Mikko Niemi (ice hockey)

Career

Niemi began his career at junior level with Ilves Tampere at junior A SM-liiga standard. In the 1989/90 season he played 34 games and recorded six points, helping Ilves reach the post-season where he appeared three times and earned his first post-season point. Over the 1990/91 and 1991/92 seasons he played more than 60 games, and in 1992 he scored his first playoff goal. The following season, 1992/93, he alternated between junior A and full SM-liiga level, playing eight games for the senior Ilves team. Partway through that season he moved temporarily to FPS of the lower Mestis standard, scoring five points in 23 senior games and three points in seven junior contests. At the start of the 1993/94 season he played five SM-liiga games for Ilves before being sent to Hermes Kokkola and KooVee, where he became a regular. For the 1994/95 season he was recalled to Ilves but played only five SM-liiga games and six Liigakarsinta appearances. He then moved to Sweden's Örebro IK, making eleven appearances, and mid-season switched to the Durham Wasps of the BHL, playing 15 games. Niemi subsequently moved to Germany's EV Landsberg, where in 53 games he scored 41 points.