Sean Bergenheim
Birth dateFebruary 8, 1984 (age 42)
Birth placeHelsinki, Finland
Height5 ft
Height in10
Weight lb205
PositionLeft wing
ShootsLeft
Played forJokerit
New York Islanders
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
Tampa Bay Lightning
Florida Panthers
HIFK
Minnesota Wild
SC Bern
Frölunda HC
Ntl teamFIN
Draft (2002)22nd overall
Draft teamNew York Islanders
Career start2001
Career end2018

Sean Bergenheim (born February 8, 1984) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Minnesota Wild.

Playing career

Bergenheim played in Jokerit of the SM-liiga for three seasons, from 2001 to 2004, winning the Finnish championship in 2002. He was drafted by the New York Islanders as their first pick in the 2002 NHL entry draft, 22nd overall. In 2003, Bergenheim signed a three-year contract with the Islanders and played 18 games for the Islanders in his debut season, 2003–04. He scored his first NHL goal—a short-handed goal—against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was transferred back to Jokerit in January 2004, and moved back to the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Bridgeport Sound Tigers in April for the 2004 Calder Cup playoffs and for the subsequent 2004–05 AHL season, during the 2004–05 NHL lockout.

Bergenheim spent most of the 2005–06 season playing in the AHL for the Sound Tigers. His breakout in the AHL finally brought him back to the Islanders, but he was unable to agree to a new contract with the team in the 2006 off-season, after which he signed with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the Russian Superleague.

On October 31, 2006, Bergenheim signed a one-year contract with the Swedish Elitserien team Frölunda HC.[1] During his time with the club, he played on a productive line alongside forwards Steve Kariya and Martin Plüss.

On June 18, 2007, Bergenheim signed a one-year contract with the Islanders to return to the NHL.[2] During the 2007–08 season, his first full season in the NHL, on March 4, 2008, he became the 350th different New York Islander skater to register a goal at Madison Square Garden.

Having scoring 10 goals in 78 games with the Islanders in the 2007–08 season, on July 14, 2008, Bergenheim signed a two-year contract extension with the club.[3] With higher expectations for the 2008–09 season, he scored 7 points in the first 16 games before he was felled by injury and illness that caused him to miss 26 games.[4] Returning to health in the second half of the season, Bergenheim had his first multi-goal game with two goals to help the Islanders shut-out the Buffalo Sabres 2–0 on February 28, 2009.[5] His strong form with New York continued, and on March 7, 2009, Bergenheim recorded his first career NHL hat-trick, against the New Jersey Devils.[4] He finished the season with a career-high 15 goals in 59 games.

After the 2009–10 season, on August 17, 2010, Bergenheim left the Islanders and signed as a free agent to a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning.[6] In his first appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs, despite having only 14 goals in 80 games during the regular season, Bergenheim finished with 9 goals in 16 games en route to series victories over the Pittsburgh Penguins and a sweep of the Washington Capitals before the Lightning finally fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins, in seven games.[7]

On July 1, 2011, Bergenheim signed a four-year, $11 million contract with the Florida Panthers.[8] In the final year of his contract in the 2014–15 season, Bergenheim was used in rotation in the Panthers' starting lineup. After requesting a trade, on February 24, 2015, he was traded (along with a seventh-round pick in the 2016 NHL entry draft) to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a third-round draft pick in the same draft.[9]

At the conclusion of his contract, and as an un-signed free agent over the summer, on October 7, 2015, Bergenheim returned to Europe to sign a one-year contract (with the option for two more years) for the 2015–16 season with SC Bern of the Swiss National League A (NLA).[10] In signing with Bern, Bergenheim re-united with former NHL head coach Guy Boucher from his tenure with the Lightning. Under Boucher's successor, Lars Leuenberger, Bergenheim won the 2016 Swiss championship with Bern, but missed parts of the season (including the playoffs) due to a concussion.[11]

As a free agent in the following off-season, on September 20, 2016, Bergenheim returned to North America to participate in the Anaheim Ducks' training camp on a professional try-out contract.[12] Upon his release from the Ducks' roster, he returned to Europe, signing with Swedish powerhouse Frölunda HC on November 4, 2016, where he had played during the 2006–07 campaign. [13]

In February 2018, Bergenheim announced his retirement from professional hockey.[14]

International play

Bergenheim has represented Finland in the World U18 Championships as well as the World Junior Championships, winning one and three bronze medals, respectively.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
2000–01JokeritFIN U1811014695148
2000–01JokeritFIN U201864102620004
2001–02JokeritFIN U20231119303610002
2001–02JokeritFIN U18—————562818
2001–02JokeritSM-l282244—————
2001–02Kiekko–VantaaFIN.2400052—————
2002–03JokeritFIN U2023032—————
2002–03JokeritSM-l38336420000
2003–04New York IslandersNHL181124—————
2003–04JokeritSM-l202241831120
2003–04Bridgeport Sound TigersAHL—————723510
2004–05Bridgeport Sound TigersAHL6115142969—————
2005–06Bridgeport Sound TigersAHL55252247112—————
2005–06New York IslandersNHL2845920—————
2006–07Lokomotiv YaroslavlRSL914526—————
2006–07Frölunda HCSEL3616173380—————
2007–08New York IslandersNHL7810122262—————
2008–09New York IslandersNHL591592464—————
2009–10New York IslandersNHL6310132345—————
2010–11Tampa Bay LightningNHL80141529561692118
2011–12Florida PanthersNHL62176234873364
2012–13HIFKSM-l21010—————
2013–14Florida PanthersNHL6216132940—————
2014–15Florida PanthersNHL398101834—————
2014–15Minnesota WildNHL17101630000
2015–16SC BernNLA21581349—————
2016–17Frölunda HCSHL325914391112314
2017–18Frölunda HCSHL41234—————
NHL totals5069684180379261251712

International

YearTeamEventResultGPGAPtsPIM
2001FinlandWJC1863148
2002FinlandWJC184th884126
2002FinlandWJC70114
2003FinlandWJC72466
2004FinlandWJC71342
2006FinlandWC92134
2007FinlandWC912331
2008FinlandWC40002
Junior totals3514132726
Senior totals2233637

Awards and honours

AwardYear
AHL
All-Star Game2005
CHL
Champions (Frölunda HC)2017[15]

References

  1. ^ Peter Gyllander (2006). "Finske landslagsmannen Sean Bergenheim klar för Frölunda Indians" (in Swedish). Frölunda Indians. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved 2006-10-31.
  2. ^ "Bergie's back!!!". New York Islanders. 2007-06-18. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
  3. ^ "Bergenheim locked in for two years". New York Islanders. 2008-07-14. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
  4. ^ "Bergenheim builds momentum". New York Islanders. 2009-03-07. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
  5. ^ "Sabres close to dropping out of playoff spot after shutout loss to Isles". CBS Sports. 2009-02-28. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  6. ^ "Lightning sign free agent Bergenheim to one-year deal". The Sports Network. 2010-08-17. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  7. ^ "Sean Bergenheim Stats and News"
  8. ^ "NHL Free Agent Tracker". The Sports Network. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  9. ^ "Wild get Bergenheim from Panthers". The Sports Network. 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  10. ^ "Sean Bergenheim for SCB" (in German). SC Bern. 2015-10-07. Archived from the original on 2016-01-11. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  11. ^ boe (2016-04-12). "SCB 2015/16: Knatsch, Pech, Krisen – und jetzt Meister". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF). Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  12. ^ "Ducks bring in three on PTO's". Twitter. 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  13. ^ "Sean vänder "hem"". Frölunda Indians. Retrieved 2016-11-04.
  14. ^ "BESKEDET: Sean Bergenheim avslutar karriären – berättar i öppet brev: "Jättejobbigt"". February 2018.
  15. ^ Gustav Orbring (2017-02-07). "Frölunda win CHL for second year running" (in Swedish). SVTSport.se. Retrieved 2017-02-07.