Raimo Summanen

Raimo Olavi Summanen (born March 2, 1962) is a former professional ice hockey forward and the former head coach of HIFK of the Finnish SM-liiga. He is also a former coach of the Finnish national team. He was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the sixth round of the 1982 NHL entry draft, 125th overall, and spent his NHL career, which lasted from 1984 to 1987 with Edmonton and the Vancouver Canucks. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1979 to 1995, was mainly spent in the SM-liiga.

Playing career In 1984 Summanen, who was born in Jyväskylä, joined the Edmonton Oilers from Europe at the end of the regular season. He played 2 regular season games and 5 playoff games. Summanen has a 1984 Stanley Cup ring and is part of the Edmonton Oilers' first Stanley Cup winning picture. His name was left off the Cup because he did not officially qualify.

Summanen also played extensively in Finland, both before and after his NHL days, and in the American Hockey League. He played for the Finnish national team when they won their first Ice Hockey World Championships gold medal in 1995 and retired after the tournament.

Coaching career Summanen coached the Finnish national team to a 2nd-place finish in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. However, his reported abrasiveness with players and management led to his dismissal. Even during Finland's successful World Cup performance, defenceman Janne Niinimaa left the team after "conflicts with the coaching staff." He also had a testy relationship with the national team's manager, Timo Jutila.

In 2010, Summanen succeeded Igor Nikitin as the head coach of Avangard Omsk, a leading KHL side. The team went from strength to strength and ended up as the top team of the regular season (largely due to an impressive 18-game winning streak lasting from December to February). However, some players were reportedly unhappy with Summanen's abrasive coaching methods. He was relieved of his coaching duties before game seven of the Eastern Conference semifinals, which the team went on to lose. The club cited health issues as an official explanation. However, according to anonymous sources within the team, the real reason behind it was a major conflict with the players. There were reports that Summanen even tried to challenge Avangard's star Jaromír Jágr to a fight.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1979–80 JYP FIN.2 31 22 12 34 16 — — — — — 1980–81 JYP FIN U20 9 12 12 24 4 — — — — — 1980–81 JYP FIN.2 35 15 18 33 24 — — — — — 1981–82 Kiekkoreipas FIN U20 1 3 2 5 0 — — — — — 1981–82 Kiekkoreipas SM-l 36 15 6 21 17 2 2 0 2 0 1982–83 Ilves SM-l 36 45 15 60 36 8 7 3 10 2 1983–84 Ilves SM-l 37 28 19 47 26 1 0 0 0 0 1983–84 Edmonton Oilers NHL 2 1 4 5 2 5 1 4 5 0 1984–85 Edmonton Oilers NHL 9 0 4 4 0 — — — — — 1984–85 Nova Scotia Oilers AHL 66 20 33 53 2 5 1 2 3 0 1985–86 Edmonton Oilers NHL 73 19 18 37 16 5 1 1 2 0 1986–87 Edmonton Oilers NHL 48 10 7 17 15 — — — — — 1986–87 Vancouver Canucks NHL 10 4 4 8 0 — — — — — 1987–88 Vancouver Canucks NHL 9 2 3 5 2 — — — — — 1987–88 Fredericton Express AHL 20 7 15 22 38 — — — — — 1987–88 Flint Spirits IHL 7 1 1 2 0 — — — — — 1988–89 Ilves SM-l 44 35 46 81 22 5 4 3 7 6 1989–90 Ilves SM-l 40 39 31 70 42 9 3 4 7 8 1990–91 HPK SM-l 39 25 30 55 67 8 6 2 8 20 1991–92 Ilves SM-l 26 13 9 22 94 — — — — — 1992–93 TPS SM-l 47 17 20 37 50 10 8 8 16 26 1993–94 SC Bern NDA 10 5 13 18 24 — — — — — 1993–94 Jokerit SM-l 25 9 3 12 44 — — — — — 1994–95 TPS SM-l 47 23 26 49 53 12 7 4 11 29 SM-l totals 385 253 209 462 459 55 37 24 61 91 NHL totals 151 36 40 76 35 10 2 5 7 0

International Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1980 Finland EJC 5 2 0 2 2 1982 Finland WJC 7 7 9 16 0 1983 Finland WC 9 0 3 3 0 1984 Finland OLY 6 4 6 10 4 1987 Finland WC 10 2 0 2 2 1987 Finland CC 5 1 1 2 0 1990 Finland WC 10 5 3 8 10 1991 Finland WC 10 1 1 2 6 1991 Finland CC 6 0 1 1 0 1992 Finland OLY 8 2 0 2 6 1995 Finland WC 8 1 1 2 0 Junior totals 12 9 9 18 2 Senior totals 72 16 16 32 28

Awards SM-liiga, Kanada-malja (3): 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95 IIHF European Cup (1): 1994 Veli-Pekka Ketola trophy for most points scored in the SM-liiga regular season – 1989 and 1990

head coach SM-liiga, Kanada-malja (1): 2001–02 Kalevi Numminen trophy for the best coach in the SM-liiga – 2002 IIHF Continental Cup (1): 2002–03 World Cup of Hockey (1): 2004 KHL, Continental Cup (1): 2010–11 KHL, Gagarin Cup (1): 2011-12 Alps Hockey League, (1): 2020–21

Transactions March 10, 1987 - Edmonton trades Summanen to Vancouver in exchange for Moe Lemay