| Janne Pesonen | |
|---|---|
Janne Pesonen in white away jersey of Kärpät |
|
| Born | May 11, 1982 Kuhmo, FIN |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) |
| Position | Left Wing |
| Shoots | Left |
| No team Former teams |
Free agent NHL Pittsburgh Penguins SM-liiga Kärpät Mestis Hokki KHL Ak Bars Kazan |
| National team | Finland |
| NHL Draft | 269th overall, 2004 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim |
| Playing career | 2001–present |
Janne Pesonen (born May 11, 1982 in Suomussalmi, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey winger currently an unrestricted free agent (UFA).
Contents |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Pesonen at the 2011 gold medal celebrations in Helsinki |
||
| Competitor for Finland | ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 2011 Slovakia | |
Pesonen began his career with Hokki in 1998, playing in the second-highest division of hockey in Finland, the Mestis.
He then played for Kärpät in the Finnish top division, the SM-Liiga, from 2001–02 and 2003–08. After his first season with Kärpät he returned to Hokki for one season in 2002–03. He returned to Kärpät in 2003–04 and won the SM-Liiga Rookie of the Year award, helping Kärpät to their first Finnish championship since 1981. His five seasons with Kärpät from 2003–08 saw Pesonen win four Finnish championships in total, in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008. He won the Jari Kurri trophy, which is annually awarded the playoff MVP, in 2007. He had his best season in 2007–08 when he led the SM-Liiga in goals, points, and plus-minus, winning the Aarne Honkavaara, Veli-Pekka Ketola, and Matti Keinonen trophies, respectively, for his efforts. That season he tallied 34 goals and 44 assists for a total 78 points in only 56 games played.
On July 7, 2008, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they signed Pesonen to a one year contract. After 3 preseason games in which he tallied 1 goal and 1 assist, Pesonen was sent to the Penguins' AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, on October 8, 2008. Pesonen would show his ability to adapt to the North American style of hockey by scoring 9 pts in his first seven games, scoring two goals and garnering seven assists. On October 31, Pesonen was recalled by the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he made his NHL debut on November 1 against the St. Louis Blues.[1] Pesonen's stay with the Penguins was brief, and he was returned to the AHL after seven games. On March 16, Pesonen set a new record for points in a single season for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Baby Penguins, passing up Toby Petersen's 67-point season of 2000–01.[2] At season's end, Pesonen finished with 82 points, fourth in the AHL in scoring and the highest point total by a Finn in AHL history.[3]
After one season in North America, Pesonen opted to return to Europe and signed with Russian club Ak Bars Kazan of the Kontinental Hockey League on August 4, 2009.[4] He left Kazan after two seasons for a try-out contract with the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL) on August 11, 2011.[5] He was released from the Jets on October 2, after failing to get an extended offer.[6]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1998–99 | Hokki | 2. Divisioona | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| 2000–01 | Kärpät | Jr. A SM-Liiga | 41 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | Kärpät | SM-liiga | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | Kärpät | Jr. A SM-Liiga | 42 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2002–03 | Hokki | Mestis | 40 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 62 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2003–04 | Kärpät | SM-liiga | 56 | 17 | 13 | 30 | 28 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2004–05 | Kärpät | SM-liiga | 55 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 42 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | Kärpät | SM-liiga | 53 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 34 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 2006–07 | Kärpät | SM-liiga | 56 | 22 | 33 | 55 | 38 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 10 | ||
| 2007–08 | Kärpät | SM-liiga | 56 | 34 | 44 | 78 | 58 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 10 | ||
| 2008–09 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | AHL | 70 | 32 | 50 | 82 | 33 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | Ak Bars Kazan | KHL | 42 | 14 | 11 | 25 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2010–11 | Ak Bars Kazan | KHL | 46 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 28 | |||||||
| SM-liiga Totals | 285 | 94 | 122 | 216 | 200 | 62 | 18 | 13 | 31 | 32 | ||||
| Preceded by Miika Wiikman |
Winner of the Jari Kurri trophy 2006–07 |
Succeeded by Tuomas Tarkki |