Playing Career
Sinisalo played in the NHL from 1981–1992, scoring 204 goals and 426 points, mostly with the Flyers. He is ranked the all time most successful goal scorer among the European players in the history of Philadelphia Flyers. He is also ranked the fourth successful Finnish goal scorer in the NHL history, which gave him an honor to be member of the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997.
When Sinisalo started his ice hockey career in 1970s, the NHL teams did not scout extensively from Finland. The first Finnish ice hockey player in NHL was Matti Hagman 1976-77 for Boston Bruins. However, the NHL scouts were so impressed by his talents that made an exception of hiring him as a free agent after his 1980-81 season in HIFK, SM-Liiga where he scored 27 goals in 36 games. He signed his first Flyers contract on February 14, 1981. Sinisalo started his first season at Flyers by making history by scoring his first NHL score against Pittsburgh Penguins. Sinisalo became the first Flyers player to score his first NHL goal on a penalty shot, and the third of five NHL players in the history. During the 1984-85 season Sinisalo become one of the Mike Keenan’s most trusted players with total 73 points in 70 games with an outstanding +32 rating. 1989-90 was Sinisalo’s last season at Flyers, which after he played one season at Minnesota North Stars and two seasons at Los Angeles Kings.
He retired from hockey in 1996 with his last team, the Kiekko-Espoo from SM-Liiga. Sinisalo was originally a junior product of HIFK.
Read more about this topic: Ilkka Sinisalo
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