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Joni Pitkänen

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Joni Pitkänen
Born (1983-09-19) September 19, 1983 (age 41)
Oulu, FIN
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 213 lb (97 kg; 15 st 3 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Left
NHL team Carolina Hurricanes
NHL draft 4th overall, 2002
Philadelphia Flyers
Playing career 2000–present

Joni Pitkänen (born September 19, 1983 in Oulu, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman with the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL.

Playing career

Pitkänen started his pro hockey career in the Kärpät organization in the Finnish SM-liiga, and after three seasons there he crossed the Atlantic to play for the Philadelphia Flyers, who drafted him in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft with their first round draft pick(4th overall). After a good opening season that saw Pitkänen cement his place on the team lineup, he played for the Philadelphia Phantoms during the 2004-05 NHL lockout when the team won the Calder Cup. When the NHL resumed in 2005, Pitkänen returned to the Flyers and became the team's top-scoring defensemen, recording 46 points in 58 games. However, he was hampered by injuries the second half of the season.

When Joni Pitkänen came to the United States to play for Philadelphia Flyers he hardly spoke a word of English, so teammate and fellow Finn, Sami Kapanen translated for him, and eventually taught him English.

On July 14, 2006 Joni signed a 1 year, $2 million contract with Philadelphia.[1]

Awards

Records

  • Scored 1st NHL goal on October 8, 2004.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1998-99 Kärpät SM-l Jr. 30 1 5 6 12 - - - - -
1999-2000 Kärpät SM-l Jr. 38 12 14 26 26 6 1 4 5 2
2000-01 Kärpät SM-l Jr. 24 6 11 17 77 - - - - -
2000-01 Kärpät SM-l 21 0 0 0 10 2 0 0 0 2
2001-02 Kärpät SM-l - - - - - 1 0 0 0 0
2001-02 Kärpät SM-l 49 4 15 19 65 4 0 0 0 12
2002-03 Kärpät SM-l 35 5 15 20 38 -- -- -- -- --
2003-04 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 71 8 19 27 44 15 0 3 3 6
2004-05 Philadelphia Phantoms AHL 76 6 35 41 105 21 3 4 7 16
2005-06 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 58 13 33 46 78 6 0 2 2 2
2006-07 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 77 4 39 43 88 -- -- -- -- --
NHL totals 206 25 91 116 210 21 0 5 5 8

International play