Antti Akseli Laaksonen (born October 3, 1973) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who last played for the

Lukko Rauman Lukko (Finnish for "lock") is a Finnish sports club based in Rauma, Finland, best known for its men’s professional ice hockey team. The club was founded as Rauma Woodin Lukko in 1936. The representative team currently plays in the Fin ...

of the

SM-Liiga The SM-liiga (marketed as just Liiga from 2013 on), (Finnish for ''League'') colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. It is one of the six founding leagu ...

. Antti had a seven-year

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

career, mostly as a third line wing and penalty killer for the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

and

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

Playing career

Laaksonen left Finland for North America in 1993 as a junior pro from the SM-Liiga. He enrolled at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

where he played four seasons for the Pioneers. Laaksonen was selected 191st overall by the

in the

1997 NHL Entry Draft The 1997 NHL Entry Draft was the 35th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 21, 1997. As of 2022, the only remaining active player in the NHL from the 1997 draft class is Joe Thornton. Selections ...

. In 1997–98, Laaksonen made his professional debut in North America, playing with both the

Charlotte Checkers The Charlotte Checkers are a minor-league professional ice hockey team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the top minor league affi ...

of the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a mid-level professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams scattered across the United States and Canada. It is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The E ...

and the Bruins affiliate, the

Providence Bruins The Providence Bruins are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), and are the primary development team for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rh ...

. Laaksonen made his NHL debut with the Bruins at the start of the 1998–99 season, playing in 11 games before he was sent down to Providence where he helped the Bruins capture the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League. It was first presented in 1937 to the Syracuse Stars. The cup is made of sterling silver mounted on a base of Brazilian mahogany. In its curr ...

. Unable to become a regular with the Bruins by the end of the 1999–2000 season Laaskonen left the Bruins as a free agent. On July 14, 2000, Antti signed with the

for their inaugural season. Antti became a fixture in the Wild offense resulting in four seasons with the Wild. On July 2, 2004, Laaksonen was signed as a free agent by the

to a two-year contract. With the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

, Laaksonen played his first game with the Avalanche in their season opener for the 2005–06 season. Laaksonen established career highs with the Avalanche scoring 16 goals and 34 points. On June 28, 2006, the Avalanche exercised their option for the 2006–07 season. During the season however, a poor run of form led Laaksonen to be demoted to affiliate, the

Albany River Rats The Albany River Rats were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They played in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center. History Before the formation of the franchise Without a viable indoor arena with a ...

of the AHL. At season's end, Laaksonen left North America and signed with

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

team

HC Fribourg-Gottéron HC Fribourg-Gottéron is a professional ice hockey team based in Fribourg, Switzerland, which competes in the National League (NL). The team is the sixth most attended team in Switzerland for the 2015/16 season with 6,156 spectators. History The ...

of the NLA on June 18, 2007. After only one season with Gottéron he returned to his native Finland and signed with Lukko of the SM-Liiga. In his second season with Lukko, Antti captained the team on its return to the post-season before retiring and settling where he enjoyed the majority of his NHL success' in Minnesota.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laaksonen, Antti 1973 births Albany River Rats players Boston Bruins draft picks Boston Bruins players Charlotte Checkers (1993–2010) players Colorado Avalanche players Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey players Finnish ice hockey left wingers HC Fribourg-Gottéron players HPK players Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Living people Lukko players Minnesota Wild players Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Olympic silver medalists for Finland People from Tammela, Finland Providence Bruins players Olympic medalists in ice hockey Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Kanta-Häme