Learning Lenni’s Story: Meet Comets’ Forward, Lenni Hameenaho
Dec 15, 2025Utica, NY – Lenni Hameenaho has been an exciting addition to the Comets and last week, we caught up with the rookie forward on his journey to professional hockey in North America.
Hameenaho was raised in central Finland in the town of Kajaani, with a population of 36,000. He grew up with an older brother and a younger sister. Lenni started skating when he was three years old, naturally gravitating towards the sport and playing alongside his brother just one year his senior. An abundance of rinks in Kajaani, both indoor and outdoor, made it an ideal place to grow up and molded him into the player he’s become.
Hockey runs deep in the Hameenaho family. Lenni’s father played professionally in Finland’s second highest league, Mestis, in the early 2000’s, a league that Lenni spent some time in during the 2021-22 season before moving onto Finland’s top professional league, Liiga, the following season. He had the privilege of being teammates with his brother for a few years before making his way to Liiga in 2022-23, which included a U20 team that captured a gold medal.
Growing up, Hameenaho was fortunate enough to be able to watch pro hockey right in his hometown of Kajaani whose team belonged to Finland’s second-best league, Mestis. He said, at the beginning, his goal was to simply get to a point where he could earn a spot in Mestis, but that changed over time when playing in the top league, Liiga, became a possibility.
Being in a different time zone, Hameenaho’s exposure to the NHL as a kid was limited, but with Finland’s strong representation in the NHL, there were several players he looked up to and continues to emulate, namely Mikko Rantanen of the Dallas Stars who also played in Finland’s top league prior to making his way to the NHL.
In 2023, Hameenaho traveled to the US for the first time, participating at the NHL Combine in Buffalo and then heading to Nashville for the NHL Draft where he was selected in the second round by the New Jersey Devils. “It’s probably the best memory of my hockey career so far. My parents and siblings were able to come to the Draft which was really nice and a special moment.”
Last year was Hameenaho’s last in the top Finnish league where he had a standout season playing for Assat, recording 51 points in 58 games, and five points in 10 playoff games. He mentioned that he played on the same line for almost three seasons and shares many memories with his linemates, including a deep playoff run last season where his team lost in seven games to the eventual league champion, KalPa.
Moving to the US has been a big transition for Hameenaho with all his family and many of his friends being back in Finland, but he keeps in touch with them often and was fortunate to have his parents visit earlier this season. He says that his teammate and fellow Finland native, Topias Vilen, who’s in his third season with the Comets, has been a big help in terms of helping him adjust to life in Utica.
On the ice, Hameenaho says that adapting to pro hockey in North America has brought a separate set of challenges. “The rink is smaller, so the game systems are different. The game is much faster, and you can really only go north. That’s probably been the biggest thing. The neutral zone is also smaller so you just try to get through it as fast as you can and try to find empty spaces in the offensive zone.” While it may have taken him the first handful of games to adjust, Lenni has found his stride the last several weeks and the coaching staff has praised him for the noticeable uptick in his confidence on the ice.
While improving his game remains his primary focus, Hameenaho has enjoyed the new lifestyle, trying out the local cuisine and making the occasional trip to do some shopping at the mall in Syracuse. Back home, one of his favorite pastimes is watching Finnish baseball with his family.
Hameenaho and the Comets are home this Friday at 7 p.m. against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in their final home game before the Christmas break. For tickets, just visit uticacomets.com/tickets or call 315-790-9070.