Karri Rämö

Karri Rämö
Ramo warming up with the Flames
Born	(1986-07-01) July 1, 1986 Asikkala, FIN
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
NHL team Former teams	Free Agent Pelicans HPK Tampa Bay Lightning Avangard Omsk Calgary Flames
National team	Finland
NHL Draft	191st overall, 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning
Playing career	2003–present

Karri Rämö (born July 1, 1986) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender who is an unrestricted free agent and last played with the Calgary Flames organization of the National Hockey League (NHL). He began his professional career in the SM-liiga, initially with Pelicans and then HPK, where he was a member of the Kanada-malja championship team in 2005–06. The Tampa Bay Lightning then selected Rämö with their sixth-round pick, 191st overall, at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, where he played three seasons with the team between 2006 and 2009 before opting to return to Europe.

In four Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) seasons with Avangard Omsk, Rämö was twice selected to participate in KHL All-Star Games. He returned to the NHL ahead of the 2013–14 season, joining the Calgary Flames.

Playing career

Rämö was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning as their sixth round pick, 191st overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. A product of the Pelicans organization based in Heinola, Rämö made his SM-liiga debut in the 2003–04 season with Pelicans after the team had lost their chance at the playoffs. In the next season, he played 26 games with Pelicans, later signing a contract with HPK for 2005–06. During the campaign, Rämö shared goaltending duties with Miika Wiikman, putting up excellent statistics and en route to the team's SM-liiga championship. Rämö also represented the Finnish junior team at the 2006 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships as the nation's backup goaltender to starter Tuukka Rask.

After HPK's championship victory, the Lightning signed Rämö to a two-way contract. Playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Norfolk Admirals, Tampa's top minor league affiliate, he quickly made his NHL debut on December 2 against the Ottawa Senators, replacing Johan Holmqvist. On December 19, Rämö was once again called up by the Lightning. The next day, on December 20, he won his first career NHL start in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, which finished 2–1. He went on to record seven wins with 11 losses in the 2007–08 season.

Rämö after a game with Avangard Omsk in 2011.

After the Lightning signed NHL veteran Olaf Kölzig as the backup to starting goaltender Mike Smith, Rämö began the 2008–09 season with Norfolk. He was recalled multiple times by the Lightning throughout the season and finished the year playing 24 contests, though he posted just four wins.

With the prospect of another return to the AHL for the 2009–10 season, on June 23, 2009, Rämö opted to sign a two-year contract with Avangard Omsk of the KHL.^[1]

On August 16, 2010, Rämö's NHL rights were traded to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for goaltender Cédrick Desjardins.^[2]

In January 2011, Rämö, for the second consecutive year, was selected to be the starting goaltender for the Eastern Conference in the Kontinental Hockey League All-Star Game, collecting more fan votes than any other player in the League.^[3] However, he was unable to participate because of an injury.^[4]

On January 12, 2012, Rämö, along with Mike Cammalleri and a fifth-round draft pick in 2012, was traded to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Rene Bourque, Patrick Holland and a second-round draft pick in 2013.

On July 5, 2013, Rämö signed a two-year, $5.8 million contract by the Flames, paving the way for his return to the NHL. Ahead of the 2013–14 season, during the pre-season, he won the job to replace the retired Miikka Kiprusoff as Calgary's starting goaltender over Joey MacDonald and Reto Berra.

Rämö recorded a 15–9–3 record during the 2014–15 season, splitting duties with the newly acquired Jonas Hiller, though Hiller started more games and also started in the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs. He was not called into action by the Flames until he replaced Hiller early in Calgary's Game 6-clinching Western Conference Quarterfinals victory over the Vancouver Canucks. After Hiller's sub-par performance in Game 1 of the subsequent Conference Semifinals against the Anaheim Ducks, Rämö would start the rest of Calgary's playoff games, though the Flames eventually lost the series in five games. He finished the playoffs with a 2–3 record and a 2.86 goals against average (GAA).

On July 1, 2015, the Calgary Flames re-signed Ramo to a one-year contract reportedly worth $3.8 million.^[5] He struggled early in the season and was even sent down to the American Hockey League; however, after being called up after an injury to Hiller, Rämö played most of Calgary's games until an anterior cruciate ligament knee injury against the San Jose Sharks ended his season.

Career statistics

References

External links

• Karri Rämö's career statistics at EliteProspects.com
  
• Karri Rämö's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database