Tony Virta
Encyclopedia
Tony Virta is a Finnish professional ice hockey
forward
. He was drafted by the Minnesota Wild
as their fourth-round pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft
.
Virta is currently playing for Jokerit
in the SM-liiga
. On December 5, 2005, Virta received a serious knee injury from a failed hip check against him in a game against Ilves
, but recovered to play in the last games of the season.
In the summer of 2001 Virta signed with Färjestads BK
, but before the season had started he signed with the NHL
club Minnesota Wild
, who had drafted the same summer, and therefore never played a game for Färjestad.
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...
forward
Forward (ice hockey)
In ice hockey, a forward is a player position on the ice whose primary responsibility is to score goals. Generally, the forwards try to stay in three different lanes, also known as thirds, of the ice going from goal to goal. It is not mandatory however, to stay in a lane. Staying in a lane aids in...
. He was drafted by the Minnesota Wild
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
as their fourth-round pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft
2001 NHL Entry Draft
The 2001 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 23–24, 2001 at the National Car Rental Center in Sunrise, Florida.-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-Round five:-Round six:-Round seven:-Round eight:-Round nine:...
.
Virta is currently playing for 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...
in the 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...
. On December 5, 2005, Virta received a serious knee injury from a failed hip check against him in a game against Ilves
Ilves
Ilves is a Finnish sports club nowadays mostly known for their youth work. The ice hockey team plays in the SM-liiga at the Tampereen jäähalli in Hakametsä...
, but recovered to play in the last games of the season.
In the summer of 2001 Virta signed with Färjestads BK
Färjestads BK
Färjestads Bollklubb is a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Karlstad. Färjestad has had 18 Swedish Championship final appearances, winning nine times since Elitserien was started in 1975. The team plays in the highest Swedish league, and have done so since 1965...
, but before the season had started he signed with the 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...
club Minnesota Wild
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
, who had drafted the same summer, and therefore never played a game for Färjestad.
Career statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1991–92 | HPK HPK HPK is an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They play in Hämeenlinna, Finland at the Hämeenlinnan jäähalli. HPK was established in 1929. The full name of the club is HPK-Edustusjääkiekko Ry and the team is sometimes promoted as the "Hockey Playing Knights", with the logo representing a knight... |
SM-liiga | 23 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1992–93 | HPK | SM-liiga | 48 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 35 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1993–94 | HPK | SM-liiga | 47 | 17 | 16 | 33 | 50 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994–95 | HPK | SM-liiga | 43 | 9 | 24 | 33 | 75 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1995–96 | HPK | SM-liiga | 48 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 31 | ||
| 1996–97 | Frankfurt Lions Frankfurt Lions The Frankfurt Lions were a professional men's ice hockey club from Frankfurt, Germany that played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The club ceased operations in 2010 due to financial difficulty.-History:... |
DEL | 48 | 13 | 13 | 26 | 40 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1997–98 | 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:... |
SM-liiga | 48 | 17 | 15 | 32 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1998–99 | TPS | SM-liiga | 54 | 16 | 27 | 43 | 32 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 8 | ||
| 1999–00 | TPS | SM-liiga | 53 | 14 | 37 | 51 | 57 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 6 | ||
| 2000–01 | TPS | SM-liiga | 56 | 27 | 33 | 60 | 24 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | ||
| 2001–02 | Houston Aeros Houston Aeros The Houston Aeros are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. The team plays in Houston, Texas, at the Toyota Center. They are the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Minnesota Wild.- History :... |
AHL American Hockey League The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League... |
67 | 25 | 33 | 58 | 29 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 10 | ||
| 2001–02 | Minnesota Wild | NHL | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002–03 | Houston Aeros | AHL | 39 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 14 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002–03 | Södertälje SK Södertälje SK Södertälje Sportklubb is a Swedish professional ice hockey club playing in HockeyAllsvenskan. Södertälje were charter members of Elitserien when the league was founded in 1975 and have since played 24 seasons in the league... |
Elitserien Elitserien Elitserien, is a professional ice hockey league composed of twelve teams in Sweden... |
5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 31 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003–04 | HPK | SM-liiga | 55 | 18 | 20 | 38 | 81 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2004–05 | Zürich | Swiss | 40 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 14 | ||
| 2004–05 | GCK Lions GCK Lions GCK Lions is a Swiss professional ice hockey team founded in 1932. They are currently in the National League B, Switzerland's second tier ice hockey division. The home arena is Eishalle Küsnacht . The team has won one Swiss Championships, in 1966, as well as two championships in the Swiss second... |
Swiss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2005–06 | Jokerit | SM-liiga | 36 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 48 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| NHL totals | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||||