Mika Noronen

Mika Noronen (born 17 June 1979) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 71 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks between 2000 and 2006. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1997 to 2016, was mainly spent in Finland. Internationally Noronen played for the Finnish national team at the junior and senior level, including at the 2004 World Championships.

Playing career Noronen was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1997 NHL entry draft 21st overall. In his native Finland, he played for Tappara and HPK in the SM-liiga. He also played for the Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League.

While with the Rochester Americans, he gained some notoriety in a 2002 game against the Syracuse Crunch. A Crunch forward fired a slap shot past Noronen which hit the cross bar and bounced away. However, the goal judge signaled it was a goal. Play was stopped and the goal was counted. Noronen proceeded to spray the contents of his water bottle on the glass and wipe it away, pretending to clean the glass for the goal judge.

Noronen was the first Finnish goaltender to be credited with a goal in the National Hockey League, a rare feat in itself. He was also the first Buffalo Sabres goaltender to accomplish the feat when he was the last Buffalo player to touch the puck before it entered the opponent's empty net on a delayed penalty on February 14, 2004.

At the trade deadline in the 2005–06 season, Noronen was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2006 NHL entry draft. On March 14, 2006, Noronen played his first game as a Vancouver Canuck, allowing five goals in a 5–0 loss to the Nashville Predators.

In August 2006, Noronen opted to sign with Russian Hockey Super League team AK Bars Kazan rather than serving as back up to Roberto Luongo, making Noronen an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Then he joined Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the RSL. In January 2009 Noronen joined Linköpings HC of Elitserien. Noronen returned to Finland for the 2009–10 season. He began the season by signing a short-term contract with JYP Jyväskylä. After the contract had expired, he signed a contract with HIFK Helsinki. He retired after the 2016 season.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1993–94 Tappara U16 FIN U16 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1994–95 Tappara U18 FIN U18 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1995–96 Tappara U18 FIN U18 5 — — — — 299 13 — 2.61 — 5 — — 300 8 — 1.60 — 1995–96 Tappara Jr FIN Jr 16 — — — — 962 37 2 2.31 — — — — — — — — — 1996–97 Tappara Jr FIN Jr 17 — — — — — — — — — 13 — — — — — 1.99 .924 1996–97 Kokkolan Hermes FIN-2 2 — — — — 91 11 0 7.25 .868 — — — — — — — — 1996–97 Tappara FIN 5 1 3 0 — 215 17 0 4.73 .876 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 Tappara Jr FIN Jr 6 4 1 1 — 365 13 — 2.14 .933 4 2 2 262 11 0 2.52 .919 1997–98 Tappara FIN 31 14 12 3 — 1703 83 1 2.92 .900 4 1 2 196 12 0 3.67 .878 1998–99 Tappara FIN 43 18 20 5 — 2494 135 2 3.25 .893 — — — — — — — — 1999–00 Rochester Americans AHL 54 33 13 4 — 3089 112 6 2.18 .920 21 13 8 1235 37 6 1.80 .936 2000–01 Buffalo Sabres NHL 2 2 0 0 — 109 5 0 2.77 .872 — — — — — — — — 2000–01 Rochester Americans AHL 47 26 15 5 — 2753 100 4 2.18 .913 4 1 3 250 11 0 2.64 .885 2001–02 Buffalo Sabres NHL 10 4 3 1 — 518 23 0 2.66 .894 — — — — — — — — 2001–02 Rochester Americans AHL 45 16 17 12 — 2764 115 3 2.50 .906 1 0 1 59 3 0 3.06 .870 2002–03 Buffalo Sabres NHL 16 4 9 3 — 892 36 1 2.42 .912 — — — — — — — — 2002–03 Rochester Americans AHL 19 5 9 5 — 1169 55 2 2.82 .903 — — — — — — — — 2003–04 Buffalo Sabres NHL 35 11 17 2 — 1797 77 2 2.57 .906 — — — — — — — — 2004–05 HPK FIN 27 14 8 4 — 1614 54 1 2.01 .927 9 4 4 482 21 1 2.61 .918 2005–06 Buffalo Sabres NHL 4 1 2 — 0 169 12 0 4.27 .844 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Vancouver Canucks NHL 4 1 1 — 0 171 10 0 3.52 .870 — — — — — — — — 2005–06 Rochester Americans AHL 2 0 2 — 0 121 6 0 2.99 .898 — — — — — — — — 2006–07 Ak Bars Kazan RSL 33 18 5 — 4 1877 66 2 2.11 .911 16 10 4 941 35 0 2.23 .886 2007–08 Ak Bars Kazan RSL 15 9 4 — 0 906 37 0 2.45 .886 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod KHL 14 2 9 — 2 713 34 1 2.86 .890 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Linköping HC SWE 3 1 1 — 0 160 11 0 4.13 .895 3 1 2 221 8 1 2.17 .896 2009–10 JYP Jyväskylä FIN 6 5 1 — 0 365 14 0 2.30 .898 — — — — — — — — 2009–10 HIFK FIN 25 17 8 — 0 1487 58 2 2.34 .918 6 2 4 372 15 1 2.42 .917 2010–11 Lukko FIN 27 13 10 — 4 1598 55 5 2.06 .929 12 6 6 757 28 1 2.22 .915 2011–12 Lukko FIN 50 17 22 — 8 2868 125 2 2.61 .914 1 0 1 58 5 0 5.19 .800 2012–13 Tappara FIN 1 1 0 — 0 60 3 0 3.00 .919 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 1.000 2012–13 LeKi FIN-2 2 — — — — 124 2 1 0.97 .965 — — — — — — — — 2013–14 HC Davos NLA 15 7 8 — 0 891 42 1 2.83 .919 — — — — — — — — 2013–14 EHC München DEL 5 2 3 — 0 312 11 0 2.12 .946 3 1 2 179 10 0 3.35 .915 2014–15 LeKi FIN-2 4 — — — — — — — 2.01 .937 5 — — — — — 1.67 .957 2014–15 Tappara FIN — — — — — — — — — — 1 0 1 64 2 0 1.89 .895 2015–16 Tappara FIN 3 1 0 — 2 189 5 0 1.59 .930 — — — — — — — — 2015–16 Malmö Redhawks SWE 1 0 1 — 0 40 4 0 6.00 .750 — — — — — — — — 2015–16 LeKi FIN-2 6 — — — — — — — 3.73 .887 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 71 23 32 6 0 3653 163 3 2.68 .901 — — — — — — — — International Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1996 Finland EJC 3 — — — 180 3 0 1.00 — 1997 Finland EJC 5 — — — 300 8 0 1.60 — 1997 Finland WJC 2 — — — 120 4 0 2.00 .945 1998 Finland WJC 5 5 0 0 314 8 1 1.53 .934 1999 Finland WJC 3 1 2 0 159 11 0 4.14 .831 2004 Finland WC 5 2 2 1 309 12 1 2.33 .909 Junior totals 18 — — — 1073 34 1 1.90 — Senior totals 5 2 2 1 309 12 1 2.33 .909

Awards and honours Award Year AHL All-Rookie Team 2000 Second All-Star Team 2000, 2001 Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award 2000 Hap Holmes Memorial Award (with Tom Askey) 2001 All-Star Game 2002