Ilkka Mikkola is a professional ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 defenceman

Defenceman (ice hockey)

Defence in ice hockey is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring...

, who currently plays for Oulun Kärpät in Finnish hockey league SM-Liiga

SM-liiga

The SM-liiga is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. As of March 2008, it is ranked by the IIHF as the second strongest league in Europe. It was created in 1975 to replace the SM-sarja, which was fundamentally an amateur league. The SM-liiga is not directly overseen by the Finnish Ice...

. Mikkola is also the captain of his team.

In the time of his 12 seasons in league, Mikkola has won eight championships

Kanada-malja

The Kanada-malja is an ice hockey club championship trophy, awarded annually to the SM-liiga playoffs champion. Kanada-malja is Finnish for "Canada Cup", and is so named because it was donated by Canada's Finnish community in 1951....

, which is more than any active player in the league.
In the 2004-05 SM-liiga season, Mikkola was the best defenceman of the league and was also chosen to the SM-liiga All Star-game. Of the eight championships he has won four with Kärpät, one with Jokerit

Jokerit

Jokerit is an ice-hockey team from Helsinki, Finland, playing in the Finnish Elite League, SM-liiga. The team has won 6 league championships...

 and three with TPS

TPS (ice hockey)

TPS or Turun Palloseura is an ice hockey team and 11-time champion of SM-liiga. They play in Turku, Finland at the HK Arena. In terms of championships, TPS is the most successful team in SM-liiga history.-Team history:...

.

Including the eight championships in SM-liiga, Mikkola has also won gold medal in 1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

1998 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

- Quarterfinals :- Semifinals :- Placement games :- 7th place game :- 5th place game :- Bronze medal game :- Gold medal game :- Relegation round : lost the two game total goal series 17-3 and was relegated for the 1999 World Juniors...

. He has also won silver medal in U18 European Championships.
Mikkola was drafted to NHL

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 by Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

 in third round as 65th overall in 1997 NHL Entry Draft

1997 NHL Entry Draft

The 1997 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 21 June 1997.-Selections by round:Club teams are located in North America unless otherwise noted.- Round one :-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:...

.