Turku, Finland- Former GMHL Forward Anton Holm has signed a contract with HC TPS for the 2019-2020 Season. HC TPS plays out of Liiga, the top league in Finland, and one of the top leagues in Europe.

Holm came to the GMHL in the 2007-2008 Season playing for the Innisfil Lakers in their inaugural season. The Lakers had a strong season that year, finishing third place in the league during the regular season with a record of 29-10-3. Holm would be an important piece for the Lakers squad, posting 18 Goals 19 Assists for 37 Points in 38 Games Played with the team as a sixteen-year old rookie. The Lakers would finish behind the Bradford Rattlers and the Temiscaming Royals in the standings, but were considered to be the dark horse that year. The Lakers would go on to win the first three rounds in the playoffs, beating out the second place Temiscaming Royals in the semi-finals. Holm and the Lakers would then take on the first place Rattlers in the Finals, however, the Rattlers were too much to handle, winning the Russell Cup. Holms play during the regular season and playoffs was admirable though, and he was signed to a professional contract in Sweden at just seventeen-years old.

Holm would sign a deal with Nacka HK, where he would play for the next three seasons. Nacka HK played out of HockeyEttan, known as Division 1, which is the third tier of professional hockey in Sweden. Holm broke out with Nacka in his third season with the team, posting 19 Goals 11 Assists for 30 Points in 37 Games Played for the team. After his third year with the team, Holm signed elsewhere in HockeyEttan, signing a contract with IFK Arborga where he would become a first line star for the team. In his two years with the club he would post 105 Points in 80 Games Played. This would earn Holm the attention from Allsvenskan teams, the second tier league in Sweden, where he would sign a contract with BIK Karlskoga. Holm wouldn’t be able to keep up his pace from previous seasons though, only posting 25 Points in 100 Games Played with BIK Karlskoga. Holm would find himself back in HockeyEttan after his two years in Allsvenskan, but he was determined to return to that level of hockey after signing with Södertälje SK. Holm had an impressive regular season with Södertälje SK where he would end up with the most goals in his division (10) and most goals in the league (26). To cap off a wonderful year, Holm’s team would win promotion to Allsvenskan from HockeyEttan, where he would play the following season with Södertälje SK. Holm’s second stint in Allsvenskan was quite the improvement, ending the season with the most goals in the league (28) and finishing the year with 35 Points. Holm would then sign with one of the top teams in Allsvenskan, AIK for the next two years. Over two years with AIK, Holm would post 77 Points in 91 Games Played, even coming close to helping his team get promoted to the SHL. After 11 years of professional hockey, Holm has become a proven player, and the top teams in Europe took note of this and Holm received attention from many teams. At the end of it all he ended up signing a contract with HC TPS in Finland.

HC TPS plays out of Liiga, the top league in Finland, which has a great reputation for advancing the top players in Finland to the NHL. Specifically, over the past couple years, HC TPS has advanced players like Kaapo Kakko, Mikko Rantanen, and Rasmus Ristolainen. Other players to come from this league includes: Patrik Laine, Kasperi Kapanen, and Miro Heiskanen.   

We are proud to see one of our alumni playing at this high level of hockey and we wish Anton the best of luck this season in Liiga with HC TPS.