Janne Pesonen
| Janne Pesonen | |
|---|---|
 Janne Pesonen in white away jersey of Kärpät | |
| Born | May 11, 1982 Suomussalmi, Finland |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) |
| Position | Left Wing |
| Shoots | Left |
| KHL team Former teams |
Ak Bars Kazan NHL Pittsburgh Penguins SM-liiga Kärpät Mestis Hokki SM-Liiga HIFK |
| National team |  Finland |
| NHL Draft | 269th overall, 2004 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim |
| Playing career | 2001–present |
Janne Tapani Pesonen (born May 11, 1982 in Suomussalmi, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey winger currently playing for Ak Bars Kazan of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Career
 Pesonen at the 2011 gold medal celebrations in Helsinki | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| 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.
Kärpät
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.
Pittsburgh Penguins
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]
Ak Bars Kazan
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]
After a year in Finland playing for HIFK, Pesonen announced he had signed a one-year contract with Ak Bars Kazan.
Awards
- American Hockey League
- Second All-Star Team – 2008–09
- Kontinental Hockey League
- Gagarin Cup Champion – 2009–10
- SM-liiga
- All-Star Team – 2006–07, 2007–08
- Best Player in Playoffs (Jari Kurri Award) – 2006–07
- Best Plus–Minus (Matti Keinonen Trophy) – 2007–08
- Bronze Medal – 2005–06
- Champion – 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08
- Most Assists by Rookie – 2003–04
- Most Game-Winning Goals – 2007–08
- Most Goals (Aarne Honkavaara Trophy) – 2007–08
- Most Goals by Rookie – 2003–04
- Most Points (Veli-Pekka Ketola Trophy) – 2007–08
- Most Points by Rookie – 2003–04
- Most Power Play Goals – 2007–08
- Most Shorthanded Goals – 2007–08
- Player of the Month – 2007–08
- Rookie of the Year – 2003–04
- World Championship
- Gold Medal – 2011
Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1998–99 | Hokki Kajaani | Suomi-sarja | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–00 | Karpat Oulu U18 | SM-liiga U18 | 33 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2000–01 | Karpat Oulu Jr. | SM-liiga Jr | 41 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | Karpat Oulu Jr. | SM-liiga Jr | 42 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2001–02 | Karpat Oulu | SM-liiga | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | Hokki Kajaani | Mestis | 40 | 15 | 21 | 36 | 62 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2003–04 | Karpat Oulu | SM-liiga | 56 | 17 | 13 | 30 | 28 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2004–05 | Karpat Oulu | SM-liiga | 55 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 42 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | Karpat Oulu | SM-liiga | 53 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 34 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 2006–07 | Karpat Oulu | SM-liiga | 56 | 22 | 33 | 55 | 38 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 10 | ||
| 2007–08 | Karpat Oulu | SM-liiga | 56 | 34 | 44 | 78 | 58 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 10 | ||
| 2008–09 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 7 | 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 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2011–12 | Hifk Helsinki | SM-liiga | 38 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Ak Bars Kazan | KHL | 45 | 17 | 10 | 27 | 42 | 18 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 28 | ||
| 2013–14 | Ak Bars Kazan | KHL | 48 | 16 | 6 | 22 | 18 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| NHL Totals | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| KHL Totals | 181 | 61 | 40 | 101 | 100 | 40 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 42 | ||||
| SM-liiga Totals | 323 | 107 | 137 | 244 | 220 | 66 | 18 | 14 | 32 | 32 | ||||
International statistics
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Finland | WC-A |  |
9 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| 2012 | Finland | WC-A | 4th | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| 2013 | Finland | WC-A | 4th | 9 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 27 |
Transactions
- July 7, 2008 – Signed as a free agent by Pittsburgh.
- August 4, 2009 – Signed as a free agent by Kazan (KHL).
References
- ↑ Kasan, Sam (2008-11-01). "Aftermath: Penguins 6 Blues 3". penguins.nhl.com (Pittsburgh Penguins). Retrieved 2008-11-02.
- ↑ Bombulie, Jonathan (2009-03-19). "Pesonen punishes Phantoms". The Citizens' Voice (Times-Shamrock Communications). Retrieved 2009-04-20.
- ↑ Bombulie, Jonathan (2009-04-15). "All eyes on Pesonen". The Citizens' Voice (Times-Shamrock Communications). Retrieved 2009-04-20.
- ↑ Anderson, Shelley (2009-08-05). "Penguins Notebook: Pesonen to play in Russia". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ↑ "Kokenut suomalaishyökkääjä Winnipegin treenileirille" (in Finnish). MTV3. 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
- ↑ "Jets trim roster by three". Winnipeg Jets. 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2011-10-02.
External links
- Janne Pesonen profile at Eurohockey.com
- Janne Pesonen's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
| Preceded by Miika Wiikman |
Winner of the Jari Kurri trophy 2006–07 |
Succeeded by Tuomas Tarkki |