Mikko Jokela
Mikko Jokela | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 4, 1980 Finland |
| Occupation | Professional ice hockey defenseman (retired) |
| Years active | 1994–2018 (approximate, based on career timeline) |
Mikko Jokela (born March 4, 1980) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey defenseman. He appeared in a single National Hockey League game representing the Vancouver Canucks during the 2003 season.
Playing career
Jokela’s hockey journey started with the KalPa junior squad. In the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, the New Jersey Devils selected him 96th overall. After competing for multiple teams in Finland’s SM-liiga, he signed with the Devils organization for the 2001–02 NHL campaign, spending that season with their AHL affiliate, the Albany River Rats. Early in the following season, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Steve Kariya and made his sole NHL appearance during the 2002–03 season.
After spending an additional year with the Canucks’ AHL team, the Manitoba Moose, Jokela returned to Finland to join HPK. He was appointed team captain for the 2005–06 season and led HPK to secure the SM-liiga championship title. In April 2007, Jokela inked a three-year deal with Jokerit but transferred to HC Dynamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) after two seasons. For the 2010–11 season, he signed with Timrå IK in Sweden’s SHL before embarking on a three-season tenure with HIFK in Finland’s Liiga.
On March 21, 2014, Jokela departed HIFK after three years and agreed to a two-year contract to return as captain of KalPa. He fulfilled captaincy duties throughout both seasons before signing with EC VSV of Austria’s EBEL league in May 2016.
Midway through his stint with VSV, Jokela opted to return to Finland by joining Liiga club KooKoo, where he ultimately concluded his professional playing career spanning two decades.
International play
Jokela was chosen to represent Finland at the 2008 World Championships and has participated several times in the Euro Hockey Tour as part of the national team.
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1994–95 | KalPa U16 | FIN Jr-3 | 29 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | KalPa U16 | FIN Jr-3 | 23 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 103 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | ||
| 1995–96 | KalPa U18 | FIN Jr-2 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 19 | 20 | 15 | 35 | 27 | ||
| 1995–96 | KalPa U20 | FIN Jr | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | KalPa U18 | FIN Jr-2 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1996–97 | KalPa U20 | FIN Jr | 22 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | HIFK | FIN | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Kokkolan Hermes | FIN-2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | HIFK | FIN | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | KalPa | FIN | 42 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | SaiPa | FIN | 48 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | SaiPa | FIN | 50 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 AHL season | Albany River Rats | AHL |56 | 5 | 13 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 2002–03 NHL season | Vancouver Canucks | NHL |1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 2002–03 AHL season | Manitoba Moose | AHL |32 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | ||||||
| 2003–04 AHL season | Manitoba Moose | AHL |78 | 5 | 10 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 2004–05 SM-liiga season | HPK | FIN |55 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | ||||||
| 2005–06 SM-liiga season | HPK | FIN |25 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 43 | ||||||
| 2007–08 SM-liiga season | Jokerit | FIN |51 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | ||||||
| 2008–09 SM-liiga season | Jokerit | FIN |55 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 72 |2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| 2009–10 KHL season | Dinamo Minsk | KHL |18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |— | — | — | —| | |||||||
| 2011–12 SM-liiga season | HIFK | FIN |45 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 70 |4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||
| NHL totals !1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 !— | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| KHL totals !18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 !— | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| FIN totals !659 | 48 | 104 | 152 | 707 !75 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 95 | ||||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Finland | U17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| 1997 | Finland | EJC | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 1998 | Finland | EJC | 6 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 22 | |
| 1999 | Finland | WJC | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| 2000 | Finland | WJC | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2008 | Finland | WC | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| Junior career totals | 28 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 43 | |||
| Senior career totals | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||