Jussi Markkanen

Jussi Markkanen
Jussi Markkanen in 2010 with EV Zug
Born May 8, 1975
Imatra, FIN
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 182 lb (83 kg; 13 st 0 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
SM-liiga team
Former teams
SaiPa
RSL
Lada Togliatti
SM-liiga
SaiPa
Tappara
Jokerit
NHL
New York Rangers
Edmonton Oilers
KHL
HC CSKA Moscow
Nationalliga A
EV Zug
National team  Finland
NHL Draft 133rd overall, 2001
Edmonton Oilers
Playing career 2001present

Jussi Markkanen (born May 8, 1975 in Imatra, Finland) is an ice hockey goaltender for SaiPa of the SM-liiga. He has also played in the National Hockey League for the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers.

Playing career

Markkanen has played extensively in various European professional leagues as well as the NHL. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, 133rd overall, by the Edmonton Oilers, as an over-aged entrant.

Markkanen played most of his NHL career in Edmonton, except for a single season stint with the New York Rangers. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Markkanen played in the Russian Super League, where he posted a dominant 31–9–9 record. In July 2007, Jokerit informed that they had made a one-year contract with Markkanen for the next SM-liiga season.

2006 Stanley Cup playoffs

After an injury to Oilers starter Dwayne Roloson, Markkanen was selected by coach Craig MacTavish to finish the 2006 Stanley Cup finals as Edmonton's #1 goaltender.

Markkanen won the first Stanley Cup game of his career in Game 3 of the Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes on June 10, 2006, a game in which he earned the first star of the game.

In Game 5 of the final, Markkanen and the Oilers grabbed victory when Edmonton beat Carolina 4–3 in OT thanks to Fernando Pisani's short-handed breakaway goal. This earned Markkanen his second-ever NHL playoff victory. The win saw him face 24 shots on goal.

Game 6 of the final in Edmonton saw Markkanen stop all 16 Hurricane shots, his first career playoff shutout. This victory led the Oilers to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, which was held in Raleigh, North Carolina on June 19, 2006. Carolina went on to be victorious in Game 7. Markkanen gave up two goals and the Hurricanes later secured the win with an empty net goal late in the third period, defeating Edmonton 3–1 to win the Stanley Cup.

Post NHL

After the great season in Edmonton, Markkanen did not regain the same form in the following season and after the 2006–07 NHL season, Markkanen was out of contract.

Markkanen was contracted by Finnish top-runners Jokerit, who replaced Scott Langkow with Markkanen. Markkanen's move was a bit controversial because he owns a part of SaiPa, which also plays in the Finnish SM-liiga with Jokerit.

Markkanen played the regular season well, placing on the top goalkeepers in the league. Markkanen however sustained a heavy injury during his first playoff game and missed the remainder of the playoffs.

After the end of the season, It was announced that Markkanen will return to Russian Super League, where he played during the 2004–05 lockout-season for Lada Togliatti. Markkanen's new club will be the famous Russian side CSKA Moscow. He left on April 7, 2009 for HC CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and signed with EV Zug of the Nationalliga A.[1]

Personal

He is married to his wife, Sanna. Their family suffered a tragedy on September 23, 2008 in Moscow, as one of their two sons, Olli-Matias, died after falling out of a fifth-story window while playing in the living room with his older brother, Juho. He was only 4 years of age.[2]

Career statistics

Regular season

   
Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1990–91 Ketterä 1. Divisioona
1991–92 SaiPa Fin Jr 2 120 11 0 5.50
1992–93 SaiPa Fin Jr 7 367 28 0 4.58
1992–93 SaiPa 1. Divisioona 16 798 60 0 4.51
1993–94 SaiPa Fin2 30 1726 97 0 3.37
1994–95 SaiPa Fin2 43 2493 122 0 2.94
1995–96 Tappara Fin Jr 5 298 21 0 4.23
1995–96 Tappara SM-liiga 23 11 8 2 1238 59 1 2.86
1996–97 SaiPa SM-liiga 41 9 24 7 2340 132 0 3.38
1997–98 SaiPa SM-liiga 48 21 20 5 2870 138 4 2.88
1998–99 SaiPa SM-liiga 48 21 19 4 2633 105 4 2.39
1999–00 SaiPa SM-liiga 48 4 23 9 2794 150 2 3.22
2000–01 Tappara SM-liiga 52 30 17 5 3076 107 9 2.09
2001–02 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 4 2 2 0 239 9 0 2.26 .921
2001–02 Edmonton Oilers NHL 14 6 4 2 784 24 2 1.84 .929
2002–03 Edmonton Oilers NHL 22 7 8 3 1180 51 3 2.59 .904
2003–04 New York Rangers NHL 26 8 12 1 1244 53 2 2.56 .913
2003–04 Edmonton Oilers NHL 7 2 2 2 394 12 0 1.83 .934
2004–05 Lada Togliatti Rus 54 31 9 9 3157 63 11 1.20
2005–06 Edmonton Oilers NHL 37 15 12 6 2016 105 0 3.12 .880
2006–07 Edmonton Oilers NHL 22 5 9 1 992 52 0 3.14 .886
2007–08 Jokerit SM-liiga 50 26 11 12 2939 114 4 2.33 .925
2008–09 HC CSKA Moscow KHL 18 10 6 2 981 38 1 2.32 .903
2009–10 EV Zug NLA 47 30 17 0 2841 115 6 2.43
2010–11 EV Zug NLA 39 24 14 0 2304 103 3 2.68
2011–12 EV Zug NLA 43 28 15 0 2641 105 3 2.38
2012–13 EV Zug NLA 26 17 9 0 1509 72 1 2.86
2013–14 SaiPa SM-liiga 47 21 12 9 2686 91 5 2.03
NHL totals 128 43 47 8 7 6610 297 7 2.70 .901
SM-liiga totals 350 151 132 50 20,335 995 29 2.94 .904

Playoffs

   
Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1994–95 SaiPa Fin2 3 179 5 0 1.67
1997–98 SaiPa SM-Liiga 3 0 3 0 164 11 0 4.02
1998–99 SaiPa SM-Liiga 7 3 3 0 366 21 0 2.44
1999–00 SaiPa SM-Liiga 48 4 23 9 2794 150 2 3.22
2000–01 Tappara SM-Liiga 10 7 3 0 608 18 1 1.77
2002–03 Edmonton Oilers NHL 1 0 0 0 14 1 0 4.28 .917
2004–05 Lada Togliatti RSL 10 627 25 1 1.43
2005–06 Edmonton Oilers NHL 6 3 3 0 360 13 1 2.17 .905
2007–08 Jokerit SM-Liiga 1 0 0 0 20 1 0 3.00 .888
2008–09 HC CSKA Moscow KHL 7 1.74 .934
2009–10 EC Zug NLA 11 3.45 .895
2010–11 EC Zug NLA 10 3.51 .888
2011–12 EC Zug NLA 9 3.18
2012–13 EC Zug NLA 12 2.40
NHL totals 7 3 3 0 374 14 1 1.28 .902
SM-Liiga totals 69 14 32 9 3952 201 3 2.04 ?

Awards and honours

Award Year
SM-liiga Best Goaltender (Urpo Ylönen trophy) 2000-01[3]
SM-liiga All-star team 2000-01[3]

References

  1. Ex-NHL-Goalie für den EV Zug- NLA - Eishockey - Sport - Blick.ch
  2. Markkanen's loss of young son breaks Oilers' hearts - Date: 24 Sept, 2008 - Accessed 10 Jan, 2012
  3. 3.0 3.1 Jussi Markkanen at eurohockey.net

External links

Preceded by
Pasi Nurminen
Winner of the Urpo Ylönen trophy
2000–01
Succeeded by
Kari Lehtonen