Veli-Pekka Ketola
Veli-Pekka Ketola (born March 28, 1948 in Pori, Finland). He is a retired professional ice hockey player and coach.
| Veli-Pekka Ketola | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
March 28, 1948 Pori, FIN | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 238 lb (108 kg; 17 st 0 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for |
SM-liiga Karhut Ässät 1. Divisioona KalPa WHA Winnipeg Jets Calgary Cowboys NHL Colorado Rockies | ||
| National team |
 | ||
| Playing career | 1963–1983 | ||
Playing career
Veli-Pekka Ketola played in the Finnish League, World Hockey Association, and National Hockey League. While Ketola was playing for the Ässät of the Finnish League, he won the league scoring twice in 1971 and 1978 and was a six-time all-star.
In 1974, Ketola came to North America to play for the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association. He played just over two and a half seasons, from 1974–75 to 1976–77, for the Jets and he played the last 17 games of the 1976–77 WHA season for the Calgary Cowboys. After those three years in the WHA, he went back to Finland to once again play for the Ässät Pori. Despite being signed by the Vancouver Canucks on 6 March 1979, he didn't play for a North American team again until he played 44 games for the Colorado Rockies of the NHL during the 1981–82 season.
Coaching career
Veli-Pekka Ketola coached Ässät Pori of the Finnish League from 1993–94 season to 1996–97 season's first six games.
Honours and accolades
- General manager of the U20 Finnish team in 2016.
- Six-time all-star in Finland.
- Elected to the Finnish Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990 as a player.
- Won the Finnish Champion (Kanada-malja) in 1964–65, 1970–71 and 1977–78.
- Won the Avco World Trophy in 1975–76.
- Won the Best Hockey Player of Finland Trophy in 1974 and 1978.
- Won the Matti Keinonen trophy in 1978–79.
- His number 13 was retired by Porin Ässät.
- He won the Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy the year it was introduced (1978).
- Led the Finnish League in scoring in 1971.
- Ketola played as the Finland national team for the first two Canada Cup tournaments in 1976 and 1981.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1963–64 | Karhut | SM-s | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1964–65 | Karhut | SM-s | 18 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1965–66 | Karhut | SM-s | 19 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1966–67 | Karhut | SM-s | 22 | 15 | 10 | 25 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1967–68 | Ässät | SM-s | 20 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1968–69 | Ässät | SM-s | 20 | 15 | 9 | 24 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1969–70 | Jokerit | SM-s | 22 | 25 | 12 | 37 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1970–71 | Ässät | SM-s | 31 | 25 | 17 | 42 | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971–72 | Ässät | SM-s | 32 | 16 | 14 | 30 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972–73 | Ässät | SM-s | 36 | 25 | 16 | 41 | 74 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973–74 | Ässät | SM-s | 35 | 23 | 21 | 44 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974–75 | Winnipeg Jets | WHA | 74 | 23 | 28 | 51 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975–76 | Winnipeg Jets | WHA | 80 | 32 | 36 | 68 | 32 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 2 | ||
| 1976–77 | Winnipeg Jets | WHA | 64 | 25 | 29 | 54 | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976–77 | Calgary Cowboys | WHA | 17 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977–78 | Ässät | SM-l | 36 | 27 | 29 | 56 | 59 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 22 | ||
| 1978–79 | Ässät | SM-l | 36 | 23 | 49 | 72 | 66 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 30 | ||
| 1979–80 | Ässät | SM-l | 36 | 22 | 38 | 60 | 61 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 40 | ||
| 1980–81 | Ässät | SM-l | 36 | 23 | 39 | 62 | 61 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1981–82 | Colorado Rockies | NHL | 44 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | KalPa | FIN II | 6 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| SM-s totals | 257 | 168 | 116 | 284 | 282 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| SM-l totals | 144 | 95 | 155 | 250 | 247 | 26 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 94 | ||||
| WHA totals | 235 | 84 | 99 | 183 | 118 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 2 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Finland | OLY | 8 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | |
| 1969 | Finland | WC | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| 1970 | Finland | WC | 10 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 32 | |
| 1971 | Finland | WC | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 4 | |
| 1972 | Finland | OLY | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | |
| 1972 | Finland | WC | 9 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | |
| 1973 | Finland | WC | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | |
| 1974 | Finland | WC | 10 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 4 | |
| 1976 | Finland | CC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1981 | Finland | CC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Senior totals | 77 | 25 | 21 | 46 | 83 | |||
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database