Janne Ojanen

Janne Juhani Ojanen (born 9 April 1968) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey player. He is the all-time leading scorer in Finland's SM-liiga with 799 points, spending the majority of his playing career with Tappara.

Playing career Early Career in Finland Ojanen started his playing career playing for his hometown team Tappara. Ojanen played 3 SM-liiga games on his first season. Two years earlier Ojanen was selected as the best player in Pohjola Leiri, an annual youth training camp where the best under-18 players play and are selected to Youth National Team. Ojanen was drafted to NHL the following year by New Jersey Devils. Ojanen played his first adult international tournaments in 1987 as he was selected to Finland's Canada Cup and World Championship teams. Ojanen was part of the 1988 Olympic Team which won Finland's first International tournament medal. Ojanen won the SM-liiga Championship twice in 1987 and 1988 during his early years in Tappara.

First Attempt in NHL In 1988, Ojanen was acquired by New Jersey Devils, the team which had drafted Ojanen in 1986. Ojanen's debut season consisted of three games in the NHL and 72 in Devils affiliate team Utica Devils.

During the following season, Ojanen had more games for the Devils and stayed on the roster for the entire season, scoring 30 points in 64 games. After his first full season with the Devils, he decided to return to Finland

Brief return to Finland After his two years in North America, Ojanen returned to Finland played two seasons for Tappara. Ojanen also played in the 1991 Canada Cup. During 1991–92 Season Ojanen returned to New Jersey.

Second NHL Visit Ojanen made his NHL return in 1991–92 NHL playoffs and played three games for the Devils. Ojanen's fourth NHL season however was not that good. He played 31 games for Devils during the 1992–93 NHL season and seven games for Cincinnati Cyclones, scoring 9 points for Cyclones. After the end of the season Ojanen again went back to Finland.

Return to Finland Ojanen returned to Tappara for the 1993–94 SM-liiga season and was in good shape as he was one of the leading players for Tappara. He also had some international glory during his first season back in Europe. Ojanen played in the 1994 Winter Olympics and 1994 World Championships, winning Olympic bronze and World Championships silver.

The colour of his World Championship medal improved as Ojanen was part of the first world championship winning team of Finland, when they beat rival Sweden 4 goals to 1 in the finals and the tournament was played in Sweden. During the 1994–95 season Ojanen played also for Swiss HC Lugano in Nationalliga A playoffs, as Tappara's SM-liga season had ended.

Ojanen played the following season for Tappara and was selected to World Cup and World Championship squads.

Visit to Sweden and final return to Finland After three seasons in Tappara, Ojanen was signed by the Swedish Elitserien Malmö IF Redhawks. Ojanen had signed a two-year contract to Malmö and played well in Sweden. During his first season, he was selected to 1997 World Championship team.

After his two-year stay in Sweden, Ojanen made his return to Tappara. Although he was already 30 years old, he still was one of the top Finnish players in SM-liiga and had a big role in Tappara. Ojanen had a consistent form during his seasons and was selected to World Championships for the last time in 2002.

Late career Ojanen won his final SM-liiga Championship in 2003 when Tappara won Kärpät in the Finals. Ojanen had acquired the captaincy of Tappara in 2000 and his time as captain has lasted for 8 years. He has announced that he will continue to play one more season 2008–2009. During his time in Tappara, Ojanen has been viewed as the premier player for Tappara like Erik Hämäläinen is for Lukko and Raimo Helminen is for Ilves. Ojanen's has played his entire SM-liiga career in Tappara.

On 28 November 2009 Ojanen became top scorer all-time in SM-liiga, surpassing Arto Javanainen who had held a record for 16 years.

International career Ojanen played 205 games for Finland, with 50 goals and 74 assists. He played six World Championship tournaments, twice in Canada Cup, once in World Cup and played three times in the Winter Olympics. For several years, Ojanen was the only Finnish player to have won both a World Junior Championship and a Men's World Championships gold medal. In 2011, he was joined by Niko Kapanen and Pasi Puistola.

Awards, honors and records

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1984–85 Whitby Lawmen OJHL 15 8 6 14 6 — — — — — 1985–86 Tappara FIN U20 14 5 12 17 30 5 2 3 5 8 1985–86 Tappara SM-l 3 0 0 0 2 — — — — — 1986–87 Tappara SM-l 40 18 13 31 16 9 4 6 10 2 1987–88 Tappara SM-l 44 21 31 52 30 10 4 4 8 12 1988–89 New Jersey Devils NHL 3 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 1988–89 Utica Devils AHL 72 23 37 60 10 5 0 3 3 0 1989–90 New Jersey Devils NHL 64 17 13 30 12 — — — — — 1990–91 Tappara SM-l 44 14 33 47 36 3 1 2 3 6 1991–92 Tappara SM-l 44 21 27 48 24 — — — — — 1991–92 New Jersey Devils NHL — — — — — 3 0 2 2 0 1992–93 New Jersey Devils NHL 31 4 9 13 14 — — — — — 1992–93 Cincinnati Cyclones IHL 7 1 8 9 0 — — — — — 1993–94 Tappara SM-l 39 22 24 46 24 10 2 9 11 2 1994–95 Tappara SM-l 50 22 33 55 74 — — — — — 1994–95 HC Lugano NDA — — — — — 1 0 1 1 0 1995–96 Tappara SM-l 45 20 44 64 34 4 2 2 4 2 1996–97 Malmö IF SEL 41 10 29 39 28 4 0 1 1 4 1997–98 Malmö IF SEL 45 11 22 33 42 — — — — — 1998–99 Tappara SM-l 54 14 32 46 30 — — — — — 1999–2000 Tappara SM-l 53 18 47 65 54 4 3 7 10 2 2000–01 Tappara SM-l 54 15 26 41 71 10 2 4 6 33 2001–02 Tappara SM-l 54 20 41 61 30 10 2 7 9 6 2002–03 Tappara SM-l 56 12 27 39 16 15 2 5 7 4 2003–04 Tappara SM-l 43 11 20 31 49 3 1 0 1 0 2004–05 Tappara SM-l 52 16 13 29 44 8 2 2 4 16 2005–06 Tappara SM-l 47 7 21 28 36 6 1 0 1 8 2006–07 Tappara SM-l 56 12 32 44 38 5 0 1 1 2 2007–08 Tappara SM-l 56 17 35 52 26 11 2 2 4 6 2008–09 Tappara SM-l 24 2 11 13 18 — — — — — 2009–10 Tappara SM-l 18 1 6 7 24 5 0 2 2 4 SM-l totals 876 283 516 799 676 113 28 53 81 105 NHL totals 98 21 23 44 28 3 0 2 2 0

International

Year Team Event GP G A Pts PIM 1986 Finland EJC 5 5 7 12 10 1987 Finland WJC 7 3 9 12 6 1987 Finland WC 8 3 3 6 9 1987 Finland CC 5 0 1 1 0 1988 Finland WJC 7 6 5 11 16 1988 Finland OLY 8 2 1 3 4 1991 Finland CC 6 2 2 4 2 1994 Finland OLY 8 4 2 6 8 1994 Finland WC 8 2 2 4 6 1995 Finland WC 8 0 4 4 4 1996 Finland WC 6 2 0 2 6 1996 Finland WCH 4 1 1 2 0 1997 Finland WC 7 2 4 6 6 2002 Finland WC 9 2 2 4 8 Junior totals 19 14 21 35 32 Senior totals 77 20 22 42 53