Jani Markus Rita (born July 25, 1981) is a Finnish 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 ...

winger who last played with

Jokerit Helsingin Jokerit (English: Jokers or Jesters) are a professional ice hockey team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team won six league championships as a member of the Finnish SM-liiga (1973, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, and 2002). Jokerit plays its h ...

of the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

KHL The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs b ...

, for whom he played most of his career.

Playing career

Despite limited

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 ...

experience, Rita has played extensively in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

and in 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 ...

in his native Finland. Rita started his hockey career in a youth team of EKS (Espoon Kiekkoseura). He played his first seasons of pro hockey for

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, and was drafted 13th overall in the

1999 NHL Entry Draft The 1999 NHL Entry Draft was the 37th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 26 at the FleetCenter in Boston. According to ''Sports Illustrated'' and other sports news agencies, at the time the 1999 draft was considered one of the deepest in tale ...

by the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

. Rita played for

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 ...

in the

during 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 ...

, winning the bronze medal. That season he was awarded the

Raimo Kilpiö trophy The Raimo Kilpiö trophy is an ice hockey trophy awarded by the Finnish Liiga to the player who has shown the most sportsmanship and good behaviour as well as high quality performance for their team. It is named after Raimo Kilpiö who played in the ...

, and led the league in scoring during the playoffs. He also represented Finland at the 2005 World Hockey Championship, earning one assist. He had signed with

for the 2005–06 season with a contractual clause enabling him to return to the NHL. When the Oilers offered him a one-year contract in August 2005, Rita signed on to return to North America. Although once considered a premier prospect at the NHL level, Rita's slow development showed cause for concern to Oilers management. On January 26, 2006, Rita was traded along with

Cory Cross Cory Cross (born January 3, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman, who played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). Draft Cross was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning first overall in the 1992 NHL Supplement ...

, to the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

for

Dick Tärnström Dick Tärnström (born January 20, 1975) is a Swedish retired professional ice hockey defenceman. During the majority of his 21-year-long playing career, Tärnström played for AIK of the Swedish top-tier league Elitserien (SEL). He wa ...

. He finished the season with just 10 points in 51 games. It was announced on 2 May 2006 that Rita was to depart Pittsburgh to return to his original club,

. He was the best goal scorer of SM-liiga in 2006–07 season. After ten more years with Jokerit including the club's transition from the Finnish

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 ...

to the

in 2014, Rita announced his retirement in June 2016.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

for gentleman player - 2005 *

Aarne Honkavaara trophy The Aarne Honkavaara trophy is an ice hockey trophy given by the Finnish Liiga to the player who scores the most goals during regular season play. Trophy Winners: 1977-78: Markku Kiimalainen ( Kärpät) 1978-79: Kari Makkonen (Ässät) 1979-8 ...

for best goal scorer - 2007

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rita, Jani 1981 births Edmonton Oilers players Edmonton Oilers draft picks Finnish ice hockey left wingers Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) players HPK players Jokerit players Living people National Hockey League first-round draft picks Pittsburgh Penguins players Ice hockey people from Helsinki Toronto Roadrunners players