Ice hockey: Jokerit freezes Valtteri Filppula’s game number

Helsinki Jokerit freezes the game number of the first Finnish three-gold club member, when Valtteri Filppula the shirt rises to the roof of the Veikkaus arena.

Filppula, 41, ended his career last spring. He won the Mestis championship in his last season.

“Last season showed how big a Jokeri heart Valle has. He came to play for Mesti and help the Jokers exactly when he was most needed,” Jokeri chairman Mikko Saarni says on the club’s website.

“Valle’s return made it possible for us to implement our plans in the original schedule.”

Saarni especially praises Filppula’s athletic contribution and presence in the team.

Flippula is a student of Etelä-Vantaa Urheilijode, who represented only the Jokers during his professional career in Finland.

Filppula’s game number will be frozen on January 10, 2026, when Jokerit meets Tuto Hockey. He becomes the eighth player whose game number has been frozen by Jokerit.

Filppula played in the NHL for 16 seasons. The combined number of regular season and playoff games is a handsome 1,222, where 222+394=616 power points were generated.

Filppula won the Stanley Cup in the Detroit Red Wings in the summer of 2008.

Filppula won the Olympic gold and the world championship in the spring of 2022, joining the three-gold club after the World Cup gold.

On the flip side also has an Olympic bronze medal, two under-20 World Cup bronze medals and the Swiss championship.

“The fact that he returned to the club as a player who has won the championships that everyone dreams of in his career speaks of an exceptional sense of consequence,” says Saarni.

“He is a role model whose values ​​and attitude leave a lasting impression on our company.”