Noronen was drafted in the 1st round of the 1997 NHL draft, going 21st overall to the Buffalo Sabres. He would go on to have a short career in the NHL before returning to Europe to play out the remainder of his career. He spent parts of five seasons with the Sabres before they traded him to the Vancouver Canucks during the 2005-06 season. Noronen played just four games for the Canucks that season before calling it quits in North America.
In total, Noronen appeared in 71 NHL games, putting up a 23-32-6-3 record along with a 2.68 goals-against-average and a .901 save percentage. He returned to Europe for the 2006-07 season which he spent in the Russian top pro league. This was before the KHL was created. After a couple of years in Russia he would return to Finland where he had a long career, finally retiring from the sport for good after the 2015-16 season.
Noronen could face up to four years in a Finish detention facility for his crimes. Ironically, that would just about equal the time he spend in the NHL. He was once a highly touted goalie with many thinking he would be one of the best in the world in the early 2000s. Unfortunately, things did not work out that way for him.
