Riku Helenius

Riku Helenius (born March 1, 1988) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender.

Playing career Helenius was selected 15th overall in the 2006 NHL entry draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning, partly on the strength of his silver medal-winning performance for the Finnish national men's hockey team in the 2006 under-18 World Junior Championships. He played for Ilves during the 2006–07 season, but due to a shoulder injury only played four games.

The Seattle Thunderbirds selected Helenius with the 46th overall selection in the 2007 Canadian Hockey League Import Draft. Helenius joined the Thunderbirds roster at the start of the 2007–2008 season. In December 2007, Helenius was selected as goalie for the Finnish World Junior Team in the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championships.

On October 17, 2008, Helenius was assigned to the Augusta Lynx of the ECHL. He played his first NHL game on January 30, 2009, against the Philadelphia Flyers. as he was still a Lightning prospect. On June 13, 2012, Helenius signed a two-year contract with the Lightning.

In the midst of the 2013–14 season, with Helenius unable to make an impact up the Lightning's depth chart, on February 22, 2014, he was placed on $125 unconditional waivers, which would bring his contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning to an mutual end.

On April 14, 2014, Helenius agreed to a multi-year contract with Finnish club Jokerit of the KHL.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2007–08 Seattle Thunderbirds WHL 41 22 12 6 2358 95 3 2.42 .915 9 4 5 534 24 0 2.70 .911 2008–09 Augusta Lynx ECHL 8 3 4 1 463 34 0 4.41 .874 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Mississippi Sea Wolves ECHL 3 1 1 1 184 7 0 2.28 .944 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Norfolk Admirals AHL 25 9 15 0 1388 63 1 2.72 .918 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 1 0 0 0 7 0 0 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — — 2008–09 Elmira Jackals ECHL — — — — — — — — — 2 0 1 87 10 0 6.90 .787 2009–10 Norfolk Admirals AHL 12 5 7 0 719 33 0 2.75 .896 — — — — — — — — 2009–10 Sodertalje SK SEL 9 — — — 545 22 0 2.42 .922 — — — — — — — — 2010–11 Sodertalje SK SEL 18 — — — 911 46 0 3.03 .884 — — — — — — — — 2011–12 JYP FIN 33 17 9 5 1908 52 7 1.64 .936 13 11 2 833 24 0 1.73 — 2012–13 Syracuse Crunch AHL 32 17 14 0 1772 76 4 2.57 .900 — — — — — — — — 2013–14 Syracuse Crunch AHL 5 2 3 0 297 17 0 3.43 .875 — — — — — — — — 2013–14 Florida Everblades ECHL 4 0 2 0 148 15 0 6.08 .797 — — — — — — — — 2014–15 Jokerit KHL 22 14 5 2 1272 50 2 2.36 .918 1 1 0 60 1 0 1.00 .944 2015–16 Jokerit KHL 21 7 6 4 1045 42 2 2.41 .891 — — — — — — — — 2016–17 Jokerit KHL 20 10 6 4 1219 54 0 2.66 .902 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 KalPa FIN 4 0 4 0 235 11 0 2.80 .899 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 Ilves FIN 27 12 9 4 1514 71 1 2.81 .889 — — — — — — — — 2018–19 Ilves FIN 32 12 11 8 1845 86 2 2.69 .885 — — — — — — — — 2019–20 JYP FIN 1 0 1 0 60 5 0 5.00 .773 — — — — — — — — 2019–20 Lahti Pelicans FIN 3 0 1 0 98 10 0 6.13 .760 — — — — — — — — NHL totals 1 0 0 0 7 0 0 0.00 1.000 — — — — — — — —

International Year Team Event Result GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 2006 Finland WJC18 6 4 1 1 360 11 1 1.83 .942 2008 Finland WJC 6th 4 — — — 214 12 1 3.36 .902 Junior totals 10 — — — 574 23 2 — —