Former Hershey left wing Ville Nieminen and defenseman Rick Berry were dealt by the Colorado Avalanche to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

Wed., Mar. 20, 2002
By DAVE SOTTILE    
www.ydr.com
 

HERSHEY — Ville Nieminen knows his way around the state of Pennsylvania very well, having played 243 regular-season games for  the Hershey Bears during a three-season stay. 

 The left wing was back in the Keystone State just last Saturday, scoring the game-winning goal in the third period as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Philadelphia Flyers. He did the same thing Sunday in a game against the Nashville Predators. 

 Nieminen thought his next visit to Pennsylvania would come this summer, when he stopped by to see friends in the Hershey area on his way back to Finland. 

 All that changed as the National Hockey League’s trading deadline approached. 

 “When I woke up this morning and left for practice, I had a feeling something might happen,” Nieminen said by cell phone Tuesday afternoon as he hustled off to Denver International Airport. “It was a beautiful day and I said to myself, ‘Whatever comes up, I’ll deal with it.’ ” 

 What came up was a trade that sent Nieminen and his former Hershey teammate, defenseman Rick Berry, to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Darius Kasparaitis. 

 The two newest Pens will make their Pittsburgh debut on home ice tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes. 

 It’s been a busy 14 months for Nieminen since he was recalled from the Bears for a final time on Jan. 25, 2001. The 24-year-old won the Stanley Cup and was the toast of Finland when he brought the trophy to his hometown of Tampere. 

 He and his girlfriend, Kaisa Nurmi, welcomed the couple’s first child in December when their son, Viljami, was born. Nieminen survived a prolonged scoring slump and stint in coach Bob Hartley’s doghouse, followed by an enjoyable stint with Team Finland at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. 

 Now that he’s scoring regularly again and the Avs are primed for another run at the Cup, Nieminen has been sent to Pittsburgh, where the Pens find themselves six points out of a playoff spot with 11 games remaining and three teams ahead of them. 

 And when deal happened Tuesday, Nieminen’s girlfriend and son were home in Finland, so he faced his first trade without an important part of his family. 

 “Sometimes if everything goes well for a young guy, your sense of reality gets a little foggy,” Nieminen said. “You don’t have enough appreciation for the good times unless you go back and see the bad. 

 “I think it’s good to see both sides of things and even though it will be hard to make the playoffs (with the Pens), right now, I feel pretty good.” 

 In 53 games this season, Nieminen has 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists). Berry, who also spent three years in Hershey, did not register a point in 57 games for the Avs this season. 

 While Nieminen admitted he was sad to leave the organization that drafted him in 1997, the idea of joining Mario Lemieux’s team was an exciting one, even if a hip injury will keep Lemieux off the ice until next fall. 

 “Hockey is going to be OK in Pittsburgh,” Nieminen said. “I was lucky to play with many future Hall-of-Famers in Colorado last season and now I’ll be joining a team that already has one (in Lemieux).” 

[…]

 When asked about the trade of his two former players, Bears coach Mike Foligno said he didn’t have any feelings of sadness seeing Nieminen and Berry head to Pittsburgh. 

 “I don’t have mixed emotions about this because I know they’re still in the NHL and will help the Penguins,” Foligno said. “They’re full-time NHL players now and once they leave the nest here, so to speak, the rest is up to them. I wish them a lot of luck with their new team.”