Heikki Riihiranta

Heikki "Hexi" Riihiranta (born October 4, 1948 in Helsinki, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga and World Hockey Association.

Playing career

Career in Finland Riihiranta started out his career as a Forward in Helsinki club HIFK but was moved to play Defence by then HIFK Player-Coach and former NHL'er Carl Brewer.

Riihiranta had a good career in Finland and was one of the premier players for the National Team at his time.

Career in WHA Heikki Riihiranta was one of the first Finns move to play in North America.

Riihiranta played for 3 full seasons in a Canadian WHA team, Winnipeg Jets, and won the Avco World Trophy with them in 1976.

After his retirement as a player in 1983, he was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991 for his achievements as a player.

Post-playing career In 1993, Riihiranta was named as the Team Manager for Finnish National Ice Hockey Team. During his time, Riihiranta worked with three different head coaching staffs (Pentti Matikainen, Curt Lindström and Hannu Aravirta). He was part of the staff when Finland won the World Championships over Sweden in 1995. Riihiranta retired from his position after the 2003 Ice Hockey World Championships.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM1970–71 HIFK Helsinki SM-sarja 30 2 15 17 29 — — — — —1971–72 HIFK Helsinki SM–sarja 32 1 8 9 32 — — — — — 1972–73 HIFK Helsinki SM–sarja 35 3 8 11 63 — — — — —1974–75 Winnipeg Jets WHA 64 8 14 22 30 — — — — —1975–76 Winnipeg Jets WHA 70 1 8 9 26 4 0 4 4 61976–77 Winnipeg Jets WHA 53 1 16 17 28 — — — — —1977–78 HIFK Helsinki SM–liiga 32 5 12 17 0 — — — — —1978–79 HIFK Helsinki SM–liiga 36 5 8 13 82 — — — — —1979–80 HIFK Helsinki SM–liiga 32 5 6 11 41 7 3 1 4 121980–81 HIFK Helsinki SM–liiga 35 4 8 12 54 7 2 0 21 121981–82 HIFK Helsinki SM–liiga 31 3 4 7 71 — — — — —1982–83 HIFK Helsinki SM–liiga 33 0 4 4 17 — — — — — WHA totals 187 10 38 48 84 4 0 4 4 6