Peter Ahola

Peter Ahola was determined to become a professional athlete. He was ranked as one of the top waterskiers in all of his native Finland. But Ahola knew that would not pay much, so he tried his luck with his other favorite sport - hockey.

The native of Espoo did not make it to the NHL the traditional way. He was one of the first European players to use the American college route to the National Hockey League. He played two seasons with Boston University (where his teammates included Tony Amonte, Joe Sacco and Keith Tkachuk) before the big defenseman signed on with the Los Angeles Kings as a afree agent in 1991.

Aside from 7 games in the minors, Ahola was a surprise rookie on the Kings team in 1991-92. Playing with Wayne Gretzky was undoubtedly a highlight of his career.

Ahola briefly had a chance to play with Mario Lemieux as he was traded to Pittsburgh early the following season. He would play just 22 games with the Pens. He went on to briefly play in San Jose and Calgary before returning home to Finland to play for several more seasons.