Jussi Jokinen medalled with Finland at the Olympics and World Championships.
photo: Jeff Vinnick / HHOF-IIHF Images
Jussi Jokinen, one of the few players to represent Finland at all five of the major international levels of play, has retired from hockey. The 38-year-old had ended a distinguished NHL career three years ago and finished his playing days skating for Karpat, the team for whom he began his professional career more than 20 years earlier.
Born in Kalajoki, Finland, in 1983, Jokinen started his career with Karpat, first as a junior and later on the senior team. He represented Finland for the first time at the 2001 U18 tournament, winning a bronze medal. A few months later, the Dallas Stars selected him 192nd overall at the Entry Draft, but Jokinen continued to play with Karpat for another four years.
During that time, he won two more bronze medals with Suomi’s World Junior team, and he played at the senior World Championship for the first time in 2005 at age 22. That fall, he attended the Stars’ training camp and made the team.
He had 17 goals and 55 points as a rookie, and established himself as a shootout specialist. He set a record by scoring in his first nine attempts from the start of his career, often using dazzling moves marked by terrific hand-eye coordination and fancy stickhandling.
More important, Jokinen played for Finland at the 2006 Turin Olympics. He helped the team reach the gold-medal game, where it came up one goal short against Sweden.
After two and a half years with the Stars, Jokinen was traded to Tampa Bay, his second of eight NHL stops. After that, he was off to Carolina, where he spent three and a half years and had his greatest success. The Canes went to the conference finals in 2009, and Jokinen was a vital contributor. In round one, he scored the winning goal against New Jersey as time expired in the third period.
He later scored the tying goal in game seven in the dying moments and scored a critical overtime goal in Game 3 of the playoffs against Boston. That goal gave the ‘Canes a 2-1 series lead, and Jokinen scored the game winner in Game 4 as well, en route to a seven-game win in the conference semi-finals. In all, he had seven goals in 18 games during the lengthy playoff run.
A year later Jokinen scored 30 goals and 65 points, both career highs. Four of those 30 goals came in one game, against Colorado, early in the season. His success that year can be credited to his play on the famous “Skinns and Finns” like which consisted of Jeff Skinner, Tuomo Ruutu, and Jokinen.
In 13 seasons, Jokinen played 951 regular-season games and another 54 in the playoffs. His last NHL season, 2017-18, was unique as he tied a record by playing with four teams in a year. He left the league with 37 goals in the shootout on 96 attempts, 13th best all time and a success rate of 38.5 per cent. After that, he played briefly in Switzerland before moving back to Karpat.
Although Jokinen was a fantastic player on both sides of the Atlantic, he was especially motivated when he played for his country. He played in six more World Championships after 2005, winning bronze in 2006 and 2008 and silver in 2016. He won a bronze medal at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and also played for Suomi at the 2016 World Cup.
Born in Kalajoki, Finland, in 1983, Jokinen started his career with Karpat, first as a junior and later on the senior team. He represented Finland for the first time at the 2001 U18 tournament, winning a bronze medal. A few months later, the Dallas Stars selected him 192nd overall at the Entry Draft, but Jokinen continued to play with Karpat for another four years.
During that time, he won two more bronze medals with Suomi’s World Junior team, and he played at the senior World Championship for the first time in 2005 at age 22. That fall, he attended the Stars’ training camp and made the team.
He had 17 goals and 55 points as a rookie, and established himself as a shootout specialist. He set a record by scoring in his first nine attempts from the start of his career, often using dazzling moves marked by terrific hand-eye coordination and fancy stickhandling.
More important, Jokinen played for Finland at the 2006 Turin Olympics. He helped the team reach the gold-medal game, where it came up one goal short against Sweden.
After two and a half years with the Stars, Jokinen was traded to Tampa Bay, his second of eight NHL stops. After that, he was off to Carolina, where he spent three and a half years and had his greatest success. The Canes went to the conference finals in 2009, and Jokinen was a vital contributor. In round one, he scored the winning goal against New Jersey as time expired in the third period.
He later scored the tying goal in game seven in the dying moments and scored a critical overtime goal in Game 3 of the playoffs against Boston. That goal gave the ‘Canes a 2-1 series lead, and Jokinen scored the game winner in Game 4 as well, en route to a seven-game win in the conference semi-finals. In all, he had seven goals in 18 games during the lengthy playoff run.
A year later Jokinen scored 30 goals and 65 points, both career highs. Four of those 30 goals came in one game, against Colorado, early in the season. His success that year can be credited to his play on the famous “Skinns and Finns” like which consisted of Jeff Skinner, Tuomo Ruutu, and Jokinen.
In 13 seasons, Jokinen played 951 regular-season games and another 54 in the playoffs. His last NHL season, 2017-18, was unique as he tied a record by playing with four teams in a year. He left the league with 37 goals in the shootout on 96 attempts, 13th best all time and a success rate of 38.5 per cent. After that, he played briefly in Switzerland before moving back to Karpat.
Although Jokinen was a fantastic player on both sides of the Atlantic, he was especially motivated when he played for his country. He played in six more World Championships after 2005, winning bronze in 2006 and 2008 and silver in 2016. He won a bronze medal at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and also played for Suomi at the 2016 World Cup.