Tommy_Salo

Tommy Salo

Thomas "Tommy" Mikael Salo (born February 1, 1971 in Surahammar) is a former professional ice hockey goaltender from Sweden. His parents are both Finnish, which explains his non-Swedish last name.

Playing career

Salo began his career in the Elitserien with Västerås IK. After several seasons, he was chosen 118th overall, in the fifth round, by the New York Islanders. He debuted with the Islanders in 1994-95, but would play the majority of his first two seasons in North America with New York's IHL affiliate, the Grizzlies.

In 1996-97, Salo emerged as the Islanders' starting goalie until March 20, 1999, when he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Mats Lindgren and an eighth round draft choice in 1999. Salo found his stride in Edmonton and was chosen to two All-Star Games in 2000 and 2002. In 2001-02, Salo recorded a career-best 2.22 goals-against-average.

On March 9, 2004, after six seasons with Edmonton, he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche with a sixth round selection in 2004 in exchange for Tom Gilbert. As NHL play was suspended the following season due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout, Salo signed a one-year contract with MODO Hockey of the Elitserien.

After MODO was eliminated in the playoffs by Färjestad, Salo announced his retirement from professional hockey on March 17, 2005, citing chronic hip pain. Shortly after, on August 4, he returned to the Elitserien, signing with the Frölunda Indians. This led to a conflict with MODO since they had agreed to terminate his contract on account of his retirement. Now they wanted Frölunda to pay for Tommy. On August 11th the issue was settled, Salo would play for Frölunda and MODO withdrew their claim. Signing with Frolunda, Salo replaced the departed Henrik Lundqvist, who incidentally, had taken over Salo's starting position on Sweden's national team.

On December 9, 2006, in an interview with Swedish newspaper Expressen, Salo announced that the he would retire from hockey after the 2006-07 season.

On March 5, 2007, hockey club Kungälvs IK of the Swedish tier III league announced an agreement with Tommy Salo as their head coach for the next two seasons.

International play

Salo first competed for Sweden in the 1991 World Junior Championships. He played in six games and posted a 3.32 goals-against-average.

Several years later, he played an integral role in Sweden's gold medal victory at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Salo made critical saves in the gold medal game, as they defeated Canada in a shootout to secure Sweden's first Olympic gold medal in ice hockey.

In 1998, Salo once again competed in the Winter Olympics, as NHL players were allowed to compete for the first time. He played in four games as Sweden failed to medal.

In the 2002 Winter Olympics, Salo started for Sweden once more and were favourites to win the gold medal, placing first in the round robin. However, in the quarter-final game against Belarus, with the game tied late in the third period, Salo surrendered a 70-foot goal from defenceman Vladimir Kopat. The long slap shot bounced off Salo's mask, went up in the air, and bounced off of his back and into the net. Sweden would not recover and Salo was made the scapegoat in one of the biggest upsets in international hockey history.

Team Sweden's captain Mats Sundin complained over fans and media singling Salo out. He stated, "The entire team played subpar, a single fluke goal shouldn't cost us the game."

Awards/ Accolades

Member of gold-medal winning Swedish Olympic team, 1994.
Winner, James Gatchene Memorial Trophy, 1994-95.
Winner, James Norris Memorial Trophy, 1994-95.
Winner, Gerry F. Longman Memorial Trophy, 1994-95.
Named to IHL All-Star first team, 1994-95.
Winner, N.R. (Bud) Poile Trophy, 1995-96.
Goaltender for Swedish Olympic Team, February 1998.
Played in NHL All-Star Game, 1999-2000.
Played in NHL All-Star Game, 2001-02.
Named NHL Player of the Week, March 25, 2002.
Named NHL Player of the Week, March 10, 2003.
Member of silver-medal winning team with Frölunda Indians 2005/06.

Records

Holds the Edmonton Oilers all-time record by a goalie for lowest goals-against average (2.40).

Career statistics

			Regular Season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	W	L	T	GAA	GP	W	L	T	GAA
1990-91	Västerås IK	SEL	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
1993-94	Västerås IK	SEL	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
1994-95	Denver Grizzlies	IHL	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
1994-95	New York Islanders	NHL	6	1	5	0	3.02	--	--	--	--	--
1995-96	Utah Grizzlies	IHL	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
1995-96	New York Islanders	NHL	10	1	7	1	4.02	--	--	--	--	--
1996-97	New York Islanders	NHL	58	20	27	8	2.82	--	--	--	--	--
1997-98	New York Islanders	NHL	62	23	29	5	2.64	--	--	--	--	--
1998-99	New York Islanders	NHL	51	17	26	7	2.62	--	--	--	--	--
1998-99	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	13	8	2	2	2.31	4	0	4	--	2.22
1999-00	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	70	27	28	13	2.33	5	1	4	--	2.82
2000-01	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	73	36	25	12	2.46	6	2	4	--	2.21
2001-02	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	69	30	28	10	2.22	--	--	--	--	--
2002-03	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	65	29	27	8	2.71	6	2	4	--	3.14
2003-04	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	44	17	18	6	2.58	--	--	--	--	--
2003-04	Colorado Avalanche	NHL	5	1	3	1	2.37	--	--	--	--	--
2004-05	MODO Hockey	SEL	36	--	--	--	2.58	6	--	--	--	3.18
2005-06	Frölunda HC	SEL	37	--	--	--	2.47	17	--	--	--	2.35
2006-07	Frölunda HC	SEL	22	--	--	--	3.29	--	--	--	--	--