Sami Salo (born September 2, 1974, in Turku, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenseman. He was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the 1996 NHL entry draft as their ninth-round pick.
Salo started his pro career with TPS in the Finnish SM-liiga. After a season with Jokerit, Salo left for North America and the Ottawa Senators. After four seasons with Ottawa, Salo was traded to the Vancouver Canucks. He spent the lockout season playing for Frölunda HC in the Swedish Elitserien, and returned to Vancouver for the 2005-06 NHL season.
Sportscaster Don Taylor has nicknamed Salo the "Finnish MacInnis" for the booming slapshot he shares with retired NHL defenseman Al MacInnis.
Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1994-95 | TPS | SM-liiga | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1995-96 | TPS | 1995-96 | 47 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 32 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 1996-97 | TPS | SM-liiga | 48 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 1997-98 | Jokerit | SM-liiga | 35 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1998-99 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 61 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1998-99 | Detroit Vipers | IHL | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1999-00 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 37 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2000-01 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 31 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2001-02 | Ottawa Senators | NHL | 66 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2002-03 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 79 | 9 | 21 | 30 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2003-04 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 74 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2004-05 | Frölunda HC | Elitserien | 41 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 18 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 | ||
| 2005-06 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 52 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 32 | |||||||
| NHL Totals | 390 | 45 | 110 | 154 | 110 | 45 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 6 | ||||