Janne Niinimaa

Janne Niinimaa is a Finnish defenseman on HV71.

Niinimaa was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1993, but spent three seasons with Jokerit in the SM-Liiga before coming to the NHL. He scored 20 points in his final season with Jokerit. He joined the Flyers in 1996, and scored 44 points in his rookie year. He was traded to Edmonton at the trade deadline in 1998, and spent the next 5 seasons with the Oilers, as one of their top defensemen. He scored a career high 46 points in 2000-01, while recording a +13 and 80 penalty minutes. He was traded to the New York Islanders at the 2003 trade deadline, and spent three seasons with the team, although his production slipped dramatically while on the Islanders. He played with the Malmo Redhawks and Karpat during the NHL lockout in 2004-05. In 2006, he was traded to Dallas, where he finished the season before signing with Montreal. He played only 41 games in 2006-07, and scored only 3 points while recording a poor -13 rating. In 2007-08, he played for HC Davos in the Swiss professional league, recording 127 penalty minutes. He spent 2008-09 with another Swiss team, the SCL Tigers, before signing with HV71 in 2009.