Mikko Mäenpää

Mikko Mäenpää
Mikko Mäenpää
Born	April 19, 1983 (age 41); Tampere, Finland
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	183 lb (83 kg; 13 st 1 lb)
Position	Defence
Shoots	Left
Liiga team; Former teams	JYP Jyväskylä; Pelicans; HPK; Syracuse Crunch; Skellefteå AIK; Frölunda HC; Amur Khabarovsk; CSKA Moscow; HC Lev Praha; HC Ambrì-Piotta
National team	Finland
NHL draft	Undrafted
Playing career	2002–present

Mikko Mäenpää (born April 19, 1983) is Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman, currently playing for JYP Jyväskylä in the Liiga.

Playing career

He could not break through into Tappara roster at young age, so he moved to JYP in 2002. He also made brief visits to Pelicans and Mestis teams Jukurit and Sport. After full season in Jukurit in 2005-06 when the team won Mestis title, he moved to HPK and made a breakthrough season in SM-liiga, having 40 points. After the 2006-2007 season, Mäenpää was chosen to the SM-liiga All-Star Team.^[1]

He signed a contract with Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL) in the summer, but ended up playing for their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Syracuse Crunch. He returned to HPK mid-season, only to continue to Skellefteå AIK in the Swedish Elitserien later in the season. He played two more seasons in HPK until 2010 and had seasons of 47 and 30 points. He was then selected to the national team for the 2010 IIHF World Championship for the first time in his career.

He then returned to Elitserien and signed for Frölunda HC for the 2010–11 season before signing for Amur Khabarovsk of the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia for 2011–12. In 2012–13 he played 25 matches for HC CSKA Moscow and moved to Lev Prague after that. On July 2, 2015, he signed a one-year deal to continue his professional career with HC Ambrì-Piotta, a Swiss team competing in the National League A.^[2]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2000–01	Tappara	Jr. A	35	10	8	18	30	5	1	0	1	4
2001–02	Tappara	Jr. A	39	13	12	25	201	—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	JYP	Jr. A	4	1	3	4	0	—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	JYP	SM-l	9	0	0	0	4	—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Sport	Mestis	2	1	0	1	0	—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	JYP	SM-l	40	0	2	2	44	2	0	0	0	2
2004–05	Jukurit	Mestis	4	0	2	2	4	—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	JYP	SM-l	9	0	1	1	0	—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Pelicans	SM-l	32	0	2	2	0	—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Jukurit	Mestis	40	6	10	16	75	6	2	1	3	2
2006–07	HPK	SM-l	52	14	26	40	48	9	3	2	5	10
2007–08	Syracuse Crunch	AHL	7	0	2	2	6	—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	HPK	SM-l	13	3	2	5	18	—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Skellefteå AIK	SEL	11	3	4	7	12	5	0	1	1	25
2008–09	HPK	SM-l	58	11	36	47	40	6	1	1	2	6
2009–10	HPK	SM-l	43	12	18	30	72	17	5	4	9	26
2010–11	Frölunda HC	SEL	46	8	10	18	46	—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Amur Khabarovsk	KHL	51	14	23	37	58	4	0	3	3	4
2012–13	CSKA Moscow	KHL	29	2	2	4	8	—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	HC Lev Praha	KHL	3	1	1	2	0	4	1	1	2	2
2013–14	HC Lev Praha	KHL	31	0	12	12	10	22	2	9	11	6
2014–15	JYP	Liiga	19	3	12	15	26	12	2	6	8	6
2015–16	HC Ambrì-Piotta	NLA	46	6	31	37	16	—	—	—	—	—
2016–17	HC Ambrì-Piotta	NLA	34	4	20	24	24	—	—	—	—	—
2017–18	JYP	Liiga	45	4	23	27	32	6	2	1	3	4
2018–19	JYP	Liiga	23	5	3	8	16	3	0	1	1	0
Liiga totals			348	52	125	177	316	55	13	15	28	54