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Sami Lepistö

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Sami Lepistö
Born (1984-10-17) 17 October 1984 (age 40)
Espoo, Finland
Height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
NL team
Former teams		 SCL Tigers
Jokerit
Washington Capitals
Phoenix Coyotes
Columbus Blue Jackets
Chicago Blackhawks
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Lev Prague
Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg
Salavat Yulaev Ufa
Luleå HF
National team  Finland
NHL draft 66th overall, 2004
Washington Capitals
Playing career 2003–2023

Sami Lepistö (born 17 October 1984) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He is the son of former Jokerit captain and youth international defenceman Jussi Lepistö. Sami was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the third round, 66th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

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Jokerit

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Lepistö played professional hockey for Jokerit in the Finnish SM-liiga. In 2003–04, his first season, Lepistö had 3 goals and 7 points in 53 games, followed by one assist in eight playoff games for Jokerit. He also played for Finland in the 2004 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, scoring four goals and eight points in seven games. Lepistö saw his offensive numbers rise in 2004–05, as he had 7 goals and 25 points in 55 games. Lepistö also had a solid playoff performance for Jokerit, scoring 1 goal and 8 points in 12 games.

Lepistö returned to Jokerit in 2005–06 and increased his offensive numbers once again, scoring 8 goals and 29 points in 56 games. However, he had an injury plagued 2006–07 season, as he had 1 goal and 10 points in 26 games. On 31 May 2007, Lepistö signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Washington Capitals.[1]

NHL

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Lepistö was sent to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2007–08, where in 55 games, he scored 4 goals and 45 points as well as posting a solid +29 rating. Lepistö also made his NHL debut on 16 February 2008 with the Capitals. In seven games with Washington in 2007–08, he had one assist. He was returned to Hershey, where he had an assist in five playoff games. After the season, Lepistö played for Finland at the 2008 IIHF World Championship, where he had one goal and one assist in seven games.

Lepistö spent most of the 2008–09 season with Hershey once again, scoring 4 goals and 42 points in 70 games and recording a +24 rating. He once again appeared in seven games with the Capitals, where Lepistö earned four assists. On 27 June 2009, Lepistö was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes for the Coyotes' fifth-round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.[2]

Lepistö spent the entire 2009–10 season with the Phoenix Coyotes, where he scored 1 goal and 11 points in 66 games, helping the club to the 2010 playoffs. In seven playoff games with the Coyotes, Lepistö scored one goal. He also played for Finland at the 2010 Winter Olympics, where he recorded one assist in six games. He returned to the Coyotes for the 2010–11 season, where he had 4 goals and 11 points in 51 games.

On 28 February 2011, the Coyotes traded Lepistö and Scottie Upshall to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Rostislav Klesla and Dane Byers.[3] On 15 July 2011, Lepistö signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.

KHL

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On 4 June 2012, it was announced Lepistö had signed a one-year contract to play for the rebuilding Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[4]

On 12 January 2013, Lepistö was traded to Lev Prague of the KHL. In the summer of 2013, he signed a two-year contract with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. After that, he signed a one-year contract with Salavat Yulaev Ufa. During the 2016 playoffs, he tied Nikita Zaitsev and Chris Lee to lead all defenceman in playoff scoring with 13 points.

After two seasons with Ufa, it was announced Lepistö as a free agent would return to play for original club Jokerit, now competing in the KHL on 22 May 2017.[5]

After KHL

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For the 2021–22 season, Lepistö joined Luleå HF in the Swedish Hockey League, followed by a year in SCL Tigers of Swiss National League. He signed a contract for 2023–2024 with HIFK in the Finnish Liiga, but he was forced to end his career before the season start due to an aortic aneurysm found in his heart that proved continuing contact sports risky.[6]

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1999–2000 Jokerit FIN U16 14 3 9 12 22 7 1 3 4 16
2000–01 Jokerit FIN U16 12 1 10 11 26 2 0 0 0 2
2001–02 Jokerit FIN U18 20 8 14 22 36 8 4 8 12 12
2001–02 Jokerit FIN U20 14 0 5 5 2 — — — — —
2002–03 Jokerit FIN U20 36 5 14 19 34 11 1 5 6 8
2003–04 Jokerit SM-l 53 3 4 7 20 8 0 1 1 4
2004–05 Jokerit SM-l 55 7 18 25 44 12 1 7 8 12
2005–06 Jokerit SM-l 56 8 21 27 68 — — — — —
2006–07 Jokerit SM-l 26 1 9 10 32 10 2 2 4 4
2007–08 Hershey Bears AHL 55 4 41 45 51 5 0 1 1 4
2007–08 Washington Capitals NHL 7 0 1 1 12 — — — — —
2008–09 Hershey Bears AHL 70 4 38 42 80 — — — — —
2008–09 Washington Capitals NHL 7 0 4 4 6 — — — — —
2009–10 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 66 1 10 11 60 7 1 0 1 6
2010–11 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 51 4 7 11 37 — — — — —
2010–11 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 19 0 5 5 18 — — — — —
2011–12 Chicago Blackhawks NHL 26 1 2 3 4 3 0 0 0 0
2012–13 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL 26 0 3 3 30 — — — — —
2012–13 Lev Prague KHL 11 0 5 5 20 3 0 0 0 2
2013–14 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg KHL 53 6 19 25 67 4 1 1 2 6
2014–15 Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg KHL 60 7 16 23 44 5 0 1 1 4
2015–16 Salavat Yulaev Ufa KHL 60 11 19 30 33 19 6 7 13 16
2016–17 Salavat Yulaev Ufa KHL 53 6 25 31 22 5 0 3 3 4
2017–18 Jokerit KHL 56 7 22 29 34 11 0 7 7 8
2018–19 Jokerit KHL 59 8 28 36 65 6 0 3 3 0
2019–20 Jokerit KHL 61 8 17 25 58 6 1 2 3 2
2020–21 Jokerit KHL 27 1 7 8 18 4 1 0 1 6
2021–22 Luleå HF SHL 39 4 25 29 24 17 2 13 15 20
2022–23 SCL Tigers NL 52 5 15 20 34 — — — — —
SM-l totals 190 19 52 71 164 30 3 10 13 20
NHL totals 176 6 29 35 137 10 1 0 1 6
KHL totals 466 54 161 215 391 63 9 24 33 48

International

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Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Vancouver
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Sochi
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Slovakia
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Canada
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Finland
Year Team Event Result   GP G A Pts PIM
2004 Finland WJC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7 4 4 8 10
2008 Finland WC 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7 1 1 2 10
2010 Finland OG 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 0 1 1 6
2011 Finland WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 9 0 3 3 6
2013 Finland WC 4th 10 0 4 4 2
2014 Finland OG 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 1 1 2 0
2015 Finland WC 6th 8 0 2 2 4
2016 Finland WCH 8th 3 0 0 0 2
2018 Finland OG 6th 5 2 3 5 4
Junior totals 7 4 4 8 10
Senior totals 54 4 15 19 34

Awards and honours

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Award Year
AHL
Calder Cup champion 2009
International
WJC Best Defenceman 2004
WJC All-Star Team 2004

References

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  1. ^ "Capitals sign Sami Lepistö to entry-level contract". capitals.nhl.com. 31 May 2007. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  2. ^ "Coyotes' trade for 3 defensemen". azcentral.com. 27 June 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  3. ^ "Blue Jackets trade Klesla to Coyotes for Upshall, Lepisto". TSN. 28 February 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
  4. ^ "Lepisto signs with KHL's Lokomotiv Yaroslavl".
  5. ^ "Sami Lepisto returns home" (in Finnish). Jokerit. 22 May 2017. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Magneettikuvaus paljasti karmean tiedon Sami Lepistön sydämestä – lääkärin sanat tulivat shokkina: "En tiennyt, että näin voi käydä"" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
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