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Homecoming Afoot For Former Red Wings Player

Filppula, 40, to play in Finland this season

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2 months ago

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Valtteri Filppula, Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings 2007-08 Stanley Cup winner Valtteri Filppula will play in Finland this season.

It’s been 16 years since the Detroit Red Wings were lifting the Stanley Cup. And yet one of the players from that championship squad keeps on trucking.

Finnish center Valtteri Filppula, 40, is going home. He will be playing this season with Jokerit Helsinki in Finland’s Mest1s, the second division of Finnish hockey.

Confirmation of his decision will be provided on Monday at a media conference that will get underway at 11:51 a.m. local time, to honor the No. 51 that he’s worn so proudly over the years.

That timeframe is including two stints with the Red Wings. Filppula was originally playing in Detroit from 2005-13. The Finn would score 19 goals for the Cup champion Red Wings in 2007-08.

“It was a long time ago,” Filppula told IIHF.com of his Detroit Cup triumph. “My second full year of playing in the NHL and I have nothing but good memories from that Red Wings team.”

He’d return to conclude his NHL days with Detroit from 2019-21. The past three seasons saw Filppula suiting up for Servette Geneva in Switzerland. He won a Swiss League title with that club in 2022-23.

Former Red Wings Filppula Fills Up Trophy Case

Filppula was making hockey history last season with Servette Geneva when the club was capturing the European Champions League title. Thus, he would become the only player to have won the Stanley Cup, an Olympic gold medal, an IIHF World Championship and a Champions League crown.

He is among 10 Red Wings who are part of the Triple Gold club, which is comprised of winners of the Stanley Cup, Olympic gold and world title. This select group also includes Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson, Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom, Jiri Slegr, Pavel Datsyuk, Igor Larionov and Slava Fetisov.

In 2022, Filppula would captain Finland to Olympic glory at the Bejing Winter Games. Later that same year, he’d be a World Championship winner, again as captain of the Finns. Fippula is the only Finnish player who holds membership in the Triple Gold Club.

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