Janne Laakkonen

Last updated
Janne Laakkonen
Laakkonen.jpg
Born (1982-04-15) April 15, 1982 (age 41)
Kuopio, Finland
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 181 lb (82 kg; 12 st 13 lb)
Position Left wing
Shoots Left
EIHL team
Former teams		 Fife Flyers
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
Playing career 2000–present

Janne Laakkonen (born April 15, 1982) is a Finnish professional ice hockey left winger currently playing for Fife Flyers in the UK's EIHL. Laakkonen most recently iced with fellow Elite League side Coventry Blaze.

Contents

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]

Career statistics

   Regular season   Playoffs
Season TeamLeagueGP G A Pts PIM GPGAPtsPIM
2000–01 KalPa Suomi-sarja —————21120
2001–02 KalPa Mestis 510127—————
2001–02 HPK Liiga 43320231880224
2002–03 HPKLiiga551920392293254
2003–04 HPKLiiga37821291842022
2004–05 HPKLiiga49923323290116
2005–06 Timrå IK SHL 60110—————
2005–06 HIFK Liiga3214173181204410
2006–07 HIFKLiiga561323363650330
2007–08 HIFKLiiga304162022—————
2008–09 HPKLiiga341521364131126
2009–10 HPKLiiga41430344417511168
2010–11 KalPaLiiga54719265071232
2011–12 HPKLiiga5310192930—————
2012–13 LeKi Mestis72352—————
2012–13 Ilves Liiga90004—————
2012–13 IF Sundsvall Hockey Division 1 721517431230
2013–14 IF Sundsvall HockeyDivision 11039121622242
2014–15 Arystan Temirtau Kazakhstan 10810184—————
2014–15 Yuzhny Ural Orsk VHL 22571211—————
2015–16 Kulager Petropavl Kazakhstan3514233732—————
2015–16 Neman Grodno Belarus 91566122794
2016–17Neman GrodnoBelarus4113344718113584
2017–18 Gothiques d'Amiens Ligue Magnus 40102535241207716
2018–19 GKS Katowice Polska Hokej Liga 3815334841645914
2019–20 Coventry Blaze EIHL 439404916—————
2020–21 EHC Lustenau AlpsHL 82790—————
2020–21 Narvik IK Eliteserien 41124—————
2020–21Coventry BlazeElite Series [10] 1417812—————
2021–22 Coventry BlazeEIHL511339525410000
2022–23 Fife Flyers EIHL5312223422—————
Liiga totals4931062293353257412263842

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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. ↑ McAllister, Josh (10 March 2021). "Elite Series format explained | British Ice Hockey". Britishicehockey.co.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2022.


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