
As a free agent in the following off-season, Bergenheim returned to North America and agreed to partake in the Anaheim Ducks training camp on a professional try-out contract on September 20, 2016. Upon his release from the Ducks roster, he then headed back to Europe, signing with Swedish powerhouse Frölunda HC on November 4, 2016,where he had already played during the 2006–07 campaign.
International play
Bergenheim has represented Finland in the World U18 Championships as well as the World Junior Championships, winning one and three bronze medals, respectively.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2001–02 | Jokerit | SM-l | 28 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Jokerit | SM-l | 38 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | New York Islanders | NHL | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Jokerit | SM-l | 20 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | Bridgeport Sound Tigers | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | ||
| 2004–05 | Bridgeport Sound Tigers | AHL | 61 | 15 | 14 | 29 | 69 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | Bridgeport Sound Tigers | AHL | 55 | 25 | 22 | 47 | 112 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005–06 | New York Islanders | NHL | 28 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl | RSL | 9 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006–07 | Frölunda HC | SEL | 36 | 16 | 17 | 33 | 80 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | New York Islanders | NHL | 78 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | New York Islanders | NHL | 59 | 15 | 9 | 24 | 64 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | New York Islanders | NHL | 63 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 45 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Tampa Bay Lightning | NHL | 80 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 56 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 8 | ||
| 2011–12 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 62 | 17 | 6 | 23 | 48 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 2012–13 | HIFK | SM-l | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 62 | 16 | 13 | 29 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 39 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015–16 | SC Bern | NLA | 21 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 506 | 96 | 84 | 180 | 379 | 26 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 12 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Finland | WJC18 |  | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | |
| 2002 | Finland | WJC18 | 4th | 8 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 6 | |
| 2002 | Finland | WJC | | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2003 | Finland | WJC | | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | |
| 2004 | Finland | WJC | | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
| 2006 | Finland | WC | | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| 2007 | Finland | WC |  | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 31 | |
| 2008 | Finland | WC | | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Junior totals | 35 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 26 | ||||
| Senior totals | 22 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 37 | ||||