Lauri Ilmari Mononen (22 March 1950 – 5 August 2018) 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 ...

winger. While playing for Phoenix Roadrunners in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association (french: Association mondiale de hockey) was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

he was one of the first Finns to play professional hockey in North America. He played for a total of two seasons in WHA. He also won the Finnish Championship once and the Swiss Championship once. He was twice chosen as best forward in the Finnish League and selected to All Star five three times (1969, 1972, 1975). He also competed in the men's tournament at the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

. His number 15 has been frozen by his former club, Jokipojat. He was inducted into the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame as number 75.

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* 1950 births 2018 deaths Finnish ice hockey right wingers HIFK sportspeople Jokerit players Jokipojat players Oklahoma City Blazers (1965–1977) players Peliitat Heinola players Sportspeople from Joensuu Phoenix Roadrunners (WHA) players SC Bern players HC TPS players Olympic ice hockey players for Finland Ice hockey players at the 1972 Winter Olympics {{finland-icehockey-winger-stub