Ilari Melart (born February 11, 1989) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for HIFK of the Liiga.
| Ilari Melart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Born |
February 11, 1989 Helsinki, Finland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) | ||
| Weight | 227 lb (103 kg; 16 st 3 lb) | ||
| Position | Defense | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| SML team Former teams |
HIFK Springfield Falcons HC Yugra Luleå HF Färjestad BK Växjö Lakers Adler Mannheim | ||
| National team |
 Finland | ||
| NHL draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 2008–present | ||
Playing career edit
In 2006–07 he played 10 matches for the A-junior (top youth level in Finland) side and an additional 21 matches for the B-juniors. In 2007-08 he made 21 appearances for the A-juniors, which eventually earned him a spot in the first team.[1] The year before Melart played in the United States for Harwood Union High School in Duxbury, Vermont.[2]
Melart made his first appearance for HIFK's first team on November 13, 2008 away against Tappara. Before joining the first team, Melart played with HIFK's different youth teams.
On May 24, 2013 Melart signed as a free agent with the Columbus Blue Jackets on a one-year entry level contract. Melart moved to North America for the 2013–14 season and was assigned to the Blue Jackets' AHL team, the Springfield Falcons. He scored his first professional goal on November 23 against the Hartford Wolf Pack. After 24 games with the Falcons, and unable to solidify a position on the blueline, Melart opted to be reassigned to the Russian Kontinental Hockey League to play for Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk. In 15 games he scored 1 goal and 5 points as Yugra were unable to qualify for the Gagarin Cup. He then returned to the Falcons on March 25, 2013, to fulfil his contract.[3]
As a restricted free agent with the Blue Jackets, Melart opted to make a permanent return with Yugra of the KHL on May 19, 2014.[4]
Career statistics edit
Regular season and playoffs edit
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2008–09 | HIFK | SM-l | 27 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | HIFK | SM-l | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 47 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | HIFK | SM-l | 20 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 94 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2011–12 | HIFK | SM-l | 36 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 132 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | HIFK | SM-l | 50 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 80 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | ||
| 2013–14 | Springfield Falcons | AHL | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14 | Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk | KHL | 15 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk | KHL | 33 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Luleå HF | SHL | 48 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 79 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | ||
| 2016–17 | Luleå HF | SHL | 47 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Färjestad BK | SHL | 46 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 94 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 2018–19 | Färjestad BK | SHL | 40 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 30 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 | ||
| 2019–20 | Växjö Lakers | SHL | 44 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2020–21 | Växjö Lakers | SHL | 38 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 67 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 39 | ||
| 2021–22 | Adler Mannheim | DEL | 23 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 47 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 2022–23 | HIFK | SM-l | 59 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 73 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 31 | ||
| Liiga totals | 205 | 19 | 32 | 51 | 488 | 24 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 62 | ||||
| KHL totals | 48 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| SHL totals | 263 | 40 | 47 | 87 | 379 | 42 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 77 | ||||
| DEL totals | 23 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 47 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||||
International edit
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Finland | WJC | 7th | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2013 | Finland | WC | 4th | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Junior totals | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||
| Senior totals | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||
References edit
- ^ "Ilari Melart player profile". Jatkoaika.com. February 15, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
- ^ "Ilari Melart". Elite Prospects. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- ^ "Blue Jackets re-assign Ilari Melart to Falcons". Columbus Blue Jackets. March 25, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
- ^ "Yugra extend contract with Ilari Melart". Kontinental Hockey League (in Russian). May 19, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
External links edit
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database