Stanley Cup champion Valtteri Filppula retires from pro hockey
One of the more underrated players in the modern age has hung up his skates.
On Tuesday, Helsingin Jokerit of Mestis, the second-tier league in Finland, announced that captain Valtteri Filppula is retiring from pro hockey.
Yksi kaikkien aikojen suomalaisista jääkiekkoilijoista, Valtteri Filppula, päättää pelaajauransa.
Stanley Cup, olympiakulta, maailmanmestaruus – ja viimeiseksi Mestis-mestaruus Jokeri-kapteenina.
Kiitos, Valle. ❤️💛#Jokerit pic.twitter.com/TOIhCsMVtp
It ends a pro career that started with Jokerit in the 2003-04 season when Filppula was 19 years old. The Finnish forward was taken in the third round by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2002 NHL Draft. He would make his NHL debut during the 2005-06 season, becoming a full-time member of the Red Wings during the 2006-07 campaign.
The following season, Filppula became a key secondary scorer on a team with the likes of future Hall of Famers Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk, along with future IIHF Hall of Famer Henrik Zetterberg. The Detroit, mixed with young and veteran talent, went on to win the franchise’s 11th Stanley Cup, the most among any American franchise.
Filppula might not have been a superstar, but he was always relied on to put up points when needed. Across his 14 seasons in the NHL, the Vantaa native hit the 40-point mark four times, including a career-high 66 points during the 2011-12 campaign.
Across his time in the league, “Flip” also made stops with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders, before rounding out his time in the NHL with the Red Wings from 2019 to 2021.
In 1,056 NHL games, Filppula scored 197 goals and 333 assists for 530 points, including 86 points in 166 postseason appearances.
From there, Filppula went to Switzerland, joining National League side Genève-Servette HC. With the team, they won the league championship in 2022-23 and then took home the Champions Hockey League title the following season. To finish out his pro career, Filppula returned home to captain Jokerit, winning the Mestis championship. Unfortunately, the longstanding Finnish franchise failed to earn promotion, as it fell to the Lahti Pelicans in the promotion series earlier this month.
Along with the trophies he took home from his pro career, Filppula is the lone Finn to be a member of the Triple Gold Club. Along with winning the Stanley Cup, he won the gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and the IIHF Men’s World Championship that following spring.