Hannu_Virta
Hannu Virta
Finnish ice hockey player
Hannu Markus Virta (born March 22, 1963, in Turku, Finland) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman. He was named the best defenceman in the Finnish Elite League (SM-liiga) four times, and was a five-time all-star. He also won the Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy as rookie of the year in 1981–82.[1]
| Hannu Virta | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
(1963-03-22) March 22, 1963 (age 61) Turku, FIN | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
SM-liiga TPS NHL Buffalo Sabres Nationalliga A ZSC Lions Nationalliga B Grasshopper Zürich | ||
| National team |
 Finland | ||
| NHL draft |
38th overall, 1981 Buffalo Sabres | ||
| Playing career | 1981–1998 | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Finland | ||
| Men's ice hockey | ||
| World Junior Championships | ||
 | 1982 Canada & USA | |
| World Championships | ||
 | 1995 Sweden | |
 | 1994 Italy | |
| Winter Olympics | ||
| 1994 Lillehammer | |
Virta was drafted in the second round, 38th overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. He played 245 National Hockey League games with the Sabres over five seasons, scoring 25 goals and adding 101 assists. He also appeared in 17 playoff games with Buffalo, scoring one goal and tallying three assists.
He returned to the SM-liiga in Finland in 1986, where he played for TPS Turku until 1994, as well as in 1996–97. He helped his team win the league championship three consecutive years beginning in 1988–89. In 461 league games, he scored 68 goals and 213 assists for 281 points. He also played in Switzerland, in the Swiss B League with the GCK Lions from 1994 to 1996 and in the Swiss A League with the ZSC Lions in 1997–98.[2]
Internationally, Virta won a bronze medal at the Under-20 World Junior Championships in 1982. As an adult, he won a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics playing for Finland's national ice hockey team. He played at seven IIHF World Championships, winning gold in 1995 and silver in 1994, and leading the tournament in assists in 1996. He also played in the 1987 Canada Cup and 1996 World Cup of Hockey.[2]
Virta's number 23 was retired by TPS Turku.
He coached in the SM-liiga with the Espoo Blues from 2003 to 2004, and as of 2008, he coaches for his old team TPS.,[3] on 12 January 2009 signs a contract as Head Coach from Hockey Club Lugano.[4]
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1978–79 | TPS | FIN U18 | 22 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979–80 | TPS | FIN U20 | 26 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1980–81 | TPS | FIN U20 | 29 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980–81 | TPS | SM-l | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 1981–82 | TPS | SM-l | 36 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1981–82 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1982–83 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 74 | 13 | 24 | 37 | 18 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 1983–84 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 70 | 6 | 30 | 36 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1984–85 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 51 | 1 | 23 | 24 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 47 | 5 | 23 | 28 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | TPS | SM-l | 41 | 13 | 30 | 43 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 1987–88 | TPS | SM-l | 44 | 10 | 28 | 38 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | TPS | SM-l | 43 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 30 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1989–90 | TPS | SM-l | 41 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 10 | ||
| 1990–91 | TPS | SM-l | 43 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 40 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 1991–92 | TPS | SM-l | 43 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 32 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1992–93 | TPS | SM-l | 39 | 1 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 | ||
| 1993–94 | TPS | SM-l | 47 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1994–95 | GCK Lions | CHE.2 | 36 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 2 | ||
| 1995–96 | GCK Lions | CHE.2 | 35 | 12 | 26 | 38 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 | ||
| 1996–97 | TPS | SM-l | 48 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 24 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 1997–98 | ZSC Lions | NDA | 46 | 4 | 25 | 29 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| SM-l totals | 426 | 63 | 202 | 265 | 222 | 81 | 9 | 30 | 39 | 48 | ||||
| NHL totals | 245 | 25 | 101 | 126 | 66 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Finland | EJC | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1982 | Finland | WJC | 7 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | |
| 1987 | Finland | WC | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| 1987 | Finland | CC | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1989 | Finland | WC | 10 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 6 | |
| 1991 | Finland | WC | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 1994 | Finland | OLY | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
| 1994 | Finland | WC | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1995 | Finland | WC | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| 1996 | Finland | WC | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 4 | |
| 1996 | Finland | WCH | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 1997 | Finland | WC | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | |
| Junior totals | 12 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 4 | |||
| Senior totals | 71 | 8 | 27 | 35 | 44 | |||
- "Hannu Virta". Elite Prospects.
- "Lugano engagiert Hannu Virta als Coach (Sport, Eishockey, NZZ Online)". www.nzz.ch. Archived from the original on 2012-03-18.
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
| Preceded by | Winner of the Pekka Rautakallio trophy 1986–87 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of the Pekka Rautakallio trophy 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of the President's trophy 1995–96 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Head Coach of Blues 2003–2004 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Head Coach of TPS 2007— |
Succeeded by — |