Sami Kapanen

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Sami Kapanen
Kapanen Sami KalPa 2009 1.jpg
Kapanen with KalPa in 2009
Born (1973-06-14) 14 June 1973 (age 51)
Vantaa, Finland
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 181 lb (82 kg; 12 st 13 lb)
Position Right wing
Shot Left
Played for KalPa
HIFK
Hartford Whalers
Carolina Hurricanes
Philadelphia Flyers
National teamFlag of Finland.svg  Finland
NHL draft 87th overall, 1995
Hartford Whalers
Playing career 1990–2010
20112014
Medal record
Representing Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
Ice hockey
Winter Olympics
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1994 Lillehammer
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1998 Nagano
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1995 Stockholm
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1994 Milan
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1998 Zürich
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2001 Nuremberg

Sami Hannu Antero Kapanen (born 14 June 1973) is a Finnish professional ice hockey coach and former player. He played 12 NHL seasons for the Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers. He is the majority owner of KalPa in the Finnish league. Kapanen's son, Kasperi Kapanen, is a member of the Edmonton Oilers.

Contents

Playing career

Kapanen was drafted 87th overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft by the Hartford Whalers. His first NHL season was in 1995–96, when he played 35 games with Hartford. The Whalers relocated to become the Carolina Hurricanes following the 1996–97 season and Kapanen averaged 24 goals and 35 assists in his next five seasons with Carolina. His best season was in 2001–02 when he scored 27 goals and 42 assists for 69 points. He was selected twice for the NHL All Star Game (2000, 2002), winning the Individual event for "the Fastest skater" on both occasions.

On 7 February 2003, Kapanen was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers along with Ryan Bast for Pavel Brendl and Bruno St. Jacques. [1] In his first two seasons with Philadelphia, Kapanen played 31 playoff games, scoring 17 points.

Kapanen has played three times for Finland at the Winter Olympics. In 18 Olympic games he scored 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points. In the NHL, Kapanen has played 831 regular season games, scoring 189 goals and 269 assists for 458 points. He has also played in 87 playoff games, scoring 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points. Kapanen also won a gold medal at the 1995 Ice Hockey World Championships.

Since 2003, Kapanen has also been the majority owner of the Finnish hockey team KalPa Kuopio, the same club that gave him his start as a professional. One of the minority owners is Kimmo Timonen who in 2007 became Kapanen's teammate on the Flyers. Following the 2007–08 season, Kapanen announced that he was retiring from the NHL and he would be returning to Finland to play for KalPa. [2] He retired as a player after the 2009–10 season.

On 7 April 2011, Kapanen announced that he would be doing a comeback as a player in KalPa, playing on a two-year contract. He, however, stepped down as the club's chief executive officer (CEO) and instead handed that role over to his brother Kimmo Kapanen. [3] [4]

Coaching career

Kapanen started his coaching career in the Finnish Liiga with KalPa (2017-2019). On 2 April 2019, Kapanen was named head coach of HC Lugano in the National League for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 season, but was dismissed on 18 December 2019.[ citation needed ]

Awards

Records

Career statistics

Kapanen (bottom left) playing for the Flyers against the New York Rangers in 2007. Rangers vs Flyers 2007 1.jpg
Kapanen (bottom left) playing for the Flyers against the New York Rangers in 2007.

Regular season and playoffs

   Regular season   Playoffs
Season TeamLeagueGP G A Pts PIM GPGAPtsPIM
1989–90 KalPa FIN U20301413274
1990–91KalPaFIN U20319273610
1990–91 KalPa SM-l 14123282132
1991–92KalPaFIN U20813412
1991–92 KalPaSM-l421510258
1992–93KalPaFIN.2 U201022071114252
1992–93 KalPaSM-l374172112
1993–94 KalPaSM-l4823325516
1993–94 HC Královopolská Brno CZE.2 10000
1994–95 HIFK SM-l491428424230000
1995–96 Hartford Whalers NHL 355496
1995–96 Springfield Falcons AHL 28141731431230
1996–97 Hartford WhalersNHL451312252
1997–98 Carolina Hurricanes NHL8126376316
1998–99 Carolina HurricanesNHL812435591051120
1999–2000 Carolina HurricanesNHL7624244812
2000–01 Carolina HurricanesNHL822037572462350
2001–02 Carolina HurricanesNHL7727426923231896
2002–03 Carolina HurricanesNHL436121812
2002–03 Philadelphia Flyers NHL2849136134376
2003–04 Philadelphia FlyersNHL74121830141837106
2004–05 KalPa Mestis 10639295384
2005–06 Philadelphia FlyersNHL581222341260002
2006–07 Philadelphia FlyersNHL7711142522
2007–08 Philadelphia FlyersNHL7453816162022
2008–09 KalPaSM-l5520244418124594
2009–10 KalPaSM-l49153146581367130
2011–12 KalPaSM-l351312253321010
2012–13 KalPaSM-l38711181450112
2013–14 KalPaLiiga34761326
NHL totals8311892694581758713223522
SM-l/Liiga totals401120173293229431314278

International

YearTeamEvent GPGAPtsPIM
1991 Finland EJC 664100
1992 Finland WJC 71568
1993 FinlandWJC71232
1994 Finland OLY 81012
1994 Finland WC 84260
1995 FinlandWC82246
1996 FinlandWC62352
1996 Finland WCH 30004
1998 FinlandOLY60110
1998 FinlandWC104372
2001 FinlandWC874118
2002 FinlandOLY41234
2009 FinlandWC72352
2010 FinlandWC71120
Junior totals208111910
Senior totals7724214534

References

  1. "Flyers Acquire Forward Sami Kapanen And Defenseman Ryan Bast From Carolina". Philadelphia Flyers. 7 February 2003. Archived from the original on 16 February 2003. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  2. "Sami Kapanen Announces His Retirement". Philadelphia Flyers. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  3. "Nyt se on totta, KalPa-ikoni Sami Kapanen palaa kaukaloon!" (in Finnish). KalPa. 7 April 2011. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  4. Robert Pettersson (7 April 2011). "Sami Kapanen gör comeback" (in Swedish). Hockeysverige. Retrieved 14 September 2011.