caption height_ft played_for weight_lb birth_place draft_year image_size career_end position catches draft_team height_in birth_date image article_title draft ntl_team career_start
niittymäki with the philadelphia flyers 6 tps philadelphia flyers tampa bay lightning san jose sharks 190 turku , fin 1998 225px 2013 goaltender left philadelphia flyers 1 18 june 1980 antero niittymäki @ flyers.jpg antero niittymäki
 168th overall finland 1999
antero niittymäki

antero pertti elias niittymäki -lrb- ; born june 18 , 1980 -rrb- is a finnish former professional ice hockey goaltender who last played for tps of the sm-liiga -lrb- finnish elite league -rrb- .
he additionally played in the national hockey league -lrb- nhl -rrb- with the philadelphia flyers , tampa bay lightning and san jose sharks .
at the 2006 winter olympics , while playing for team finland , he was voted the most valuable player -lrb- mvp -rrb- of the entire ice hockey tournament .
partway through his four-year junior career with tps in the junior sm-liiga , niittymäki was selected by the flyers 168th overall in the 1998 nhl entry draft .
he continued to play in finland with tps for his first year out of the junior leagues , and he won the finnish elite league 's rookie of the year trophy .
after two more seasons with tps , niittymäki moved to north america to join the philadelphia phantoms in the american hockey league -lrb- ahl -rrb- .
when the phantoms won the ahl calder cup championship , he was named the mvp of the playoffs .
he then played four seasons for the philadelphia flyers before signing as a free agent with the tampa bay lightning .
one year later , he signed as a free agent with the san jose sharks , but he did not play many games for them over the next two years due to hip injuries .
he played his final season with his youth team tps , and he announced his retirement in 2013 .
