Esa Tikkanen

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Olympic medal record
Men's Ice Hockey
Bronze 1998 Nagano Ice hockey


Position Forward
Shoots Left
Nickname "Tiki"
Height
Weight		 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
209 lb (95 kg)
NHL Team
F. Teams		 Retired
Edmonton Oilers
New York Rangers
St. Louis Blues
Vancouver Canucks
New Jersey Devils
Florida Panthers
Washington Capitals
HIFK (SM-Liiga)
Jokerit (SM-Liiga)
Moskitos Essen (DEL)
Anyang Halla Winia (Asia League)
Nationality Flag of Finland Finland
Born January 25, 1965,
Helsinki, FIN
NHL Draft 80th overall, 1983
Edmonton Oilers
Pro Career 1983 – 2005

Esa Tikkanen (born January 25, 1965 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish retired professional ice hockey forward. He played for the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, and the Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League and won five Stanley Cups.

Contents

[edit] Background and Early Career

Tikkanen played two games in the Western Hockey League for the Regina Pats in the 1981-82 season, before returning to Finland. He was drafted in the fourth round (80th overall) by the Oilers in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. In 1984-85, he played 36 games for HIFK Helsinki in the Finnish League, before joining the Oilers late in the season for their 1985 playoff run. He played briefly in the American Hockey League for the Oilers' affiliate the Nova Scotia Oilers in 1985-86, before joining the team full-time.

[edit] NHL Playing Career

Start in Edmonton Tikkanen Debuted in NHL as young player in Edmonton Oilers. Tikkanen played his first NHL Games for Oilers in the 1984/1985 NHL Play Offs. Tikkanen soon became a part of the Oilers team and established himself to the First Line which featured Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri. Kurri's and Gretzky's roles were to score goals Tikkanen became the defensive player of the line. Tikkanen excelled in mixing opposite team's players thought's with his Tiki-Talk. Glen Sather once suggested that Tikkanen should be awarded with the Frank J. Selke trophy (the award for the best defensive froward in NHL). Tikkanen played perhaps his best NHL games in the Oilers between 1985 and 1992. Tikkanen won the Stanley Cup 4 times (1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990).

Time after Oilers During 1992-1993 Season Tikkanen was Traded to New York Rangers. Tikkanen's tenure in Rangers was one and a half season's long but it was crowned with the triumphant 1994 Campaign as Ranger's won the Stanley Cup. After winning the Stanley Cup Tikkanen moved to St. Louis Blues. Tikkanen's time in the Blues was interrupted with the 1995 NHL Lockout. During the lockout Tikkanen played in Finland for HIFK. After the lockout Tikkanen played in the Blues until he was traded to New Jersey Devils. After few games with the Devils Tikkanen moved to Vancouver Canucks. Again Tikkanen was traded away mid-season. This time Tikkanen returned to New York Rangers during the 1996-1997 Season. Tiki's time in NY was short as he moved to Florida Panthers in 1997. During 1997-1998 Season Tikkanen was traded to Washington Capitals. Tikkanen went to the Stanley Cup Finals with the Capitals but was defeated by Detroit Red Wings. This was to be Tikkanen's last full season in NHL as during the 1998-1999 Season Tikkanen returned again to New York Rangers but was injured mid-season. Tikkanen did not play for the reminder of the Season. Before the start of 1999-2000 Season Tikkanen went to Edmonton Oilers Training Camp and was offered a role of Player-Coach. Tikkanen declined it and decided to return to Finland

[edit] Post NHL Career

After leaving NHL Tikkanen was contracted by Helsingin Jokerit, a rival team of HIFK which Tikkanen represented earlier in his career. Tikkanen played in Jokerit for the 1999/2000 SM-Liiga Season finishing second with his team. After playing with Jokerit, Tikkanen moved to Germany and played in Moskitos Essen for the 2000/2001 DEL Season. Tikkanen annouced his retirement in 2001

For the 2004-2005 season, Tikkanen resurfaced again, this time as a player-coach for the Asia League Ice Hockey's Anyang Halla, a South Korean team.[1] Though he predicted that he and his two linemates would finish 1-2-3 in scoring[2], he finished tied for 4th on his team, and didn't make the top 30 for goals or points in the league, and 29th in assists in the league with 8G-17A-25P in 30 games. He did lead Halla in penalty minutes with 58, however (tied for 28th in the league). Halla finished 5th in the league and did not make the playoffs.

After one season in Korea, Tikkanen became the coach for the Norwegian Team, Frisk Tigers which played in the Norwegian League. Tikkanen was head coach for one season.

[edit] Notable Achievements

Tikkanen won 4 Stanley Cups with the Oilers and another with the Rangers. His various acquisitions were by teams craving him for his playoff experience and success: in 877 regular season games he scored 244 goals, but in 186 playoff games he scored 72 goals. "Tik" was known for his ability to score clutch goals, but also for his general style of play - chippy and aggressive. He was especially noted for irritating opposing players, often just by talking to them as his Finnish-English "Tikkanese" or "Tiki-Talk". His regular season totals were 244 goals, 386 assists, and 1077 penalty minutes. In the playoffs he added 72 goals, 60 assists, and 275 penalty minutes. In September of 2001, Jokerit retired his number, #5, in a special ceremony.

[edit] Tikkanese

Tikkanen is famous for his Finnish-English, sometimes referred to as "Tikkanese" or "Tiki-Talk." Even members of his team often did not understand what he was saying. Wayne Gretzky once commented, ""He brings something special. I don't know what it is, but if you ask him, you couldn't understand his answer." Current Edmonton Oiler coach and former teamate Craig MacTavish said, "Esa talks twice as much as anybody else. That's because you can understand just half what he says."

Even fellow Finn Jari Kurri was not immune from the confusing language. During their tenure with the Oilers, Tikkanen let go with a particularly colorful pronouncement, after which another player turned to Kurri and asked, "What did he just say?" Kurri simply shook his head; "I have no idea."[1]

[edit] Career Statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1982-83 HIFK SM-liiga - - - - - 1 0 0 0 2
1983-84 HIFK SM-liiga 36 19 11 30 30 2 0 0 0 0
1983-84 Olympic Team SM-liiga 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - -
1984-85 Edmonton Oilers NHL - - - - - 3 0 0 0 2
1985-86 Edmonton Oilers NHL 35 7 6 13 28 8 3 2 5 7
1986-87 Edmonton Oilers NHL 76 34 44 78 120 21 7 2 9 22
1987-88 Edmonton Oilers NHL 80 23 51 74 153 19 10 17 27 72
1988-89 Edmonton Oilers NHL 67 31 47 78 92 7 1 3 4 12
1989-90 Edmonton Oilers NHL 79 30 33 63 161 22 13 11 24 26
1990-91 Edmonton Oilers NHL 79 27 42 69 85 18 12 8 20 24
1991-92 Edmonton Oilers NHL 40 12 16 28 44 16 5 3 8 8
1992-93 Edmonton Oilers NHL 66 14 19 33 76 - - - - -
1992-93 New York Rangers NHL 15 2 5 7 18 - - - - -
1993-94 New York Rangers NHL 83 22 32 54 114 23 4 4 8 34
1994-95 HIFK SM-liiga 19 2 11 13 16 -- -- -- -- --
1994-95 St. Louis Blues NHL 43 12 23 35 22 7 2 2 4 20
1995-96 St. Louis Blues NHL 11 1 4 5 18 - - - - -
1995-96 New Jersey Devils NHL 9 0 2 2 4 - - - - -
1995-96 Vancouver Canucks NHL 38 13 24 37 14 6 3 2 5 2
1996-97 Vancouver Canucks NHL 62 12 15 27 66 - - - - -
1996-97 New York Rangers NHL 14 1 2 3 6 15 9 3 12 26
1997-98 Florida Panthers NHL 28 1 8 9 16 - - - - -
1997-98 Washington Capitals NHL 20 2 10 12 2 21 3 3 6 20
1998-99 New York Rangers NHL 32 0 3 3 38 - - - - -
1999-00 Jokerit SM-Liiga 43 10 13 23 85 11 1 6 7 10
2000-01 Moskitos Essen DEL 46 8 21 29 81 - - - - -
2004-05 Anyang Halla Winia AL 30 8 17 25 58 - - - - -
NHL totals 877 244 386 630 1077 186 72 60 132 275
SM-Liiga totals 135 52 69 121 173 14 1 6 7 12
DEL totals 46 8 21 29 81 - - - - -

[edit] Awards

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources/External References

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Esa Tikkanen, Indecipherable on Ice. Washington Post (1998). Retrieved on 2006-10-03.
Preceded by
Arto Sirviö		 Winner of the Matti Keinonen trophy
1984-85		 Succeeded by
Harry Nikander
Preceded by
Saku Koivu		 Winner of the President's trophy
1999-00		 Succeeded by
Raimo Helminen
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