Dwight Helminen

Dwight Helminen
Born	(1983-06-22) June 22, 1983 Hancock, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Professional ice hockey player (retired)
Known for	Ice hockey center

Dwight Edward Helminen (born June 22, 1983) is a retired American-Finnish professional ice hockey center who most recently competed with the Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL. His brother, Lars, is currently playing for Linz EHC in the EBEL.

Playing career

Helminen was born in Hancock, Michigan and grew up in Brighton, Michigan. He began his hockey journey with the Detroit Compuware youth program. Selected 244th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, Helminen progressed through the U.S. Junior National Team system competing in the United States Hockey League (USHL) and continued his development at the collegiate level with the University of Michigan Wolverines. On March 3, 2004, the New York Rangers obtained his rights from Edmonton via a trade involving draft selections and players.

Upon turning professional, Helminen split time between the Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL and the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL before signing with Finnish SM-liiga club JYP in 2007.

On July 3, 2008, Helminen inked a one-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes, joining their AHL affiliate, the Albany River Rats. He made his NHL debut during the 2008–09 campaign after Brandon Sutter sustained an injury. In his fourth appearance at the NHL level, Helminen netted his first goal and earned his only assist. That season, he played 23 regular-season games plus one playoff contest, contributing to Carolina’s run to the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Helminen signed a one-year contract with the San Jose Sharks on July 16, 2009. During the 2009–10 season, he scored his inaugural goal for San Jose against the Detroit Red Wings and later tallied a playoff goal versus the Colorado Avalanche.

In the middle of the 2011–12 season, Helminen departed Czech team KLH Chomutov to return to North America, signing with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL on February 6, 2012.

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1998–99	Compuware Ambassadors	NAHL		32	9	7	16			—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	US NTDP Juniors	USHL		30	5	7	12	10		—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	US NTDP U18	NAHL		30	7	10	17	8		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	US NTDP Juniors	USHL		24	12	7	19	8		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	University of Michigan	CCHA		40	10	8	18	10		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	University of Michigan	CCHA		39	17	16	33	34		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	University of Michigan	CCHA		41	17	11	28	4		—	—	—	—

2004–05 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL |41 |2 |7 |9 |10 |— |— |— |— |— |-	2004–05 | Charlotte Checkers | ECHL |28 |5 |16 |21 |10 |15 |7 |3 |10 |2 |-	2005–06 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL |77 |32 |23 |55 |40 |13 |3 |5 |8 |10 |-	2006–07 | Hartford Wolf Pack | AHL |80 |15 |24 |39 |32 |7 |1 |1 |2 |2 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"	2007–08 | JYP Jyväskylä | SM-liiga |52 |20 |25 |45 |10 |6 |3 |3 |6 |0 |-	2008–09 | Albany River Rats | AHL |54 |15 |15 |30 |26 |
2008–09 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL |23 |1 |1 |2 |0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |-	2009–10  Worcester Sharks  AHL  74  12  10  22  16  —  —  —  —  — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"	2009–10 San Jose Sharks NHL4 1 01 74 22 |-	2010–11 Pelicans SM-liiga60 12 16 28 40 — — — — — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"	2011–12 Piráti Chomutov CZE.224414186 — — — — — |-	2011–12 Kalamazoo Wings ECHL20 7 11 18 6 14 5 7 12 2 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0"	2012–13 Kalamazoo Wings ECHL3 0 1 1 2 — — — — — |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"	AHL totals !326 !76 !79 !155 !124 !22 !4 !6 !10 !12 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"			NHL totals !27 !2 !1 !3 !0 !8 !1 !0 !1 !4 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0"			SM-liiga totals !112 !32 !41 !73 !50 !6 !3 !3 !6 !0 | } International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 2000 United States U17 6 0 2 2 2001 United States WJC18 6 3 5 8 0 2002 United States WJC 6 1 0 1 2 2003 United States WJC 7 1 3 4 2 Junior totals 26 5 10 15 4 Awards and honors Award Year CCHA All-Tournament Team 2003 External links