Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) National team Australia Name Kai Miettinen | Shoots Left Website AIHL profile Positions Forward | |
Born 23 December 1995 (age 28)
Canberra, ACT, Australia ( 1995-12-23 ) Weight 157 lb (71 kg; 11 st 3 lb) AIHL team
Former teams CBR Brave
Canberra Knights
UJK | ||
Kai Miettinen (born 23 December 1995) is an Australian ice hockey player of Finnish decent. Kai plays as a Forward for the CBR Brave in the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL).
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Club career
Miettinen started his senior ice hockey career by linking up with hometown side the Canberra Knights of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) for the 2011 season. Kai only played 1 game for the Knights in his debut season given his young age of 16. The Following season Miettinen became a permanent member of the Knights squad, playing 19 games and scoring his first club goal following his time spent with the Australia U18 squad at the U18 Division II World Championships in Serbia.
Prior to the World Championships Kai spent two and a half months in Finland training and playing three games with II-div club Uudenkaupungin Jaakotkat in the tiny coastal town of Uudenkaupungin. Kai, then 16 years old, explained the experience as a big moment in his life.
Before the start of the 2014 AIHL season the Knights folded operations and were replaced in the league by the CBR Brave. The Brave signed Kai along with many of the former Knights players for the 2014 season. Miettinen wears the number 64 jersey for the CBR Brave and was sponsored by Jomon Architectural Hardware in 2014. Kai had a solid season with the Brave in 2014 contributing 7 points with 3 goals and 4 assists that assisted the team in finishing third in the regular season and reach the AIHL Finals for a shot at the Goodall Cup, the first time a Canberra team had achieved this in the AIHl era. Kai played in the semi-final match against the Melbourne Ice but the Brave lost the match 1-6. Club captain, Mark Rummukainen, was particularly pleased with how Kai and the whole group of local youngsters at the club performed in 2014 and had this to say at the end of the season: "The way they’ve bought into a new system and worked hard all year. They’ve taken huge steps this year. They’re not boys anymore; there young men competing in the top league in this country.”
International career
Miettinen was first selected to represent Australia in 2012 where he joined the national under-18 team to compete in the 2012 IIHF World U18 Championship Division II Group B tournament being held in Serbia. Australia finished fifth in the group which consisted of China, Iceland, Spain, Estonia and Serbia. Kai managed to score a goal on the power play in the first period in Australia's opening game 4-7 loss to Estonia. Kai ended the tournament with one point and a plus-minus of –7.
Personal life
Kai was born on 23 December 1995. Kai has been playing hockey since he was six years old. His father, Jorma Miettinen, is from Finland and was himself an ice hockey player. Jorma represented the Canberra Knights in their inaugural season in 1982. Kai attended Gungahlin College in Canberra for school years 11 and 12 (5th and 6th form).