When you are taken 256^th Overall in the NHL Amateur Draft, just making it to the largest North American hockey league is hard enough.  Putting that in perspective, what Finnish Goalie Pekka Rinne accomplished was miraculous.

Drafted in 2004, Rinne played a combined three NHL Games in his first three years in the United States, but he was clearly a netminder on the rise, and he became Nashville’s top Goalie in 208, a role he held for well over a decade.

Rinne was named a Second Team All-Star in 2010-11, finishing second for the Vezina, and he was third the following year, where he led the NHL in Wins (43).  As Nashville improved around him, Rinne was able to lead the Predators to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2017.  Nashville did not win the Cup, but the Predators were contenders due to his efforts.

In the following year, Rinne, who was twice second for the Vezina, would win that elusive award on the strength of his 42-13-4 Record and 2.31 GAA.  Rinne never had another season like that again, and he played three more years before retiring with a 368-212-75 lifetime record with a 2.43 GAA.

Niklas Hjalmarsson played most of his NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks and he is one of seven players who was a member of the 2010, 2012 and 2015 Stanley Cup Championship Teams.

Hjalmarsson was a tradition stay-at-home Defeneseman, but he did have two seasons (2013-14 & 2015-16) where he cracked the 20-Point threshold.  Internationally, he won a Silver Medal with Sweden in the 2016 Olympics.                              

From Finland, Center Mikko Koivu played 16 years in the NHL, all but seven games with the Minnesota Wild.

Over his career, Koivu scored 711 Points (709 in Minnesota), and had three years (2008-09 to 2010-11) where he had at least 62 Points.  A solid playmaker, Koivu was equally adept at the defensive side of the rink.  Koivu enjoyed votes for the Frank J. Selke Award ten times, with four of them cracking the top ten in balloting.  Koivu might not have been an All-Star, but his contributions to the Wild are undeniable.

As we said with Jussi Jokinen, Koivu is unlikely to get into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but he could be a fringe candidate for the IIHF.  Koivu played in 77 Senior Games for Finland, winning medals at the Olympics, World Cup of Hockey, and World Hockey Championships.

Jussi Jokinen may not have been considered a star in terms of his National Hockey League performance, but the Finnish Center appeared in 951 Games, though he never had more than 288 for any team.

Jokinen suited up for Dallas, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Florida, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Columbus and Chicago, and scored 563 Points, a respectable number.  Five times, he had 50-Point seasons, his best being a 30-35-65 campaign as a Hurricane in 2009-10.  After the 2017-18 season, Jokinen returned to his first professional team, Karpat in the Finnish League, playing three more years before he retired.

Jokinen is not likely to get into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but Jokinen could be a dark horse candidate for the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame, as he played 99 Games for Finland, winning Silver in the Olympics and World Hockey Championships, and Bronze in the Olympics, World Hockey Championships (twice) and World Juniors (twice).