Mika Noronen

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| image = {{CSS image crop|Image= C20A9646 (39832070164).jpg|bSize= 300|cWidt= 200|cHeight= 170|oTop= 20|oLeft= 0|Location= center}}

| image_size = 230px

| caption = Noronen with the Rochester Americans in 2002

| position = Goaltender

| catches = Left

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 1

| weight_lb = 201

| played_for = Tappara
Buffalo Sabres
HPK
Vancouver Canucks
Ak Bars Kazan
Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod
Linköpings HC
JYP Jyväskylä
HIFK
Lukko
HC Davos
EHC München
Malmö Redhawks

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1979|6|17|df=y}}

| birth_place = Tampere, Finland

| ntl_team = Finland

| draft = 21st overall

| draft_year = 1997

| draft_team = Buffalo Sabres

| career_start = 2000

| career_end = 2016

}}

Mika Noronen (born 17 June 1979) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 71 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks between 2000 and 2006. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1997 to 2016, was mainly spent in Finland. Internationally Noronen played for the Finnish national team at the junior and senior level, including at the 2004 World Championships.

Playing career

Noronen was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft 21st overall. In his native Finland, he played for Tappara and HPK in the SM-liiga. He also played for the Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League.

While with the Rochester Americans, he gained some notoriety in a 2002 game against the Syracuse Crunch. A Crunch forward fired a slap shot past Noronen which hit the cross bar and bounced away. However, the goal judge signaled it was a goal. Play was stopped and the goal was counted. Noronen proceeded to spray the contents of his water bottle on the glass and wipe it away, pretending to clean the glass for the goal judge.{{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkPtW3vSQwY | title = Video of Noronen Cleaning the Glass | publisher = YouTube | date = 2002-01-04 | accessdate = 2006-12-04}}

Noronen was the first Finnish goaltender to be credited with a goal in the National Hockey League, a rare feat in itself. He was also the first Buffalo Sabres goaltender to accomplish the feat when he was the last Buffalo player to touch the puck before it entered the opponent's empty net on a delayed penalty on February 14, 2004.{{cite news| url = http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2004021421 | title = Associated Prees recap of Noronen goal | work = Yahoo! Sports | date = 2004-02-14 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050422044603/http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap?gid=2004021421 | accessdate = 2016-05-06| archive-date = 2005-04-22 }}

At the trade deadline in the 2005–06 season, Noronen was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. On March 14, 2006, Noronen played his first game as a Vancouver Canuck, allowing five goals in a 5–0 loss to the Nashville Predators.

In August 2006, Noronen opted to sign with Russian Hockey Super League team AK Bars Kazan rather than serving as back up to Roberto Luongo, making Noronen an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Then he joined Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the RSL. In January 2009 Noronen joined Linköpings HC of Elitserien. Noronen returned to Finland for the 2009–10 season. He began the season by signing a short-term contract with JYP Jyväskylä. After the contract had expired, he signed a contract with HIFK Helsinki. He retired after the 2016 season.

Career statistics

=Regular season and playoffs=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="width:75%; text-align:center;"
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! colspan="10" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"\|Regular season ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! colspan="8" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"\|Playoffs
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! W !! L !! T !! OTL !! MIN !! GA !! SO !! GAA !! SV% ! GP !! W !! L !! MIN !! GA !! SO !! GAA !! SV%
1993–94 \| Tappara U16 \| FIN U16 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	— \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1994–95 \| Tappara U18 \| FIN U18 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	— \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1995–96 \| Tappara U18 \| FIN U18 \| 5	—	—	—	—	299	13	—	2.61	— \| 5	—	—	300	8	—	1.60	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1995–96 \| Tappara Jr \| FIN Jr \| 16	—	—	—	—	962	37	2	2.31	— \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996–97 \| Tappara Jr \| FIN Jr \| 17	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	— \| 13	—	—	—	—	—	1.99	.924
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1996–97 \| Kokkolan Hermes \| FIN-2 \| 2	—	—	—	—	91	11	0	7.25	.868 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996–97 \| Tappara \| FIN \| 5	1	3	0	—	215	17	0	4.73	.876 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1997–98 \| Tappara Jr \| FIN Jr \| 6	4	1	1	—	365	13	—	2.14	.933 \| 4	2	2	262	11	0	2.52	.919
1997–98 \| Tappara \| FIN \| 31	14	12	3	—	1703	83	1	2.92	.900 \| 4	1	2	196	12	0	3.67	.878
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1998–99 \| Tappara \| FIN \| 43	18	20	5	—	2494	135	2	3.25	.893 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999–00 \| Rochester Americans \| AHL \| 54	33	13	4	—	3089	112	6	2.18	.920 \| 21	13	8	1235	37	6	1.80	.936
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2000–01 \| Buffalo Sabres \| NHL \| 2	2	0	0	—	109	5	0	2.77	.872 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01 \| Rochester Americans \| AHL \| 47	26	15	5	—	2753	100	4	2.18	.913 \| 4	1	3	250	11	0	2.64	.885
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2001–02 \| Buffalo Sabres \| NHL \| 10	4	3	1	—	518	23	0	2.66	.894 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2001–02 \| Rochester Americans \| AHL \| 45	16	17	12	—	2764	115	3	2.50	.906 \| 1	0	1	59	3	0	3.06	.870
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2002–03 \| Buffalo Sabres \| NHL \| 16	4	9	3	—	892	36	1	2.42	.912 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2002–03 \| Rochester Americans \| AHL \| 19	5	9	5	—	1169	55	2	2.82	.903 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2003–04 \| Buffalo Sabres \| NHL \| 35	11	17	2	—	1797	77	2	2.57	.906 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2004–05 \| HPK \| FIN \| 27	14	8	4	—	1614	54	1	2.01	.927 \| 9	4	4	482	21	1	2.61	.918
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2005–06 \| Buffalo Sabres \| NHL \| 4	1	2	—	0	169	12	0	4.27	.844 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2005–06 \| Vancouver Canucks \| NHL \| 4	1	1	—	0	171	10	0	3.52	.870 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2005–06 \| Rochester Americans \| AHL \| 2	0	2	—	0	121	6	0	2.99	.898 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2006–07 \| Ak Bars Kazan \| RSL \| 33	18	5	—	4	1877	66	2	2.11	.911 \| 16	10	4	941	35	0	2.23	.886
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2007–08 \| Ak Bars Kazan \| RSL \| 15	9	4	—	0	906	37	0	2.45	.886 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2008–09 \| Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod \| KHL \| 14	2	9	—	2	713	34	1	2.86	.890 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2008–09 \| Linköping HC \| SWE \| 3	1	1	—	0	160	11	0	4.13	.895 \| 3	1	2	221	8	1	2.17	.896
2009–10 \| JYP Jyväskylä \| FIN \| 6	5	1	—	0	365	14	0	2.30	.898 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2009–10 \| HIFK \| FIN \| 25	17	8	—	0	1487	58	2	2.34	.918 \| 6	2	4	372	15	1	2.42	.917
2010–11 \| Lukko \| FIN \| 27	13	10	—	4	1598	55	5	2.06	.929 \| 12	6	6	757	28	1	2.22	.915
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2011–12 \| Lukko \| FIN \| 50	17	22	—	8	2868	125	2	2.61	.914 \| 1	0	1	58	5	0	5.19	.800
2012–13 \| Tappara \| FIN \| 1	1	0	—	0	60	3	0	3.00	.919 \| 1	0	0	1	0	0	0.00	1.000
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2012–13 \| LeKi \| FIN-2 \| 2	—	—	—	—	124	2	1	0.97	.965 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2013–14 \| HC Davos \| NLA \| 15	7	8	—	0	891	42	1	2.83	.919 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2013–14 \| EHC München \| DEL \| 5	2	3	—	0	312	11	0	2.12	.946 \| 3	1	2	179	10	0	3.35	.915
2014–15 \| LeKi \| FIN-2 \| 4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.01	.937 \| 5	—	—	—	—	—	1.67	.957
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2014–15 \| Tappara \| FIN \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	— \| 1	0	1	64	2	0	1.89	.895
2015–16 \| Tappara \| FIN \| 3	1	0	—	2	189	5	0	1.59	.930 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2015–16 \| Malmö Redhawks \| SWE \| 1	0	1	—	0	40	4	0	6.00	.750 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2015–16 \| LeKi \| FIN-2 \| 6	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.73	.887 \| —	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3"\| NHL totals ! 71 !! 23 !! 32 !! 6 !! 0 !! 3653 !! 163 !! 3 !! 2.68 !! .901 ! — !! — !! — !! — !! — !! — !! — !! —

=International=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" ID="Table3" style="text-align:center; width:40em"
ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Year ! Team ! Event ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" \| ! GP !! W !! L !! T !! MIN !! GA !! SO !! GAA !! SV%
1996 \| Finland \| EJC \| 3	—	—	—	180	3	0	1.00	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1997 \| Finland \| EJC \| 5	—	—	—	300	8	0	1.60	—
1997 \| Finland \| WJC \| 2	—	—	—	120	4	0	2.00	.945
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1998 \| Finland \| WJC \| 5	5	0	0	314	8	1	1.53	.934
1999 \| Finland \| WJC \| 3	1	2	0	159	11	0	4.14	.831
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2004 \| Finland \| WC \| 5	2	2	1	309	12	1	2.33	.909
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan=3\| Junior totals ! 18 !! — !! — !! — !! 1073 !! 34 !! 1 !! 1.90 !! —
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan=3\| Senior totals ! 5 !! 2 !! 2 !! 1 !! 309 !! 12 !! 1 !! 2.33 !! .909

Awards and honours

class="wikitable"

! Award

! Year

ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

| colspan="3" | AHL

All-Rookie Team

| 2000

Second All-Star Team

| 2000, 2001

Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award

| 2000

Hap Holmes Memorial Award (with Tom Askey)

| 2001

All-Star Game

| 2002

| {{cite web| url = https://theahl.com/stats/game-summary/1005939 | title = Canadian All-Stars 13, Planet USA All-Stars 11 | website = American Hockey League | date = 2002-02-14 | accessdate = 2019-02-01}}