Joni Pitkänen (born 19 September 1983) is a Finnish former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

who played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) for the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

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 (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

, and

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Con ...

Playing career

Pitkänen started his pro hockey career in the Kärpät organization in the Finnish

SM-liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mest ...

. After three seasons there he crossed the Atlantic to play for the

, who drafted him in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft with their first round draft pick (fourth overall). After a good opening season that saw Pitkänen cement his place on the team lineup, where he was ranked second among NHL rookies with 12 powerplay assists and 17 powerplay points, he played for the

Philadelphia Phantoms The Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played most of its home games at the Spectrum (arena), Spectrum ...

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 ...

when the team won the

Calder Cup The Calder Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the playoff champions of the American Hockey League (AHL). 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 it ...

. When the NHL resumed in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, Pitkänen returned to the Flyers and became the team's top-scoring defenseman, recording 46 points in 58 games. However, he was hampered by injuries during the second half of the season. When Pitkänen came to the United States to play for the Philadelphia Flyers, he hardly spoke a word of English, so teammate and fellow Finn

Sami Kapanen Sami Hannu Antero Kapanen (born 14 June 1973) is a Finnish professional ice hockey coach and former player. He played 12 NHL seasons for the Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers. He is the majority owner of ...

translated for him, and eventually taught him English. On 14 July 2006, Pitkänen signed a one-year, $2 million contract with Philadelphia. A key member of the Flyers' powerplay unit, Pitkänen was tied for second in powerplay scoring in 2006–07 with 18 points and led Philadelphia with 17 powerplay assists. The 23-year-old defenseman led in ice time in each of the last two seasons with Philadelphia. Pitkänen was ranked among the NHL’s top 25 defensemen in scoring in each of the first two seasons following the

. His 43 points in 2006–07 ranked him 22nd, while his career-high 46 points in 2005–06 placed him 19th. He was also among the 2006–07 NHL blueline leaders in assists (16th) and ice time (20th with 24:32 minutes per-game). On 1 July 2007, Pitkänen was traded to the

along with

Geoff Sanderson Geoffrey M. Sanderson (born February 1, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger, most notably for the Hartford Whalers and Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Drafted by the Hartford ...

and a third round draft choice in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Jason Smith and Joffrey Lupul. On 20 July 2007, Pitkänen signed a one-year contract with the Oilers. With the Oilers, Pitkänen scored 26 points in 63 games. On 1 July 2008, Pitkänen was traded to the

in exchange for Erik Cole. On 2 July 2008, Pitkänen signed a three-year, $12 million contract with the

as a restricted free agent. On April 2, 2013, during a contest with the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

, Pitkänen suffered an injury to his heel following a race to reach an iced puck. The following year the NHL would change the icing rules to use hybrid icing to help avoid similar incidents. The injury he received caused Pitkänen to miss entire 2013-14 season, his last under contract to the Hurricanes. In early December 2014 it was reported that Pitkänen had started light training with

Oulun Kärpät Oulun Kärpät (Finnish language, Finnish for "Oulu Stoat, Ermines", sometimes referred to as Kärpät Oulu) is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Oulu and playing in the top-tier Finnish Liiga. Kärpät have won the Finnish champion ...

of the Finnish

Liiga The Liiga, colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. The league comprises 16 teams from all around Finland with relegation and promotion between the Mesti ...

, skating for the first time since his injury. On February 5, 2016, it was announced that Pitkänen had signed a deal with

for the rest of the season. He played his first game in almost three years on February 6 against

KalPa Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Niiralan monttu, Olvi Areena. Team history Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club r ...

. On February 25, 2016, Pitkänen announced he would retire once more from ice-hockey after playing three games with

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards

* 2003–04: All-Rookie Team (

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

) *2003–04: Played in the YoungStars Game (NHL) * 2004–05:

(

) * 2005–06: Barry Ashbee Trophy (

) *2005–06: Pelle Lindbergh Memorial (Philadelphia Flyers)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitkanen, Joni 1983 births Carolina Hurricanes players Edmonton Oilers players Finnish ice hockey defencemen Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Oulun Kärpät players Living people NHL first-round draft picks Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic ice hockey players for Finland Ice hockey people from Oulu Philadelphia Flyers draft picks Philadelphia Flyers players Philadelphia Phantoms players Olympic medalists in ice hockey Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics 21st-century Finnish sportsmen