Kontiola was drafted 196th overall in the
2004 NHL entry draft by the
Chicago Blackhawks while playing for
Tappara in the Finnish
SM-liiga. He played professionally for four years with Tappara before making his North American debut for Chicago during the
2007–08 season. Kontiola started out with the Blackhawks'
American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the
Rockford IceHogs, before playing in his first career NHL game on November 25, 2007, against the
Vancouver Canucks. On March 4, 2009, Kontiola was traded by the Blackhawks, along with
James Wisniewski, to the
Anaheim Ducks in exchange for
Samuel Påhlsson,
Logan Stephenson and a conditional draft pick in
2009. He was immediately sent down to the Ducks' AHL affiliate, the
Iowa Chops, where he played for the remainder of the
2008–09 season. On May 26, 2009, Kontiola left North America after signing with Russian club
Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the
Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on a two-year contract. On May 3, 2011, Kontiola signed a two-year contract with KHL rival
Traktor Chelyabinsk. On July 3, 2014, Kontiola bought his release from Traktor and signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the
Toronto Maple Leafs. He attended Toronto's training camp but failed to make an impression and on September 29, was assigned to the
Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate. In the
2014–15 season, after 11 scoreless games with the Marlies, Kontiola was placed on unconditional waivers in order to terminate his contract and return to the KHL on November 20. Three days later, Kontiola's KHL rights were traded by Traktor to
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in exchange for
Alexei Kruchinin and
Yegor Martynov. Kontiola then signed a two-year contract with Yaroslavl on November 28. After five seasons with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Kontiola left as a free agent following the
2018–19 season. He signed a one-year contract to continue in the KHL, returning to Finland to join Jokerit on May 1, 2019. ==International play==