Lauri Lahesalu

Lauri Lahesalu
Lahesalu with Dragons de Rouen in 2014
Born	(1979-03-29) 29 March 1979 (age 46) Tallinn, Estonian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	85 kg (187 lb; 13 st 5 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Played for	Jokipojat TuTo Hockey Hokki Kärpät Odense Bulldogs Ducs d'Angers Dragons de Rouen
National team	Estonia
NHL draft	Undrafted
Playing career	2000–2016

Lauri Lahesalu (born 29 March 1979) is an Estonian former professional ice hockey defenseman. He made a record 182 international appearances for Estonia, as well as playing club ice hockey in France.

Career

Lahesalu started playing ice hockey for the club THK-88 who were local to him, after seeing an advertisement for players for the new club in a newspaper. He went on to make his international debut for the Estonia men's national ice hockey team on February 13, 1998, in a Codan Cup match against Denmark in Rödovre, which ended in a 7-7 draw. He was credited with his first assist for the Estonian national team on April 16 of that year, in the World Cup match against the Netherlands in Jesenice, in a match which finished 4-2. He scored his first international goal on April 6, 2002, in a World Cup match against Israel in Cape Town, South Africa. ^[1] Lahesalu later served as team captain for the Estonian team. ^[2]

He moved from Estonia to Finland and represented both the Tappara in Tampere, and Pori Ässäte U20 teams and later various Mestis clubs, including six SM-Liiga games for Oulu Kärpate in the 2003-2004 season. In the 2004-2005 season, he played for the Odense Bulldogs in Denmark. ^[1]

Lahesalu spent eleven seasons in France and became the national champion twice, including winning the Ligue Magnus as a member of Dragons de Rouen in 2013. ^{[1] [2]} He also played club ice hockey in France in Angers for Ducs d'Angers. He stopped playing club hockey after the 2015-2016 season, in order to prolong his international career with Estonia, keeping himself fit with daily gym sessions. ^{[3] [4] [1]}

He played for Estonia in recordbreaking 182 international matches. His farewell game was held on 21 April 2025, against Lithuania at Tondiraba Ice Hall in the home Division I Group B pre-World Championship qualifiers. The game saw Estonia defeating Lithuania 3-2. In his honour, Lahesalu saw his pennant with the number 182 (to represents the number of games he played for the national team) hoisted onto the ceiling of the rink, an honour that had previously also been bestowed to long-serving national team members Aleksandr Petrov and Andrei Makrov. ^[5]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1997–98	Tappara	FIN U20		20	0	1	1	8		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Tappara	FIN U20		36	4	3	7	20		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Ässät	FIN U20		12	0	5	5	6		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Jokipojat	Mestis		42	2	10	12	24		—	—	—	—	—
2001–02	TuTo Hockey	Mestis		44	6	26	32	48		4	0	2	2	0
2002–03	Hokki	Mestis		44	5	23	28	56		3	0	1	1	2
2003–04	Kärpät	SM-l		6	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Hokki	Mestis		15	1	7	8	18		—	—	—	—	—
2004–05	Odense Bulldogs	DEN		32	4	6	10	22		15	0	1	1	4
2005–06	Hokki	Mestis		11	0	1	1	10		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Ducs d'Angers	FRA		14	1	1	2	26		5	0	0	0	2
2006–07	Ducs d'Angers	FRA		26	5	3	8	59		6	1	2	3	8
2007–08	Ducs d'Angers	FRA		26	6	10	16	34		8	0	5	5	4
2008–09	Ducs d'Angers	FRA		25	2	9	11	30		9	0	4	4	10
2009–10	Ducs d'Angers	FRA		26	4	20	24	8		13	2	4	6	6
2010–11	Ducs d'Angers	FRA		26	6	13	19	12		7	0	4	4	0
2011–12	Ducs d'Angers	FRA		26	1	11	12	14		11	1	5	6	2
2012–13	Dragons de Rouen	FRA		26	0	11	11	8		15	0	1	1	4
2013–14	Dragons de Rouen	FRA		25	0	9	9	16		9	1	2	3	4
2014–15	Ducs d'Angers	FRA		17	3	3	6	12		10	0	2	2	0
2015–16	Ducs d'Angers	FRA		21	1	3	4	10		16	0	6	6	6
SM-liiga totals				6	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—

International

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1996	Estonia	EJC	20th		4	0	0	0	18
1997	Estonia	EJC	19th		4	1	0	1	2
1998	Estonia	WC-B	19th		7	0	1	1	0
1999	Estonia	WJC-C	23rd		4	1	1	2	6
1999	Estonia	WC-B	22nd		7	0	0	0	4
2000	Estonia	WC-B	22nd		7	0	3	3	2
2001	Estonia	WC-D1	28th		5	0	1	1	2
2002	Estonia	WC-D2	29th		5	1	1	2	0
2003	Estonia	WC-D1	22nd		5	0	1	1	4
2004	Estonia	OGQ	NQ		3	0	0	0	0
2005	Estonia	WC-D1	23rd		5	0	5	5	2
2006	Estonia	WC-D1	24th		5	0	1	1	6
2007	Estonia	WC-D1	23rd		5	1	4	5	6
2008	Estonia	WC-D1	27th		5	0	2	2	4
2009	Estonia	WC-D2	31st		5	0	5	5	2
2011	Estonia	WC-D1	27th		5	0	1	1	0
2012	Estonia	WC-D2	29th		5	1	3	4	0
2014	Estonia	WC-D2	29th		5	0	3	3	12
2015	Estonia	WC-D1	27th		5	0	2	2	6
2016	Estonia	WC-D1	27th		5	0	2	2	4
2016	Estonia	OGQ	NQ		3	2	9	11	2
2017	Estonia	WC-D1	26th		5	0	4	4	0
2018	Estonia	WC-D1	25th		5	0	2	2	0
2019	Estonia	WC-D1	26th		5	0	2	2	2
2020	Estonia	OGQ	NQ		3	0	1	1	2
2022	Estonia	WC-D1	25th		4	0	1	1	2
2023	Estonia	WC-D1	26th		5	0	0	0	10
Junior totals					12	2	1	3	26
Senior totals					119	5	54	59	72

Awards and achievements

Award	Year
Ligue Magnus champion	2012–13

References

1. "Lauri Lahesalu, who played for the national team for a quarter of a century, is "retiring" and growing tomatoes, but will come to the aid of Estonia again". Delfi.ee. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
2. "Lahesalu, Lauri". ESBL.ee (in Estonian). Retrieved 1 May 2022.
3. "Lahesalu starts the 21st World Cup: hockey is one of the few things I know more or less well". err.ee. 22 April 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
4. "Lahesalu club reached the semifinals". Postimees.ee. 16 March 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
5. "Eesti jäähokikoondis võitis Lauri Lahesalu lahkumismängus Leedut". Delfi. 21 April 2025. Retrieved 21 April 2025.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com , or  Eurohockey.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database
• Lahesalu playing in 21st Worlds iihf.com
• World record with the Estonian ice hockey team? Done! "Now my time is over. I'm really retiring." Õhtuleht, 5 April 2025