Niko Hovinen

Niko Hovinen (born March 16, 1988 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish ice hockey goaltender. He was drafted by the Minnesota Wild but never played there.
==Playing career==
===Jokerit (2005–2008)===
Niko Hovinen's SM-liiga career started during the 2005-06 season when Hovinen dressed for a single regular-season Jokerit game as backup to Joonas Hallikainen, after Tim Thomas abruptly left the team only a day before the start of the 2005–06 regular season. Hovinen returned to the junior team for the rest of the season. He made his first SM-liiga start on November 23, 2006, against SaiPa, again called up when three Jokerit goaltenders were injured.
During the 2007–08 season, Hovinen served as backup to Jussi Markkanen. Hovinen was relegated to no. 3 goaltender when Jokerit acquired Joni Puurula from SaiPa just before the end of regular season. Hovinen dressed up to serve as backup for Joni Puurula in several games during the 2007–08 playoffs as Jussi Markkanen got himself injured during the first game of playoffs.
===Pelicans (2008–current)===
During the off-season of 2007–08 SM-liiga season, Niko Hovinen was contracted to Pelicans. For the first time, Niko Hovinen will play outside of Jokerit-organization in 2008-09 season.
A tall goaltender at 196 cm, Hovinen covers the net very well and is considered a highly promising goaltender prospect.
Hovinen was ranked #10 on the International Scouting Service's list of goaltender prospects for the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He was drafted in the fifth round, 132nd overall, by the Minnesota Wild.
==References==
* Jatkoaika.com player profile (in Finnish)
* ISS prospect rankings at tsn.ca
Category:Born in 1988
Category:Jokerit Helsinki players
Category:Finnish ice hockey players
Category:Minnesota Wild draft picks
Category:Pelicans Lahti players