Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (born 9 March 1999) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
With the Rochester Americans in 2022
Born (1999-03-09) 9 March 1999
Espoo, Finland
Height 6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Weight 212 lb (96 kg; 15 st 2 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Buffalo Sabres
HPK
TPS
NHL Draft 54th overall, 2017
Buffalo Sabres
Playing career 2017–present

Playing career

Luukkonen has formerly played for HPK of the Liiga and for LeKi of Mestis. After playing for HPK's U20 team, he was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres, 54th overall, in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.[1] He was also previously drafted in 2016 by Severstal Cherepovets of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), 122nd overall, but never played for them.

On 15 June 2018, Luukkonen agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Sabres.[2] Luukkonen was selected third overall by the Sudbury Wolves in the 2018 CHL Import Draft.[3]

In the 2018–19 season, his first in North America playing major junior hockey, Luukkonen set the Sudbury Wolves franchise record for most wins in a regular season,[4] and led the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in wins, save percentage, and shutouts.[5] Luukkonen was the first European import player to win the Red Tilson Trophy as the league's most outstanding player.[6]

On 12 April 2019, Luukkonen signed an amateur tryout contract with the Rochester Americans, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres.[7] On 14 April, Luukkonen made his professional ice hockey debut with Rochester, earning a victory in a 4–2 win over the Belleville Senators.[8] Following the conclusion of the 2018–19 season, Luukkonen underwent successful hip surgery.[9]

Following his return from hip surgery, Luukkonen spent the majority of the 2019–20 season with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL where he was named ECHL Goaltender of the Month for November 2019,[10] and represented the team at the ECHL All-Star Game.[11]

On 18 August 2020, Luukkonen agreed to return to the Finnish Liiga on loan from the Sabres with TPS for an initial period of 4–6 weeks due to the delayed 2020–21 North American season.[12] He played 13 games for the team between October 2020 and January 2021 before returning to North America.[13]

On 23 April 2021, Luukkonen made his NHL debut and recorded his first NHL win in a 6–4 win over the Boston Bruins.[14]

In January 2023, Luukkonen was named NHL Rookie of the Month with six wins in nine starts and a .907 save percentage for the month.[15]

International play
Medal record
Representing  Finland
Ice hockey
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place2019 Canada
World U18 Championships
Gold medal – first place2016 USA
Silver medal – second place2017 Slovakia

Luukkonen played for Finland in the U18 and U20 World Junior Championships. He won a gold medal at the U18 World Juniors in 2016, stepping in as starter when Leevi Laakso got sick[16] and the silver medal in 2017. He won the gold again at the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in a 3–2 victory over the United States national junior team and was named the media's pick for best goaltender of the tournament.[17]

Personal life

Luukkonen was born in Espoo, but he and his family moved to Hyvinkää when he was five years old. As a child, Luukkonen played soccer, floorball, and flute.[18] His older brother, Nuutti Luukkonen, also played ice hockey at the junior level.[19]

Luukkonen was named after former Finnish president Pehr Evind Svinhufvud's nickname.[20]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2015–16 HPK Jr. A 15 — — — — — — 1.98 .924 8 — — — — — 1.94 .920
2016–17 HPK Jr. A 35 — — — — — — 1.78 .917 9 — — — — — 2.01 .915
2017–18 HPK Jr. A 2 — — — — — — 2.50 .924 — — — — — — — —
2017–18 LeKi Mestis 24 — — — — 70 — 2.92 .908 — — — — — — — —
2017–18 HPK Liiga 1 0 1 0 34 2 0 3.55 .750 — — — — — — — —
2018–19 Sudbury Wolves OHL 53 38 11 2 3,078 128 6 2.50 .920 8 4 3 514 28 0 3.27 .906
2018–19 Rochester Americans AHL 1 1 0 0 60 2 0 2.00 .941 — — — — — — — —
2019–20 Cincinnati Cyclones ECHL 23 12 7 3 1,338 50 3 2.24 .912 — — — — — — — —
2019–20 Rochester Americans AHL 10 3 4 3 610 32 0 3.15 .874 — — — — — — — —
2020–21 TPS Liiga 13 6 3 4 787 33 1 2.52 .908 — — — — — — — —
2020–21 Rochester Americans AHL 14 7 5 2 817 49 0 3.60 .888 — — — — — — — —
2020–21 Buffalo Sabres NHL 4 1 3 0 217 14 0 3.88 .906 — — — — — — — —
2021–22 Rochester Americans AHL 35 15 14 6 2,032 111 1 3.28 .900 — — — — — — — —
2021–22 Buffalo Sabres NHL 9 2 5 2 504 23 0 2.74 .917 — — — — — — — —
2022–23 Rochester Americans AHL 9 6 3 0 527 27 0 3.07 .898 — — — — — — — —
2022–23 Buffalo Sabres NHL 33 17 11 4 1911 115 0 3.61 .892 — — — — — — — —
Liiga totals 14 6 4 4 821 35 1 2.56 .905 — — — — — — — —
NHL totals 46 20 19 6 2,630 152 0 3.47 .898 — — — — — — — —

International
Year Team Event Result GP W L OT MIN GA SO GAA SV%
2015 Finland U17 5th 1 0 1 0 60 3 0 3.00 .903
2016 Finland WJC18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3 3 0 0 180 6 0 2.00 .917
2016 Finland IH18 6th 2 0 2 0 118 9 0 4.58 .850
2017 Finland WJC18 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 5 1 0 373 18 0 2.90 .899
2018 Finland WJC 6th 5 2 2 1 307 16 0 3.13 .879
2019 Finland WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 4 2 0 367 11 0 1.80 .932
Junior totals 23 14 8 1 1,405 63 0 2.69 —

Awards and honours
Award Year
Jr. A
Champion 2017
OHL
First All-Star Team 2019
Goaltender of the Year 2019
Red Tilson Trophy 2019 [21]
ECHL
All-Star Game 2020

References
  1. "Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen drafted by Sabres". eliteprospects.com. 26 June 2017. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  2. "Sabres ink Luukkonen to entry-level contract". Buffalo Sabres. 15 June 2018. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  3. "Ukko Pekka Luukkonen commits to Sudbury Wolves". The Sudbury Star. 23 July 2018. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  4. "Luukkonen sets franchise record in Wolves defeat of the Generals". Sudbury.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  5. @mikecommito (16 March 2019). "Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen picked up his 37th win last night and now leads OHL in wins, save percentage, and shutouts" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. "Wolves' Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen voted Red Tilson Trophy winner as OHL's Most Outstanding Player of the Year – Ontario Hockey League". Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  7. "Sabres prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen joining Amerks". The Buffalo News. 12 April 2019. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  8. "Game Recap". www.amerks.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  9. "LUUKKONEN UNDERGOES SUCCESSFUL HIP SURGERY". www.amerks.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  10. "LUUKKONEN NAMED ECHL GOALTENDER OF THE MONTH". Cincinnati Cyclones. 4 December 2019. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  11. "LUUKKONEN NAMED CYCLONES ALL-STAR REPRESENTATIVE". Cincinnati Cyclones. 6 January 2020. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  12. "Goalkeeper Luukkonen adds to TPS strength" (in Finnish). HC TPS. 18 August 2020. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  13. "Game logs | #30 Luukkonen, Ukko-Pekka | Liiga". liiga.fi (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  14. Lysowski, Lance (23 April 2021). "Latest chapter in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's 'journey:' Securing a Sabres win". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  15. "Luukkonen of Sabres named NHL Rookie of the Month for January". NHL.com. 1 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  16. Aykroyd, Lucas (25 April 2016). "Finns golden in Grand Forks". Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  17. Merk, Martin. "Poehling MVP". Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  18. Lempinen, Marko (26 April 2016). "Pikkuleijonien mestarimaalivahdin Ukko-Pekka Luukkosen isä: "Tämä oli uskomaton tarina"". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  19. "Nuutti Luukkonen". Elite Prospects. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  20. Perkiö, Jari (6 January 2019). "Tiesitkö? Suomen MM-kiekon sankari on saanut etunimensä entisen presidentin mukaan". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  21. "2018-19 OHL All-Star Teams – Ontario Hockey League". Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.