Erkki Laine
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Erkki Juhani Laine (13 September 1957 – 22 August 2009) was a Finnish 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 ...
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. A two time Olympian, he won a silver medal with the Finnish national team at the
1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts ...
in
Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
. He is the
Lahti Pelicans The Lahti Pelicans are a Finnish professional ice hockey team playing in the Liiga. Founded in 1996, they play in the city of Lahti at Isku Arena. The team is co-owned by (among others) former National Hockey League (NHL) goaltender Pasi Nurminen ...
franchise top all-time career point earner and goal scorer.


Playing career

As a child, Erkki Laine began playing ice hockey with the youth department of Kiekkoreipas in his hometown of
Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...
. The first full season of his professional career was spent with the senior men’s representative team of Kiekkoreipas in the
1975–76 I-divisioona season The 1975–76 I-Divisioona season was the second season of the I-Divisioona, the second level of Finnish ice hockey. 10 teams participated in the league, and Kiekko-Reipas won the championship. Regular season External links Seasonon hockeyarchiv ...
. He led the team in scoring, earning 47 points (40
goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...
+ 7 assists) in 36
regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...
games, and ranked second for most goals scored in the
I-divisioona I-Divisioona was the second tier of ice hockey in Finland from 1974 to 2000. In the year 2000 I-Divisioona was replaced by Mestis. Participating teams External linksFinnish Ice Hockey Federation {{DEFAULTSORT:1-Divisioona Ice hockey leagu ...
(behind Markku Perkkiö‘s 45 goals with Kärpät). With the infusion of Laine’s goal scoring, Kiekkoreipas finished the season at the top of the league and gained
promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
to the top-tier
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 ...
. The winger spent the subsequent two seasons with Kiekkoreipas in the SM-liiga. Laine signed with
Leksands IF Leksands Idrottsförening is a Swedish ice hockey team from the town of Leksand in the region of Dalarna. The team plays in the top-tier league, SHL, after succeeding through the 2019 SHL qualifiers and thus earning promotion to the SHL. The c ...
of the Swedish
Elitserien Elitserien (literally, "the Elite League") is the name of several Swedish nationwide sport leagues. In many sports, Elitserien is the highest league, with the second highest named Allsvenskan. Elitserien leagues at present: * Elitserien (badmint ...
in 1978 and remained with the club for four seasons. In the 1980–81 season, he was the top goal scorer of the Elitserien and his 30 goals accounted for nearly a quarter of all goals scored for Leksands. In 1982, Laine returned to his home club, Kiekkoreipas, where he was the team’s
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
and leading goal scorer in both the 1982–83 and 1983–84 seasons, ranking second and third in the SM-liiga for goals scored respectively. He netted a career high five
hat-tricks A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
in the 1982–83 season. The Finn signed with
Färjestad BK Färjestad Bollklubb (; abbreviated as FBK) is a Swedish professional ice hockey team based in Karlstad. Färjestad has had 21 Swedish Championship final appearances, winning ten times since the Swedish Hockey League (SHL; formerly Elitserien) ...
(FBK) of the Elitserien in 1984 and was the leading goal scorer in the top Swedish league for the 1984–85 season. In the following season, he was Färjestad’s highest regular season point earner, with 34 points in 31 games, and tied for the league’s most playoff goals with teammate Kent-Erik Andersson and BrynäsKenneth Andersson. Laine’s totals helped Färjestad claim the Swedish Championship (SM) and win the
Le Mat Trophy The Le Mat Trophy ( sv, Le Mat-pokalen, "Le Mat Cup") is the trophy awarded to Swedish champions in ice hockey, which since 1976 has been the winners of the SHL playoffs. The Le Mat is the oldest trophy competed for by professional athletes in S ...
in 1985–86. In the 1986–87 season, he topped Färjestad‘s statistics for most points and most goals in both the regular season and playoffs. Laine ranked second in the Elitserien in 1986–87 for goals scored, beaten only by Lars-Gunnar Pettersson in the regular season and
Ulf Dahlén Ulf Reinhold Dahlén (born January 21, 1967) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player, and former head coach for HV71 and Frölunda HC in the Swedish Hockey League. His son Jonathan Dahlén was drafted 42nd overall in the 2016 NHL Entr ...
in the playoffs, both members the 1987 Le Mat winner,
IF Björklöven IF Björklöven (often simply referred to as Björklöven or Löven) is a Sweden, Swedish professional ice hockey Club (organization), club in Umeå, Västerbotten, in northern Sweden. The club is currently playing in the second-tier league HockeyA ...
. Färjestad reclaimed the championship title in the subsequent
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
, boosted by Laine’s league-leading seven goals in the playoffs. For the 1988–89 season, Laine joined the Berliner Schlittschuhclub Preussen (BSC Preussen) of the German
Eishockey-Bundesliga The Eishockey-Bundesliga ("Federal Ice Hockey League") was formed in 1958 as the elite hockey competition in the Federal Republic of Germany, replacing the '' Oberliga'' in this position.Klein, p. 12 From the 1994-95 season, it was in turn repla ...
. He ranked third on the team for points, notching 14 goals and 25 assists in 36 games, marking the first season in his career in which he earned more assists than goals. The following
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
Laine signed with
HC Davos Hockey Club Davos is a professional Swiss ice hockey club based in Davos, Switzerland. Davos plays in the National League (NL). The team is usually a strong force in the league and often bolster their roster with Swiss national team players and ...
in the Swiss
National League B The Swiss League is the second tier of the main professional ice hockey league in Switzerland, behind the National League. The winners of the league each season plays a best-of-seven series against the bottom team of the NL, and if they win, the ...
, where he posted 24 points in 18 games before returning to Finland mid-season to rejoin his home club, Hockey-Reipas (the men’s representative team of Kiekkoreipas was renamed “Hockey-Reipas” in 1989). The club had been competing in the I-divisioona since being relegated in 1986 but Laine’s 27 points (16+11) in sixteen games of the
regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...
, in addition to incredible seasons from
Matti Hagman Matti Risto Tapio "Hakki" Hagman (21 September 1955 – 11 October 2016) was a Finnish professional ice hockey player. Hagman was the first Finnish-born and Finnish-trained player to play in the National Hockey League (NHL) and the first to play ...
and Oldřich Válek, allowed Hockey-Reipas to finish the season at second place in the league. By finishing in one of the top two positions, Hockey-Reipas qualified for the 1990 SM-liiga relegation series, in which they beat
KooKoo ''KooKoo'' is the debut solo album by American singer Debbie Harry, released on July 27, 1981, by Chrysalis Records. Produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic, the album was recorded whilst Harry took a break from her band Blondie. It ...
and gained promotion to the SM-liiga. Laine was named captain of Hockey-Reipas for the 1990–91 season and remained in the role until his retirement. Hockey-Reipas was relegated to the I-divisioona at the end of the
1993–94 SM-liiga season The 1993–94 SM-liiga season was the 19th season of the SM-liiga, the top level of ice hockey in Finland. 12 teams participated in the league, and Jokerit Helsinki won the championship. Standings Playoffs Quarterfinals * TPS - HIFK 3:0 (4:1, 2 ...
and Laine retired at the conclusion of the following
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
, at age 37. Over the span of his twenty-year professional career, Laine played with five clubs across six leagues in four different countries. With the Lahden Pelicans franchise (Kiekkoreipas/Hockey-Reipas) in Finland, he earned 309 points (185+124) in 324 SM-liiga regular season games and posted 92 points (67+25) in 70 I-divisioona regular season games. He is one of seven players to ever score more than 40 goals in a SM-liiga season, a feat he accomplished in 1982–83. In Sweden, he played 277 games in the Elitserien, producing 275 points, and his 192 career goals rank 19th all-time in the league and second for a Finn. His
points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...
rank sixth all time for Färjestad BK and sixteenth all-time for Leksands IF, at 1.035 and 0.948 PPG respectively (players appearing in fewer than 30 games excluded from rankings).


International career

Laine’s international debut came with the Finnish national under-19 team at the IIHF European Junior Championship in
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
, where Finland won bronze. Laine posted one goal in three games played. The following year, he was selected to the Finnish national junior team at the 1977 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
. Laine had an excellent performance, posting nine points (5+4) in seven games and earning the second-most points on the team, bested only by the 11 points tallied by Juha Jyrkkiö. Despite quality scoring, the Finns were plagued by poor goaltending and finished the tournament in fourth place. Laine twice represented Finland with the national team (Leijonat) at the
Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...
. During the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, he played in all six games and notched three assists. The Finns were beaten by in the group stage and then lost the fifth place game against
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, ranking sixth at the conclusion of the tournament. Laine returned to the Finnish roster for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, playing in seven games and contributing six points (4+2) to Finland’s silver medal-winning performance. He rose to national prominence after scoring two goals in a minute and 51 seconds against , laying the groundwork for an eventual 3–1 victory over the team which was stocked with
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 ...
talent. Both of Laine’s goals were assisted by Leijonat legend
Raimo Helminen Raimo Ilmari Helminen (born 11 March 1964 in Tampere, Finland) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He is often called "Raipe" or "Maestro" by his fans. He is the world record holder for most international games played by a hockey p ...
, who described them as the highlights of his career. Laine’s four goals tied at first for most goals scored on the Finnish team, an achievement shared with teammates Erkki Lehtonen,
Reijo Ruotsalainen Reijo Ruotsalainen (born April 1, 1960) is a Finnish former ice hockey defenceman. He was twice named Finland's top defenceman, and won two Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, in 1987 and 1990. Playing career Ruotsalainen started his career ...
, and
Reijo Mikkolainen Reijo Kalevi Mikkolainen (born May 14, 1964 in Pirkkala, Finland) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the SM-liiga. He won a silver medal with the Finland team at the 1988 Winter Olympics. He played for Tappara, Ilves, and TP ...
. Laine had been selected for the Finnish team at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, but was unable to attend due to injury. With the Finnish national team, Laine played a total of 64 matches and scored 19 goals.


Death

Laine went missing on the evening of 22 August 2009, after taking his boat out on Asikkalanselkä, the southernmost part of
Lake Päijänne Lake Päijänne () is the second largest lake in Finland (). The lake drains into the Gulf of Finland via the Kymi River. The major islands are from north to south Vuoritsalo, Muuratsalo, Onkisalo, Judinsalo, Edessalo, Taivassalo, Haukkasalo, ...
, near the family’s summer cottage in Kalkkinen, a village in the Asikkala municipality. Concerns that he may have drowned were given further credence when a significant portion of his boat and debris from an apparent high-speed collision with a rocky islet were found on 24 August. His body was recovered the following day, he had not been wearing a life vest. On 27 August 2009, the Lahden Pelicans announced that the club would honour Laine at the home game against
JYP Jyväskylä JYP is an ice hockey team playing in the Finnish top division Liiga. They play in Jyväskylä, Finland, at the LähiTapiola Areena. History JYP was founded in 1923. First it was the ice hockey section of the sports club ''Jyväskylän Palloilija ...
on 12 September 2009.


Memorial

A statue of Erkki Laine stands outside Isku Areena, the
home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...
of the Pelicans, in Lahti. The first “hockey statue” in Finland, it was unveiled by Minister of Sports and Culture
Sampo Terho In Finnish mythology, the ''Sampo'' () is a magical device or object described in many different ways that was constructed by the blacksmith Ilmarinen and that brought riches and good fortune to its holder, akin to the horn of plenty (cornucopi ...
and Leijonat assistant coach Kari Eloranta in a ceremony held on 28 November 2017, prior to the Pelicans–
HPK Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) is a professional ice hockey team in the Liiga, the top men's ice hockey league in Finland. Their home ice is the Ritari-areena in Hämeenlinna. HPK was established in 1929. The parent club of the team is HPK Edu ...
game. The ceremony was attended by several hundred people former teammates of Laine’s, including
Veli-Pekka Ketola Veli-Pekka Ketola (born 28 March 1948) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player and coach. Playing career Veli-Pekka Ketola played in the Finnish League, World Hockey Association, and National Hockey League. While Ketola was playing ...
and Hannu Koskinen, as well as his wife, daughters, and father, Jukka. During warmups prior to the Liiga match that evening, the Pelicans players donned Laine #13 sweaters in honour of the late winger. The statue project was jointly commissioned by the Lahden Pelicans, Kiekkoreipas, and SSR Group and was gifted to Lahden Jäähalli Oy, the managing company of Isku Areena, upon its unveiling. Estonian artist Bruno Kadak‘s design was inspired by hockey player statues erected at ice rinks around the world, particularly those in Toronto. The statue, which was created in
Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
, is made of aluminum on a granite base and stands about three meters tall. It is painted with the colours of Kiekkoreipas.


Personal life

Laine’s wife, Erika, was a nationally competitive swimmer. Their eldest daughter, Essi, was born in 1984 in Lahti while Laine was playing with Kiekkoreipas, and their second daughter,
Emma Emma may refer to: * Emma (given name) Film * Emma (1932 film), ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown * Emma (1996 theatrical film), ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow * Emma (1996 TV film), '' ...
, was born in 1986 in
Karlstad, Sweden Karlstad Municipality (''Karlstads kommun'') is a municipality in Värmland County in west central Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Karlstad. The present municipality was established in 1971 when the former City of Karlstad was amal ...
while he was playing with Färjestad BK. Both children played tennis professionally; Essi retired from competition in 2008 and Emma in 2019. Emma Laine retired as Finland’s most successful female tennis player and her historic accomplishments early in her career are credited with inspiring a new generation of women’s players in Finland. Erkki Laine often traveled with Emma for international competitions when her coaches could not. Emma felt that having her father travel with her was positive, saying in a 2007 interview, “I really trust him. He's helped me a lot, not with tactics and strokes, but with how to be an athlete. Every time he gives me advice, I believe him because he was an athlete and he knows what it takes.” After his retirement from hockey, Laine worked in the
haulage Haulage is the business of transporting goods by road or rail between suppliers and large consumer outlets, factories, warehouses, or depots. This includes everything humans might wish to move in bulk - from vegetables and other foodstuffs, to cloth ...
industry. In 2004, he and civil engineer Mika Wilenius purchased Salpausselän Rakentajat (SSR Group), a nation-wide construction firm, from the heir of the previous owner. Retired NHL defenceman and former Pelicans head coach Kari Eloranta was a lifelong friend of Laine’s. The two met while playing on the same regional youth ice hockey team in the late 1960s and remained teammates through the early years of their professional careers, playing with Kiekkoreipas and signing together with Leksands in 1978. After Eloranta moved to North America to play in the NHL in 1981, the players were reunited on the Finnish Olympic national team at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, which culminated with them winning silver together. They played on the same professional team twice more in their careers, in 1989, when Laine briefly played with HC Davos, and during the 1990–91 SM-liiga season, when both played with their “home club,” Hockey Reipas. Though their time as teammates ended in 1991, the two lived on the same street in Lahti and their
cottages A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...
were near by. Several weeks before Laine’s sudden death, he and Eloranta had traveled together to
Leksand, Sweden Leksand Municipality (''Leksands kommun'') is a municipality in Dalarna County in central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Leksand. In 1974 "old" Leksand was amalgamated with ''Ål'' and reunited with ''Siljansnäs'' (which had been s ...
to attend Leksand IF’s 90th anniversary celebrations, where they were honoured guests and played in the anniversary alumni game.


Career statistics


Regular season and playoffs


International


Awards and honours


Records

* SM-liiga +40 goals in a single season: 41 goals, 1982–83 * Pelicans franchise record most goals, career: 260 goals * Pelicans franchise record most points, career: 411 points


References

Content in this article is translated from the existing Finnish Wikipedia article at :fi:Erkki Laine and the existing German Wikipedia article at :de:Erkki Laine; see their histories for attribution.


External links

*
bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laine, Erkki 1957 births 2009 deaths Sportspeople from Lahti Finnish ice hockey left wingers Lahti Pelicans players Leksands IF players Färjestad BK players BSC Preussen Berlin players HC Davos players Ice hockey players at the 1984 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players at the 1988 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Olympic ice hockey players of Finland Olympic medalists in ice hockey Olympic silver medalists for Finland Ice hockey players with retired numbers Accidental deaths in Finland Deaths by drowning