Esa Tikkanen

Esa Tikkanen (born January 25, 1965) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward.

After spending a year in Canada in 1981–82 with the Regina Blues of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, Tikkanen returned to Finland and signed a contract with HIFK.

Tikkanen was drafted in the fourth round (80th overall) by the Oilers in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft.

In 1984–85, he played 36 games for HIFK in the Finnish SM-liiga before joining the Oilers during their 1985 playoff run.

He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, and the Washington Capitals, and won the Stanley Cup five times in his career, including in 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 with the Oilers, and 1994 with the Rangers.

Esa Tikkanen began his career in hockey as a little boy by being a mascot for Jokerit, a team based in Helsinki, but joined another local team HJK in juniors.

He played briefly in the American Hockey League for the Oilers' affiliate the Nova Scotia Oilers in 1985–86, before joining the team full-time.

Tikkanen made his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers during the second game of the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs.

By playing one game in the finals that year, he was eligible to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup even before playing his first regular-season game in the NHL.

He soon became an important part of the Oilers, playing on the team's first line with Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri.

Kurri and Gretzky's roles were to score goals; Tikkanen was the line's defensive player.

Oilers coach and general manager Glen Sather once suggested that Tikkanen should be awarded the Frank J. Selke trophy (the award for the best defensive forward in the NHL).

He was a finalist several times in his career, and was a three-time runner-up, but never won the award.

Tikkanen excelled at distracting and confusing opponents with his Tiki-Talk and shadowed Gretzky when he was with the Los Angeles Kings.

Between 1986 and 1990, Tikkanen scored 30 or more goals three times and was on three more Cup champions.

In 1991, he led the Edmonton Oilers in points in the regular season with 69 points.

In March 1993, Tikkanen was traded to the New York Rangers for Doug Weight, and he was part of that team's 1994 Stanley Cup victory, scoring 22 goals and 54 points in 83 regular-season games.

In July 1994, Tikkanen was traded with Doug Lidster to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Petr Nedvěd.

The start of the NHL's 1994–95 season was delayed by a lockout, during which Tikkanen returned to Finland to play for HIFK Helsinki.

After the lockout Tikkanen, played with the Blues during the shortened 1995 season, and appeared in 11 games in 1995-96 before a trade sent him to the New Jersey Devils.

Three weeks later he was again dealt, this time to the Vancouver Canucks.

The 1996–97 season saw him involved in yet another midseason trade, back to the Rangers, on March 8, 1997.

Although he contributed only one goal in 14 regular-season games with New York, he came alive in the playoffs, scoring 9 times in 15 games.

Of the Rangers, only Gretzky, with 10, outscored Tikkanen.

The Rangers eliminated the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils before falling to the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals.

The 32-year-old Tikkanen became a free agent in the summer of 1997, and he signed with the Panthers, but this would also prove to be a short stay.

By March 1998 he had appeared in only 28 games, and Florida traded him to the Washington Capitals for Dwayne Hay.

He appeared in all 21 of Washington's playoff games, as the Capitals went to the Stanley Cup finals, where they were swept in four straight games by the Detroit Red Wings.

Tikkanen is remembered for missing a wide-open shot on goal that would have iced Game 2, which has been described as a turning point of the Series.

This was to be Tikkanen's last full season in the NHL.

After becoming a free agent prior to the 1998–99 season, he signed for a third stint with the Rangers.

However, he only played in 32 games before an injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.

Before the start of the 1999–2000 season, Tikkanen attended the Oilers' training camp and was offered a role of playing coach in the minors.

Tikkanen declined the offer and returned to Finland, where he played a full season with Jokerit.

In 877 NHL games, he had scored 244 goals and 386 assists for 630 points, while racking up 1,077 minutes in penalties.

In 186 Stanley Cup playoff games, he scored 72 goals and 60 assists for 132 points, with 275 penalty minutes.

In 1999–2000, Tikkanen played a season with Helsinki-based team Jokerit, a rival team of HIFK, with whom Tikkanen had played earlier in his career.

Jokerit finished in second place in the SM-Liiga.

In 2000–01, Tikkanen moved to Germany, where he played what was to be his last season in a recognized professional league for Essen Mosquitoes of the DEL.

He retired in 2001.