Tuukka Mäntylä

Tuukka Mäntylä
Born	(1981-05-25) 25 May 1981 (age 43) Tampere, FIN
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight	181 lb (82 kg; 12 st 13 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Played for	Tappara Luleå HF Frölunda HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk Metallurg Novokuznetsk Amur Khabarovsk KHL Medveščak Zagreb HC Kunlun Red Star Malmö Redhawks
National team	Finland
NHL draft	153rd overall, 2001 Los Angeles Kings
Playing career	1999–2020
Medal record World Championships 2014 Belarus

Tuukka Matias Mäntylä (born 25 May 1981) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenceman. He was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the 5th round (153rd overall) of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Mäntylä came through the youth ranks of Tampere Tappara and made his debut in Finland's top-tier Liiga in the course of the 1999–2000 season. He won the Finnish national championship with Tappara in 2003 and subsequently parted ways with the team to take his game to Sweden, where he joined Luleå HF of the Swedish Elite League (SHL). He enjoyed a two-year stint there, before returning to Tappara. After another two years at his hometown team, Mäntylä embarked on a second SHL tenure, playing for Frölunda HC from 2007 to 2009.

On 7 April 2009 he left Frölunda and signed a contract to return to Tappara.

In late October 2009, playing with Tampere Tappara, Mäntylä checked Helsinki IFK defenceman Mikko Kurvinen from behind into the boards, resulting in an injury that kept Kurvinen sidelined for six games. Mäntylä received a match penalty for the hit. In advance of Tappara's next visit to Helsinki on 26 November 2009, the IFK club ran a full-page ad in a Tampere newspaper that read: “Welcome to Helsinki, Tuukka”, and on the evening of the match between the two clubs the SM-liiga head office, which had previously approved the ad, announced it had given IFK a warning for “crossing the line of good taste”. Early in the first period of the 26 November game, with IFK head coach Kari Jalonen watching, IFK defenceman Ilari Melart mugged Mäntylä in the corner and a wrestling match ensued resulting in both players being ejected from the game.^[1]

Between the 2011–12 and the 2015–16 season, he split time between Tappara and KHL outfits HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, Metallurg Novokuznetsk, Amur Khabarovsk and KHL Medvescak Zagreb.

In July 2016, he was one of the first players to ink a deal with newly founded KHL side Kunlun Red Star from China.^[2]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1995–96	Tappara	FIN U16		32	2	2	4	28		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Tappara	FIN U16		32	12	25	37	52		4	1	2	3	2
1996–97	Tappara	FIN U18		2	0	0	0	2		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Tappara	FIN U18		31	2	23	25	49		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Tappara	FIN U20		2	0	0	0	0		6	0	0	0	4
1998–99	Tappara	FIN U18		10	4	4	8	18		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Tappara	FIN U20		34	5	13	18	42		—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	Tappara	FIN U20		7	2	5	7	22		5	2	5	7	4
1999–2000	Tappara	SM-liiga		43	2	8	10	16		4	0	0	0	0
2000–01	Tappara	SM-liiga		53	6	14	20	32		10	2	2	4	10
2001–02	Tappara	SM-liiga		56	5	10	15	70		10	2	4	6	8
2002–03	Tappara	SM-liiga		54	3	19	22	58		15	0	2	2	6
2003–04	Luleå HF	SEL		43	6	10	16	67		5	0	0	0	2
2004–05	Luleå HF	SEL		48	8	14	22	40		4	1	0	1	4
2005–06	Tappara	SM-liiga		56	6	16	22	81		4	1	0	1	29
2006–07	Tappara	SM-liiga		55	5	16	21	62		5	2	1	3	8
2007–08	Frölunda HC	SEL		45	1	10	11	46		7	0	3	3	4
2008–09	Frölunda HC	SEL		53	3	17	20	52		11	0	0	0	2
2009–10	Tappara	SM-liiga		47	5	17	22	145		9	0	2	2	10
2010–11	Tappara	SM-liiga		57	5	19	24	93		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Tappara	SM-liiga		12	4	7	11	14		—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk	KHL		38	0	17	17	39		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Tappara	SM-liiga		57	3	21	24	71		15	0	8	8	18
2013–14	Metallurg Novokuznetsk	KHL		53	4	12	16	32		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	Tappara	Liiga		24	1	7	8	16		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	Amur Khabarovsk	KHL		25	2	4	6	59		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	KHL Medveščak Zagreb	KHL		48	8	10	18	64		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Tappara	Liiga		11	2	0	2	2		18	0	2	2	20
2016–17	Kunlun Red Star	KHL		57	10	14	24	56		4	2	5	7	12
2017–18	Malmö Redhawks	SHL		50	0	11	11	32		5	0	0	0	0
2018–19	Tappara	Liiga		49	1	12	13	42		11	2	1	3	10
2019–20	Tappara	Liiga		47	2	5	7	55		—	—	—	—	—
SM-liiga/Liiga totals				621	50	171	221	757		101	9	22	31	119
SEL/SHL totals				239	18	62	80	237		32	1	3	4	12
KHL totals				221	24	57	81	250		4	2	5	7	12

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1998	Finland	EJC		6	0	1	1	0
1999	Finland	WJC18		6	1	0	1	8
2000	Finland	WJC		7	0	3	3	14
2001	Finland	WJC		7	1	4	5	6
2004	Finland	WC		7	0	2	2	0
2006	Finland	WC		9	0	0	0	8
2007	Finland	WC		5	0	2	2	2
2013	Finland	WC		10	0	3	3	2
2014	Finland	WC		10	2	3	5	12
2015	Finland	WC		8	0	0	0	0
Junior totals				26	2	8	10	28
Senior totals				49	2	10	12	24

References

1. "Eye on Europe, Death of the CHL". thehockeynews.com. 15 April 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
2. "Kunlun Red Star: First Press Conference". Retrieved 8 July 2016.

External links

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

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Pekka Saravo	Captain of Tappara 2012–2013	Succeeded by Ville Nieminen