Janne Laakkonen

Janne Laakkonen
Born	(1982-04-15) April 15, 1982 (age 43) Kuopio, Finland
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	181 lb (82 kg; 12 st 13 lb)
Position	Left wing
Shoots	Left
NIHL team Former teams	Peterborough Phantoms KalPa HPK Timrå IK HIFK Lempäälän Kisa Ilves IF Sundsvall Hockey Arystan Temirtau Yuzhny Ural Orsk Kulager Petropavl Neman Grodno Gothiques d'Amiens GKS Katowice EHC Lustenau Narvik IK Coventry Blaze Fife Flyers FPS UTE
Playing career	2000–present

Janne Laakkonen (born April 15, 1982) is a Finnish professional ice hockey left 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
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2000–01	KalPa	Suomi-sarja		—	—	—	—	—		2	1	1	2	0
2001–02	KalPa	Mestis		5	1	0	1	27		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	HPK	Liiga		43	3	20	23	18		8	0	2	2	4
2002–03	HPK	Liiga		55	19	20	39	22		9	3	2	5	4
2003–04	HPK	Liiga		37	8	21	29	18		4	2	0	2	2
2004–05	HPK	Liiga		49	9	23	32	32		9	0	1	1	6
2005–06	Timrå IK	SHL		6	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	HIFK	Liiga		32	14	17	31	8		12	0	4	4	10
2006–07	HIFK	Liiga		56	13	23	36	36		5	0	3	3	0
2007–08	HIFK	Liiga		30	4	16	20	22		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	HPK	Liiga		34	15	21	36	41		3	1	1	2	6
2009–10	HPK	Liiga		41	4	30	34	44		17	5	11	16	8
2010–11	KalPa	Liiga		54	7	19	26	50		7	1	2	3	2
2011–12	HPK	Liiga		53	10	19	29	30		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	LeKi	Mestis		7	2	3	5	2		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	Ilves	Liiga		9	0	0	0	4		—	—	—	—	—
2012–13	IF Sundsvall Hockey	Division 1		7	2	15	17	4		3	1	2	3	0
2013–14	IF Sundsvall Hockey	Division 1		10	3	9	12	16		2	2	2	4	2
2014–15	Arystan Temirtau	Kazakhstan		10	8	10	18	4		—	—	—	—	—
2014–15	Yuzhny Ural Orsk	VHL		22	5	7	12	11		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Kulager Petropavl	Kazakhstan		35	14	23	37	32		—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Neman Grodno	Belarus		9	1	5	6	6		12	2	7	9	4
2016–17	Neman Grodno	Belarus		41	13	34	47	18		11	3	5	8	4
2017–18	Gothiques d'Amiens	Ligue Magnus		40	10	25	35	24		12	0	7	7	16
2018–19	GKS Katowice	Polska Hokej Liga		38	15	33	48	4		16	4	5	9	14
2019–20	Coventry Blaze	EIHL		43	9	40	49	16		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	EHC Lustenau	AlpsHL		8	2	7	9	0		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	Narvik IK	Eliteserien		4	1	1	2	4		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	Coventry Blaze	Elite Series [11]		14	1	7	8	12		—	—	—	—	—
2021–22	Coventry Blaze	EIHL		51	13	39	52	54		1	0	0	0	0
2022–23	Fife Flyers	EIHL		53	12	22	34	22		—	—	—	—	—
2023–24	FPS	Mestis		16	4	13	17	18		—	—	—	—	—
2023–24	UTE	Erste Liga		23	2	13	15	14		4	0	2	2	0
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.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com , or  Eurohockey.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database