Marko Anttila

Marko Anttila (born 27 May 1985) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey forward. Anttila was selected by Chicago Blackhawks in the 9th round (260th overall) of the 2004 NHL entry draft. His nickname among his teammates is "Stretch" ("Stretsi" in Finnish), which was given to him by Steve Kariya due to his large physical stature, but among the Finnish fans, he is more commonly known as "Mörkö".

He played for several teams, both in Finland and in Europe. He is best remembered in Finland for captaining the national team in several occasions, winning two World Championships and one Olympic gold with the team.

Playing career Marko Anttila played his first senior-level ice hockey games during the 2003–04 season. Anttila's first team was his hometown team Lempäälän Kisa of Lempäälä.

Anttila scored 38 points in 22 Suomi-sarja regular season games during his debut season. Though playing at the 3rd highest level in Finland, Anttila was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2004 NHL entry draft while he was playing for LeKi. It is believed that Anttila's connections with Chicago's scout for Finland, Sakari Pietilä, was the reason why he was drafted. His large size (over 6'8 ft tall) combined with his hard slap shot was the most convincing factors that influenced Sakari Pietilä to suggest him to the Blackhawks.

After being drafted while playing for a small town's team, Anttila soon was reckoned as a player to invest in. Marko Anttila was contracted by Ilves in 2004. Anttila struggled during his first season in SM-liiga but soon got the hang of playing at higher levels.

In 2007–08, Anttila scored his SM-liiga career-high when he racked up 23 points in 56 games, and he was selected to play for the Finnish National team during the European Hockey Tour.

On 26 April 2011, Anttila made a one-year contract with TPS. In June 2013, it was announced that Anttila would join Metallurg Novokuznetsk of the KHL.

After parts of three seasons with Örebro HK of the Swedish Hockey League, Anttila returned to the KHL, linking up on a one-year deal with Finnish-based club Jokerit on 20 April 2016.

During the 2016–17 season, having added a physical presence to the checking lines, Anttila agreed to a two-year contract extension to remain with Jokerit on 8 January 2017.

Anttila remained with Jokerit for six years before the club's withdrawal to the KHL before the playoffs in the 2021–22 season due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He subsequently joined his original Finnish club, Ilves of the Liiga, on 28 February 2022, for the remainder of the campaign.

On 16 June 2022, it was announced that Anttila has signed for Oulun Kärpät for the 2022–23 season. During the season he signed one-year extension. His contract was extended one-year further for the 2024–25 season. He was appointed as the captain of Kärpät for the season, which turned out to be his last, as he retired after the disappointing season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2002–03 LeKi FIN.2 U18 11 17 8 25 41 — — — — — 2003–04 LeKi FIN.3 U20 12 11 11 22 26 — — — — — 2003–04 LeKi FIN.4 22 19 19 38 30 — — — — — 2004–05 Ilves Jr. A 27 14 6 20 44 9 5 7 12 14 2004–05 Ilves SM-l 28 2 1 3 10 3 0 0 0 0 2005–06 Ilves Jr. A 10 4 2 6 6 2 1 1 2 4 2005–06 Ilves SM-l 50 4 3 7 46 4 0 0 0 0 2006–07 Ilves SM-l 53 2 2 4 34 7 1 0 1 8 2007–08 Ilves SM-l 56 14 9 23 90 9 2 2 4 4 2008–09 Ilves SM-l 58 8 14 22 69 3 0 0 0 2 2009–10 Ilves SM-l 57 8 18 26 52 — — — — — 2010–11 Ilves SM-l 33 5 8 13 26 6 2 1 3 4 2011–12 TPS SM-l 59 14 22 36 36 2 0 1 1 4 2012–13 TPS SM-l 60 17 24 41 68 — — — — — 2013–14 Metallurg Novokuznetsk KHL 16 2 4 6 10 — — — — — 2013–14 Ariada Volzhsk VHL 6 2 3 5 6 — — — — — 2013–14 Örebro HK SHL 22 13 7 20 30 — — — — — 2014–15 Örebro HK SHL 52 14 6 20 16 6 0 1 1 8 2015–16 Örebro HK SHL 49 8 6 14 28 2 1 1 2 35 2016–17 Jokerit KHL 56 7 9 16 41 4 0 1 1 2 2017–18 Jokerit KHL 52 8 8 16 26 10 1 1 2 10 2018–19 Jokerit KHL 38 11 4 15 21 6 1 2 3 2 2019–20 Jokerit KHL 61 11 7 18 14 6 2 2 4 4 2020–21 Jokerit KHL 57 8 6 14 44 4 0 0 0 14 2021–22 Jokerit KHL 40 6 5 11 17 — — — — — 2021–22 Ilves Liiga 10 2 1 3 4 14 1 2 3 4 2022–23 Kärpät Liiga 58 13 4 17 18 3 0 1 1 2 2023–24 Kärpät Liiga 60 13 14 27 22 12 0 2 2 10 2024–25 Kärpät Liiga 50 6 3 9 22 — — — — — Liiga totals 627 108 123 231 504 68 6 11 17 40 KHL totals 320 53 43 96 173 30 4 6 10 32

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2013 Finland WC 4th 7 0 1 1 2 2018 Finland OG 6th 3 0 1 1 2 2018 Finland WC 5th 8 2 2 4 2 2019 Finland WC 10 4 0 4 4 2021 Finland WC 10 0 3 3 4 2022 Finland OG 5 2 1 3 0 2022 Finland WC 10 2 3 5 6 2023 Finland WC 7th 8 2 1 3 2 Senior totals 61 12 12 24 22

Awards and honours Award YearLiiga Bronze medal 2021–22, 2023–24