Janne Laakkonen
Janne Laakkonen
Born (1982-04-15) April 15, 1982
Kuopio, Finland
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 181 lb (82 kg; 12 st 13 lb)
PositionLeft wing
Shoots Left
NIHL teamFormer teamsPeterborough PhantomsKalPaHPKTimrå IKHIFKLempäälän KisaIlvesIF Sundsvall HockeyArystan TemirtauYuzhny Ural OrskKulager PetropavlNeman GrodnoGothiques d'AmiensGKS KatowiceEHC LustenauNarvik IKCoventry BlazeFife FlyersFPSUTE
Playing career 2000–present

Janne Laakkonen (born April 15, 1982) is a Finnish professional ice hockeyleft winger currently playing for UK National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) side Peterborough Phantoms. Laakkonen previously iced with Elite League sides Fife Flyers and Coventry Blaze.

Career

Laakkonen began his career with KalPa, playing for their junior teams before making his debut for the main roster during the 2000-01 Suomi-sarja playoffs. He then moved to SM-liiga team HPK and stayed for four seasons. He had a brief spell in Sweden's Elitserien for Timrå IK in 2005-06, playing six games and only registering one assist before moving back to Finland with HIFK.

In 2008, Laakkonen returned to HPK for a second spell. In 2010 he returned to KalPa for a second spell for one season before moving back to HPK in 2011 for a third spell with the team. For the 2012-13 season, he had spells in Mestis with Lempäälän Kisa and in the SM-liiga with Ilves before returning to Sweden with IF Sundsvall Hockey of the Hockeyettan, the country's third-tier league.

Since then, Laakkonen has played in various leagues across Europe. He played in the Kazakhstan Hockey Championship for Arystan Temirtau and Kulager Petropavl, the Supreme Hockey League in Russia for Yuzhny Ural Orsk, the Belarusian Extraleague for HK Neman Grodno, the Ligue Magnus in France for Gothiques d'Amiens and most recently for GKS Katowice of the Polska Hokej Liga in Poland.

On 14 August 2019, Laakkonen moved to UK Elite Ice Hockey League side Coventry Blaze on a one-year deal.[1]

Laakkonen had originally expressed an interest in staying in Coventry for a second season, however following the suspension of the 2020-21 Elite League season, the winger moved to Austria in October 2020 to sign for AlpsHL side EHC Lustenau.[2][3]

After eight games with Lustenau, Laakkonen transferred to Norwegian side Narvik IK in December 2020.[4][5]

In March 2021, Laakkonen returned to Coventry Blaze ahead of the 2021 Elite Series.[6][7] In July 2021, Laakkonen was then confirmed as a returnee for the 2021-22 Elite League season.[8]

In July 2022, Laakkonen swapped Coventry for fellow Elite League side Fife Flyers, signing a one-year deal for the 2022-23 season.[9]

In October 2023, Laakkonen returned to his native Finland to sign for Mestis side FPS. Laakkonen finished the 2023-24 season in Hungary with UTE.

In May 2024, Laakkonen agreed terms on a return to the UK with NIHL side Peterborough Phantoms.[10]

Career statistics

    Regular season  Playoffs
SeasonTeam League GP GAPtsPIMGP G A Pts PIM
2000–01KalPaSuomi-sarja————— 21120
2001–02KalPa Mestis510127 —————
2001–02HPKLiiga433202318 80224
2002–03HPK Liiga 5519203922 93254
2003–04HPK Liiga 378212918 42022
2004–05HPK Liiga 499233232 90116
2005–06Timrå IKSHL60110 —————
2005–06HIFKLiiga 321417318 1204410
2006–07HIFK Liiga 5613233636 50330
2007–08HIFK Liiga 304162022 —————
2008–09HPK Liiga 3415213641 31126
2009–10HPK Liiga 414303444 17511168
2010–11KalPa Liiga 547192650 71232
2011–12HPK Liiga 5310192930 —————
2012–13LeKiMestis 72352 —————
2012–13IlvesLiiga 90004 —————
2012–13IF Sundsvall HockeyDivision 17215174 31230
2013–14IF Sundsvall Hockey Division 1 10391216 22242
2014–15Arystan TemirtauKazakhstan10810184 —————
2014–15Yuzhny Ural OrskVHL22571211 —————
2015–16Kulager PetropavlKazakhstan 3514233732 —————
2015–16Neman GrodnoBelarus91566 122794
2016–17 Neman Grodno Belarus 4113344718 113584
2017–18 Gothiques d'AmiensLigue Magnus4010253524 1207716
2018–19 GKS KatowicePolska Hokej Liga381533484 1645914
2019–20Coventry BlazeEIHL439404916 —————
2020–21 EHC LustenauAlpsHL82790 —————
2020–21 Narvik IKEliteserien41124 —————
2020–21 Coventry Blaze Elite Series [11]1417812 —————
2021–22Coventry Blaze EIHL 5113395254 10000
2022–23Fife FlyersEIHL 5312223422 —————
2023–24 FPSMestis 164131718 —————
2023–24 UTEErste Liga232131514 40220
Liiga totals 493 106 229 335 325 74 12 26 38 42

References

  1. ^"Laakkonen brings wealth of experience to Blaze". Coventryblaze.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2019-08-14.
  2. ^@covblazehockey (12 October 2020). "Janne Laakkonen had agreed a return to Blaze. Sadly for us, he'll ice for EHC Lustenau during the 2020/21 season.…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^"Laakkonen to ice in Austria". Coventryblaze.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2020-10-24.
  4. ^"Elite Prospects - Transactions and Rumours for Narvik Hockey". Eliteprospects.com.
  5. ^"Player roundup (week ending 13 Dec)". Coventryblaze.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2020-12-13.
  6. ^"2021 Elite Series confirmed for April-May!". Eliteleague.co.uk.
  7. ^"Laakkonen completes Elite Series roster". Coventryblaze.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2021-03-28.
  8. ^"Laakkonen back for 21/22". Coventryblaze.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2021-07-28.
  9. ^"Flyers sign Finnish sniper Janne Laakkonen. Fife Flyers have added firepower to their forward line with the signing of sniper Janne Laakkonen for the 2022/23 Elite Ice Hockey League season". Twitter.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  10. ^"Phantoms add Finnishing power with Laakkonen".
  11. ^McAllister, Josh (10 March 2021). "Elite Series format explained | British Ice Hockey". Britishicehockey.co.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
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