Hannu Virta

Hannu Markus Virta (born March 22, 1963, in Turku, Finland) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman. He was named the best defenceman in the Finnish Elite League (SM-liiga) four times, and was a five-time all-star. He also won the Jarmo Wasama memorial trophy as rookie of the year in 1981–82.

Career Virta was drafted in the second round, 38th overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. He played 245 National Hockey League games with the Sabres over five seasons, scoring 25 goals and adding 101 assists. He also appeared in 17 playoff games with Buffalo, scoring one goal and tallying three assists.

He returned to the SM-liiga in Finland in 1986, where he played for TPS Turku until 1994, as well as in 1996–97. He helped his team win the league championship three consecutive years beginning in 1988–89. In 461 league games, he scored 68 goals and 213 assists for 281 points. He also played in Switzerland, in the Swiss B League with the GCK Lions from 1994 to 1996 and in the Swiss A League with the ZSC Lions in 1997–98.

Internationally, Virta won a bronze medal at the Under-20 World Junior Championships in 1982. As an adult, he won a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics playing for Finland's national ice hockey team. He played at seven IIHF World Championships, winning gold in 1995 and silver in 1994, and leading the tournament in assists in 1996. He also played in the 1987 Canada Cup and 1996 World Cup of Hockey. on 12 January 2009 signs a contract as Head Coach from Hockey Club Lugano.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1978–79 TPS FIN U18 22 1 9 10 6 — — — — — 1979–80 TPS FIN U20 26 13 8 21 6 5 2 3 5 0 1980–81 TPS FIN U20 29 22 22 44 55 — — — — — 1980–81 TPS SM-l 1 0 1 1 0 4 0 1 1 4 1981–82 TPS SM-l 36 5 12 17 6 7 1 1 2 2 1981–82 Buffalo Sabres NHL 3 0 1 1 4 4 0 1 1 0 1982–83 Buffalo Sabres NHL 74 13 24 37 18 10 1 2 3 4 1983–84 Buffalo Sabres NHL 70 6 30 36 12 3 0 0 0 2 1984–85 Buffalo Sabres NHL 51 1 23 24 16 — — — — — 1985–86 Buffalo Sabres NHL 47 5 23 28 16 — — — — — 1986–87 TPS SM-l 41 13 30 43 20 5 0 3 3 2 1987–88 TPS SM-l 44 10 28 38 20 — — — — — 1988–89 TPS SM-l 43 7 25 32 30 10 1 7 8 0 1989–90 TPS SM-l 41 7 19 26 14 9 0 6 6 10 1990–91 TPS SM-l 43 4 16 20 40 9 4 2 6 4 1991–92 TPS SM-l 43 6 22 28 32 3 1 4 5 0 1992–93 TPS SM-l 39 1 18 19 18 12 2 2 4 14 1993–94 TPS SM-l 47 3 17 20 18 10 0 3 3 6 1994–95 GCK Lions CHE.2 36 12 18 30 14 12 5 9 14 2 1995–96 GCK Lions CHE.2 35 12 26 38 10 10 1 6 7 6 1996–97 TPS SM-l 48 7 14 21 24 12 0 1 1 6 1997–98 ZSC Lions NDA 46 4 25 29 14 — — — — — SM-l totals 426 63 202 265 222 81 9 30 39 48 NHL totals 245 25 101 126 66 17 1 3 4 6

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1981 Finland EJC 5 3 1 4 0 1982 Finland WJC 7 1 7 8 4 1987 Finland WC 8 0 4 4 4 1987 Finland CC 5 0 1 1 0 1989 Finland WC 10 3 5 8 6 1991 Finland WC 7 0 2 2 4 1994 Finland OLY 8 2 1 3 2 1994 Finland WC 8 1 4 5 6 1995 Finland WC 7 1 1 2 8 1996 Finland WC 6 0 6 6 4 1996 Finland WCH 4 1 0 1 6 1997 Finland WC 8 0 3 3 4 Junior totals 12 4 8 12 4 Senior totals 71 8 27 35 44