Tomi Kallio

Playing career

Kallio entered professional hockey with TPS in Finland’s SM-liiga after being selected 81st overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 1995 NHL draft. He spent five seasons there, helping the club capture league championships in 1999 and 2000. The Atlanta Thrashers then picked him up from Colorado in the 1999 NHL Expansion Draft, bringing him to the NHL. After two years in Atlanta, he was traded alongside Pauli Levokari to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Petteri Nummelin and Chris Nielsen. His time in Columbus was brief, appearing in only 12 games before the Philadelphia Flyers claimed him off waivers. He played just seven games for Philadelphia before heading to Sweden to finish the season with Västra Frölunda HC. With Frölunda, he won the Le Mat Trophy twice, in 2003 and 2005. In January 2009, he signed a two-year contract extension with the club. When that deal expired in 2011 and no further extension was offered, he moved to Växjö Lakers Hockey in the Elitserien on a two-year contract. During the 2011 European Trophy, Kallio attended a Frölunda–Salzburg game at Frölunda Campus, where thousands of Frölunda supporters thanked him for his time with the team; Frölunda won 3–2. In his fourth season with Växjö, the 2014–15 campaign, he served as captain and led the club to its first SHL championship. On 22 July 2015, he chose to return to his original team, TPS in the Finnish Liiga, signing a one-year deal.