Tero Lehterä

Tero Lehterä
Born	(1972-04-21) 21 April 1972 (age 52) Espoo, Finland
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Left
Played for	Tappara Jokerit HPK Espoo Blues Malmö IF Fort Wayne Komets Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk EHC Basel HC Ambri-Piotta
National team	Finland
NHL draft	232nd overall, 1994 Florida Panthers
Playing career	1992–2007

Tero Juhani Lehterä (born 21 April 1972) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the SM-liiga. He played for Tappara, Jokerit, HPK, and Espoo Blues. He also had stints in Elitserien, the IHL, Russia, Switzerland and Germany. He also won a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics and World Championship with Finland's 1995 Ice Hockey World Championships team.^[1]

Lehterä switched into coaching after retiring his hockey career. He has been the head coach of SaiPa of the Finnish Liiga. He has also coached several Espoo Blues junior teams and worked as an assistant coach for Blues' first team during the 2015-16 season. He was supposed to become the head coach of Blues, but the team went bankrupt in 2016.

He has also worked as a hockey analyst for tv channels MTV3 and Nelonen.

During the 2022/23 season in Hockeyallsvenskan he took over as headcoach for Västerås IK after the team had a rough start-mid season which hadn't met the high expectations that the somewhat high-end lineup had amassed. Tero succeeded in taking the team to the quarterfinals where they lost to Björklövens IF. Tero would become known as "Tero the hero" amongst the Västerås fanbase and many people still hope for his return. One of the main reasons for the instant improvement in play for Västerås was his finish style of trap play.

During the 2023/24 season in Hockeyallsvenskan he coached Östersunds IK and cemented his finish style of trap play in Hockeyallsvenskan.

His nephew, Jori Lehterä, was drafted by the St. Louis Blues and currently plays for the Philadelphia Flyers. His daughter, Nea Lehterä, was in the winning team in the cheerleading world championships in 2022.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1989–90	Kiekko-Espoo	FIN U20		28	14	26	40	2		5	3	1	4	0
1989–90	Kiekko-Espoo	FIN.2		7	2	2	4	0		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Kiekko-Espoo	FIN U20		4	0	3	3	4		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Kiekko-Espoo	FIN.2		34	17	14	31	2		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Kiekko-Espoo	FIN U20		7	6	8	14	0		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Kiekko-Espoo	FIN.2		41	23	33	56	10		5	2	2	4	0
1992–93	Kiekko-Espoo	FIN U20		4	1	7	8	0		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Kiekko-Espoo	SM-l		47	17	14	31	4		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Kiekko-Espoo	SM-l		48	19	27	46	2		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Malmö IF	SEL		37	12	11	23	10		9	0	0	0	0
1995–96	Jokerit	SM-l		48	11	12	23	27		11	2	5	7	2
1996–97	Jokerit	SM-l		47	11	10	21	4		9	2	3	5	0
1997–98	Kiekko-Espoo	SM-l		47	9	13	22	4		8	1	1	2	0
1998–99	Fort Wayne Komets	IHL		69	15	24	39	8		2	0	1	1	0
1999–2000	Jokerit	SM-l		52	11	11	22	6		11	4	2	6	0
2000–01	Tappara	SM-l		55	6	17	23	20		10	1	5	6	0
2001–02	Espoo Blues	SM-l		50	6	13	19	6		2	0	0	0	0
2002–03	HPK	SM-l		55	7	8	15	2		13	1	4	5	2
2003–04	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	RSL		55	16	11	27	8		5	0	1	1	2
2004–05	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	RSL		23	2	5	7	2		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	HC Salamat	FIN.2		3	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod	VHL		17	3	3	6	0		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	EHC Basel	NLA		18	1	6	7	6		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Füchse Duisburg	DEL		5	0	0	0	4		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	HC Ambrì-Piotta	NLA		3	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Odense Bulldogs	DNK		13	1	1	2	0		6	1	1	2	0
SM-l totals				449	94	128	222	75		64	11	20	31	4

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1990	Finland	EJC		6	3	3	6	0
1991	Finland	WJC		6	0	3	3	2
1992	Finland	WJC		6	2	0	2	0
1994	Finland	OG		4	0	1	1	0
1995	Finland	WC		8	1	0	1	0
Junior totals				18	5	6	11	2
Senior totals				12	1	1	2	0

References

1. "Mitä kuuluu Suomi-kiekosta kadonneelle Tero Lehterälle, 50? "Olen nyt myös maailmanmestarin isä"". is.fi (in Finnish). 29 April 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2024.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database