Janne Pesonen

Janne Pesonen
Janne Pesonen in white away jersey of Kärpät
Born (1982-05-11) 11 May 1982 (age 42)
Suomussalmi, Finland
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 183 lb (83 kg; 13 st 1 lb)
Position Left wing
Shot Left
Played for Oulun Kärpät
Pittsburgh Penguins
Ak Bars Kazan
HIFK
Skellefteå AIK
HC Ambrì-Piotta
Växjö Lakers
National team  Finland
NHL draft 269th overall, 2004
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Playing career 2001–2019

Janne Tapani Pesonen (born 11 May 1982) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger who played for Oulun Kärpät of the Finnish Liiga.

Playing career

Pesonen began his career with Hokki in 1998, playing in the second-highest division of hockey in Finland, the Mestis.

Kärpät

He then played for Kärpät in the Finnish top division, the SM-liiga, from 2001–02 and 2003–08. After his first season with Kärpät he returned to Hokki for one season in 2002–03. He returned to Kärpät in 2003–04 and won the SM-liiga Rookie of the Year award, helping Kärpät to their first Finnish championship since 1981. His five seasons with Kärpät from 2003–08 saw Pesonen win four Finnish championships in total, in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008. He won the Jari Kurri trophy, which is annually awarded the playoff MVP, in 2007. He had his best season in 2007–08 when he led the SM-liiga in goals, points, and plus-minus, winning the Aarne Honkavaara, Veli-Pekka Ketola, and Matti Keinonen trophies, respectively, for his efforts. That season he tallied 34 goals and 44 assists for a total 78 points in only 56 games played.

Pittsburgh Penguins

On 7 July 2008, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they signed Pesonen to a one-year contract. After 3 preseason games in which he tallied 1 goal and 1 assist, Pesonen was sent to the Penguins' AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, on 8 October 2008. Pesonen would show his ability to adapt to the North American style of hockey by scoring 9 pts in his first seven games, scoring two goals and garnering seven assists. On 31 October, Pesonen was recalled by the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he made his NHL debut on 1 November against the St. Louis Blues.[1] Pesonen's stay with the Penguins was brief, and he was returned to the AHL after seven games. On 16 March, Pesonen set a new record for points in a single season for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Baby Penguins, passing up Toby Petersen's 67-point season of 2000–01.[2] At season's end, Pesonen finished with 82 points, fourth in the AHL in scoring and the highest point total by a Finn in AHL history.[3]

Ak Bars Kazan

After one season in North America, Pesonen opted to return to Europe and signed with Russian club Ak Bars Kazan of the Kontinental Hockey League on 4 August 2009.[4] He left Kazan after two seasons for a try-out contract with the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL) on 11 August 2011.[5] He was released from the Jets on 2 October, after failing to get an extended offer.[6]

After a year in Finland playing for HIFK, Pesonen announced he had signed a one-year contract with Ak Bars Kazan.

HC Ambri-Piotta

On August 24, 2016, Pesonen signed a seven-week contract with HC Ambrì-Piotta of the National League A (NLA) as an injury replacement for Adam Hall.

Post-playing career

After retiring from professional play, Pesonen has worked as an expert and a consultant. In May 2024, he became the sporting director for HIFK.[7]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1998–99 Hokki FIN.4 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
1999–2000 Kärpät FIN U18 33 6 12 18 30 3 0 1 1 0
2000–01 Kärpät FIN U20 41 9 22 31 18 6 1 1 2 0
2001–02 Kärpät FIN U20 42 12 19 31 18 3 2 0 2 2
2001–02 Kärpät SM-l 9 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
2002–03 Hokki Mestis 40 15 21 36 62 3 2 0 2 4
2003–04 Kärpät SM-l 56 17 13 30 28 15 1 1 2 4
2004–05 Kärpät SM-l 55 11 18 29 42 12 2 0 2 0
2005–06 Kärpät SM-l 53 8 14 22 34 11 4 0 4 8
2006–07 Kärpät SM-l 56 22 33 55 38 9 4 3 7 10
2007–08 Kärpät SM-l 56 34 44 78 58 14 7 9 16 10
2008–09 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 7 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2008–09 Wilkes–Barre/Scranton Penguins AHL 70 32 50 82 33 5 1 5 6 0
2009–10 Ak Bars Kazan KHL 42 14 11 25 12 8 1 0 1 4
2010–11 Ak Bars Kazan KHL 46 14 13 27 28 8 3 1 4 4
2011–12 HIFK SM-l 38 13 15 28 18 4 0 1 1 0
2012–13 Ak Bars Kazan KHL 45 17 10 27 42 18 4 8 12 28
2013–14 Ak Bars Kazan KHL 48 16 6 22 18 6 1 2 3 6
2014–15 Ak Bars Kazan KHL 22 7 3 10 8 — — — — —
2014–15 Skellefteå AIK SHL 20 16 10 26 14 15 4 6 10 2
2015–16 Skellefteå AIK SHL 21 11 11 22 2 16 3 5 8 0
2016–17 HC Ambrì–Piotta NLA 49 13 21 34 18 — — — — —
2017–18 Växjö Lakers SHL 30 8 14 22 4 12 3 5 8 2
2018–19 Växjö Lakers SHL 42 17 13 30 18 6 0 1 1 0
2019–20 Kärpät Liiga 27 6 9 15 14 — — — — —
SM-l/Liiga totals 350 113 146 259 232 66 18 14 32 32
NHL totals 7 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
KHL totals 203 68 43 111 108 40 9 11 20 42
Medal record
Ice hockey
Representing  Finland
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Slovakia

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2011 Finland WC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 9 2 5 7 4
2012 Finland WC 4th 9 1 2 3 2
2013 Finland WC 4th 9 2 6 8 27
2015 Finland WC 6th 8 1 4 5 2
2018 Finland WC 5th 8 2 2 4 0
Senior totals 43 8 19 27 35

Awards

References

  1. ^ Kasan, Sam (1 November 2008). "Aftermath: Penguins 6 Blues 3". penguins.nhl.com. Pittsburgh Penguins. Archived from the original on 6 November 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2008.
  2. ^ Bombulie, Jonathan (19 March 2009). "Pesonen punishes Phantoms". The Citizens' Voice. Times-Shamrock Communications. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  3. ^ Bombulie, Jonathan (15 April 2009). "All eyes on Pesonen". The Citizens' Voice. Times-Shamrock Communications. Archived from the original on 11 August 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  4. ^ Anderson, Shelley (5 August 2009). "Penguins Notebook: Pesonen to play in Russia". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 5 August 2009.
  5. ^ "Kokenut suomalaishyökkääjä Winnipegin treenileirille" (in Finnish). MTV3. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  6. ^ "Jets trim roster by three". Winnipeg Jets. 2 October 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  7. ^ "Kultaleijona Janne Pesonen on HIFK:n uusi urheilujohtaja" (in Finnish). 18 May 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
Preceded by Winner of the Jari Kurri trophy
2006–07 		Succeeded by