Mikko Mäkelä débuted at the Finnish Championships in 1983 with Tampereen Ilves and won the Finnish title with them in 1985. The same year, Mäkelä, who was drafted by the New York Islanders of the NHL in 1983, joined them. Mäkelä played with the Islanders until the middle of the 1989-90 season, when he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. But Mäkelä did not stay long with the Kings as he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres at the end of the season and played with them for one season. Mäkelä then returned to Europe in 1991 and played with Turun Palloseura (TPS) until 1993, winning his second Finnish title with them in 1993. From 1993-94, Mäkelä played with Malmö IF in Sweden and won the Swedish title with them. In 1994, Mäkelä started to play with Ilves again, but in mid-season was called back to the NHL and finished the season with the Boston Bruins. But his second NHL stay was a short one as from 1995-97 he played in Germany with Düsseldorfer EG and from 1997-98 played in Sweden with Södertälje SK. Mäkelä finished his sporting career in 1998-99, playing with Tappara in Finland. Internationally, Mäkelä represented the Finnish national team 81 times. He played at the 1992 and 1994 Olympic Games, at the 1985, 1992 and 1994 World Championships and at the 1987 Canada Cup. He won an Olympic bronze in 1994 and World Championships silvers in 1992 and 1994. After finishing his sporting career, Mäkelä worked as an ice hockey coach in Finland and North America. From 2002-03 he was head coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in Alberta, Canada.
Finland