Eero Kilpeläinen

Career

Eero Kilpeläinen got his start in hockey with the junior teams of his hometown club, Juvan Pallo. He later moved through the Jukurit junior system before landing with KalPa's juniors in 2001. He appeared in one Mestis game for KalPa during the 2002–03 season. For the 2004–05 season, he played for the Peterborough Petes in the OHL. The next year, he joined Porin Ässät in the SM-liiga, but was sent down to Hermes Kokkola in Mestis, where he posted a .912 save percentage over 38 games. In the 2006–07 season, he became Ässät's starting goaltender, playing 36 games with a .907 save percentage and a 3.27 goals against average. During the 2008–09 season, Ässät finished 12th in the league and had to fight to keep their spot. Kilpeläinen played 10 playout matches, recording a .938 save percentage and a 2.69 GAA, and helped the team beat Vaasan Sport in game seven of the relegation series. He joined Jokerit Helsinki for the 2011–12 season. After spending the 2013–14 season with EV Zug in Switzerland's National League A, he returned to Finland and signed a four-year contract with his youth club, KalPa, on March 27, 2014. In the 2016–17 season, he won SM-liiga silver with KalPa, made the All-Star team, and earned the Urpo Ylönen trophy as the league's best goaltender. He played in the SHL with Örebro HK from 2017 to 2019, then returned to KalPa in 2019. Kilpeläinen retired in 2022, finishing his career as the SM-liiga leader in games played (519) and shutouts (56). KalPa retired his number in 2023.