Dwight Helminen

Dwight Edward Helminen (born June 22, 1983) is an American-Finnish former professional ice hockey center who most recently played with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL. His brother Lars plays with Linz EHC of the EBEL.

Playing career Helminen was born in Hancock, Michigan, and raised in Brighton, Michigan. As a youth, he played in the 1997 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Detroit Compuware minor ice hockey team.

He was drafted 244th overall in the 2002 NHL entry draft by the Edmonton Oilers. Dwight played junior hockey for the U.S. Junior National Team in the United States Hockey League (USHL) and college hockey at the University of Michigan for the Wolverines. On March 3, 2004, the New York Rangers acquired his rights from the Oilers along with a 2004 second round draft pick and Steve Valiquette in exchange for Petr Nedvěd and Jussi Markkanen.

After turning professional, Helminen played for the Charlotte Checkers in the ECHL and the Hartford Wolf Pack in the American Hockey League (AHL), before signing with JYP Jyväskylä in the Finnish SM-liiga in 2007.

Helminen signed a one-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 3, 2008. He was then assigned to the Hurricanes' affiliate, the Albany River Rats of the AHL. Helminen made his NHL debut in the 2008–09 season after an injury to Brandon Sutter. In his fourth career NHL game, while playing against the Toronto Maple Leafs at home, Helminen scored his first career NHL goal and tallied his first and only career NHL assist. It was the most ice time he had received in the NHL, and his playing time relative to the rest of his NHL career remained consistently high for the next four games, before he was sent back to Albany. He was recalled to the Hurricanes and played four games in early March 2009 as a few Hurricanes forwards missed games, did not play for the Hurricanes' next three games, then returned to the lineup on March 18 to play in each of the Hurricanes' remaining games. This unusual schedule of games, combined with Carolina's late season push towards the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, meant that Helminen played in 13 consecutive wins for the Hurricanes as he avoided a three game winless streak for the team in mid-March. He had played in 23 regular season games by season's end with the Hurricanes, as well as one playoff game.

On July 16, 2009, Helminen signed a one-year contract with the San Jose Sharks. In the 2009–10 season, on February 11, 2010, Helminen scored his first goal with the Sharks, against the Detroit Red Wings. On April 22, 2010, he scored a goal against the Colorado Avalanche in the Sharks' first-round playoff series.

Midway through the 2011–12 season, Helminen left KLH Chomutov of the Czech first division league to return to North America, signing with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL on February 6, 2012.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1998–99 Compuware Ambassadors NAHL 32 9 7 16 — — — — — 1999–2000 US NTDP Juniors USHL 30 5 7 12 10 — — — — — 1999–2000 US NTDP U18 NAHL 30 7 10 17 8 — — — — — 2000–01 US NTDP Juniors USHL 24 12 7 19 8 — — — — — 2000–01 US NTDP U18 NAHL 1 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 2000–01 US NTDP U18 USDP 42 9 36 45 20 — — — — — 2001–02 University of Michigan CCHA 40 10 8 18 10 — — — — — 2002–03 University of Michigan CCHA 39 17 16 33 34 — — — — — 2003–04 University of Michigan CCHA 41 17 11 28 4 — — — — — 2004–05 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 41 2 7 9 10 — — — — — 2004–05 Charlotte Checkers ECHL 28 5 16 21 10 15 7 3 10 2 2005–06 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 77 32 23 55 40 13 3 5 8 10 2006–07 Hartford Wolf Pack AHL 80 15 24 39 32 7 1 1 2 2 2007–08 JYP SM-liiga 52 20 25 45 10 6 3 3 6 0 2008–09 Albany River Rats AHL 54 15 15 30 26 — — — — — 2008–09 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 23 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 2009–10 Worcester Sharks AHL 74 12 10 22 16 — — — — — 2009–10 San Jose Sharks NHL 4 1 0 1 0 7 1 0 1 4 2010–11 Pelicans SM-liiga 60 12 16 28 40 — — — — — 2011–12 Piráti Chomutov CZE.2 24 4 14 18 6 — — — — — 2011–12 Kalamazoo Wings ECHL 20 7 11 18 6 14 5 7 12 2 2012–13 Kalamazoo Wings ECHL 3 0 1 1 2 — — — — — AHL totals 326 76 79 155 124 22 4 6 10 12 NHL totals 27 2 1 3 0 8 1 0 1 4 SM-liiga totals 112 32 41 73 50 6 3 3 6 0

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 2000 United States U17 6 0 2 2 2001 United States WJC18 6 3 5 8 0 2002 United States WJC 6 1 0 1 2 2003 United States WJC 7 1 3 4 2 Junior totals 26 5 10 15 4

Awards and honors Award Year CCHA All-Tournament Team 2003