Hannu Virta

Hannu Virta débuted at the Finnish Championships in 1978 with TPS Turku and played with them until 1982. Virta was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL in 1981 and joined the team in 1982. He stayed with them until 1986, playing in 245 league games and 17 play-off games. In 1986, Virta returned to Europe and played again with TPS from 1986-94. He won Finnish titles with them in 1989-91 and 1993, and then spent two seasons in Switzerland with Grasshopper Club Zürich and finished his career by playing one season again with TPS and one season with ZSC Lions again in Switzerland. Internationally, Virta won an Olympic bronze in 1994, was World champion in 1995 and won World Championships silver in 1994. After finishing his sporting career in 1998, Virta worked as an ice hockey coach. From 1998-03 he was assistant coach of TPS and then from 2003-04 was head coach of the Espoo Blues. From 2005-08, Virta worked again with TPS, serving as their head coach from 2007-08. In 2009-10, Virta was head coach of HC Lugano in Switzerland and since 2010 has been assistant coach of Jokerit in Finland.