When Jesper Lindgren and HPK beat out Kärpät for the Liiga championship on Saturday, I thought that might get us Lindgren on the Marlies. Instead, it’s brought the Leafs a Finnish defenceman from the losing side.
Teemu Kivihalme turns 24 in a few weeks, and is a left-shooting defender who has an interesting international history. He was born in America, and his father, Janne Kivihalme has been the assistant coach and head coach in the USHL for many years. He was a coach at the famous Minnetonka High in Minnesota. He coached Jake Gardiner, but seems to have moved on before Justin Holl showed up there.