Jussi Markkanen

Jussi Markkanen (born 8 May 1975) is a Finnish professional ice hockey executive and former goaltender. He is currently serving as general manager of SaiPa. Markkanen played extensively in various European professional leagues as well as the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the fifth round of the 2001 NHL entry draft, 133rd overall, by the Edmonton Oilers, as an over-aged entrant.

Playing career Markkanen played most of his NHL career in Edmonton, except for a single season stint with the New York Rangers. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Markkanen played in the Russian Super League, where he posted a dominant 31–9–9 record. In July 2007, Jokerit agreed to a one-year contract with Markkanen for the next SM-liiga season.

After an injury to Oilers starter Dwayne Roloson, Markkanen was selected by coach Craig MacTavish to finish the 2006 Stanley Cup finals as Edmonton's number one goaltender. He started Game 2 of the series and never left the net until the end. Markkanen won the first Stanley Cup game of his career in Game 3 of the Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes on 10 June 2006, a game in which he earned the first star of the game. In Game 5 of the final, Markkanen and the Oilers beat Carolina 4–3 in overtime thanks to Fernando Pisani's short-handed breakaway goal. In Game 6, Markkanen stopped all 16 Hurricane shots for his first career playoff shutout. Carolina won the deciding Game 7, as Markkanen gave up two goals and the Hurricanes later secured the win with an empty net goal, defeating Edmonton 3–1 to win the Stanley Cup.

Post NHL

After the great season in Edmonton, Markkanen did not regain the same form in the following season and after the 2006–07 NHL season, Markkanen was out of contract.

Markkanen was contracted by Finnish top-runners Jokerit, who replaced Scott Langkow with Markkanen. Markkanen's move was a bit controversial because he owns a part of SaiPa, which also plays in the Finnish SM-liiga with Jokerit.

Markkanen played well in the 2007-08 regular season, placing himself among the top goaltenders in the league. Markkanen however sustained a heavy injury during his first playoff game and missed the remainder of the playoffs.

After the end of the season, it was announced that Markkanen would return to the Russian Super League, where he played during the 2004–05 lockout-season for Lada Togliatti. Markkanen's new club was the famous Russian side CSKA Moscow, where he made 25 appearances during the 2008-09 campaign. He left on 7 April 2009 and signed with EV Zug of the Swiss Nationalliga A. His first Zug stint ended at the conclusion of the 2012–13 season, when he opted to return to his native Finland.

From 2013 to February 2017, he played for SaiPa of the Finnish Liiga. In the 2013–14 season, he was presented with the Urpo Ylönen Trophy as the Liiga Goaltender of the Year. When his former club EV Zug came calling in February 2017, he signed with the Swiss team for the remainder of the 2016–17 season.

Personal

He is married to his wife, Sanna. Their family suffered a tragedy on 23 September 2008 in Moscow, as one of their two sons, Olli-Matias, died after falling out of a fifth-story window while playing in the living room with his older brother, Juho. He was 4 years of age.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV% GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1991–92 SaiPa FIN.2 U20 6 3 3 0 — 360 25 0 4.17 — 2 — — 120 11 0 5.50 .784 1992–93 SaiPa FIN.2 16 6 6 2 — 798 60 0 4.51 .842 — — — — — — — — 1992–93 SaiPa FIN.2 U20 — — — — — — — — — — 7 — — 367 28 0 4.58 .856 1993–94 SaiPa FIN.2 U20 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1993–94 SaiPa FIN.2 24 — — — — — — — 3.48 .887 6 — — — — — 2.93 .887 1994–95 SaiPa FIN.2 36 — — — — — — — 2.76 .914 10 6 4 621 33 0 3.19 — 1995–96 Tappara SM-l 23 11 8 2 — 1238 59 1 2.86 .901 — — — — — — — — 1995–96 Tappara FIN.2 U20 — — — — — — — — — — 5 — — 298 21 0 4.23 .844 1996–97 SaiPa SM-l 41 9 24 7 — 2340 132 0 3.38 .895 — — — — — — — — 1997–98 SaiPa SM-l 48 21 20 5 — 2870 138 4 2.88 .905 3 0 3 164 11 0 4.02 .878 1998–99 SaiPa SM-l 48 21 19 4 — 2633 105 4 2.39 .917 7 3 3 366 21 0 3.44 .878 1999–00 SaiPa SM-l 48 4 23 9 — 2794 150 2 3.24 .905 — — — — — — — — 2000–01 Tappara SM-l 52 30 17 5 — 3076 107 9 2.09 .923 10 7 3 608 18 1 1.78 .933 2001–02 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL 4 2 2 0 — 239 9 0 2.26 .921 — — — — — — — — 2001–02 Edmonton Oilers NHL 14 6 4 2 — 784 24 2 1.84 .929 — — — — — — — — 2002–03 Edmonton Oilers NHL 22 7 8 3 — 1180 51 3 2.59 .904 1 0 0 14 1 0 4.28 .917 2003–04 New York Rangers NHL 26 8 12 1 — 1244 53 2 2.56 .913 — — — — — — — — 2003–04 Edmonton Oilers NHL 7 2 2 2 — 394 12 0 1.83 .934 — — — — — — — — 2004–05 Lada Togliatti RSL 54 31 9 9 — 3157 63 11 1.20 .941 10 — — 627 15 1 1.44 .938 2005–06 Edmonton Oilers NHL 37 15 12 — 6 2016 105 0 3.12 .880 6 3 3 360 13 1 2.17 .905 2006–07 Edmonton Oilers NHL 22 5 9 — 1 992 52 0 3.14 .886 — — — — — — — — 2007–08 Jokerit SM-l 50 26 11 — 12 2939 114 4 2.33 .925 1 0 0 20 1 0 3.00 .888 2008–09 CSKA Moscow KHL 18 10 6 — 2 981 38 1 2.32 .903 7 3 2 379 11 0 1.74 .934 2009–10 EV Zug NLA 47 30 17 — — 2841 115 6 2.43 .927 13 6 7 781 51 0 3.92 .895 2010–11 EV Zug NLA 39 24 14 — — 2304 103 3 2.68 .916 10 4 6 633 37 0 3.51 .888 2011–12 EV Zug NLA 43 28 15 — — 2641 105 3 2.38 .924 9 4 5 546 29 0 3.18 .887 2012–13 EV Zug NLA 26 17 9 — — 1509 72 1 2.86 .910 12 6 6 725 29 1 2.40 .921 2013–14 SaiPa Liiga 47 21 12 — 9 2686 91 5 2.03 .926 12 5 7 710 29 1 2.45 .908 2014–15 SaiPa Liiga 47 19 16 — 11 2733 91 6 2.00 .915 3 2 1 181 5 1 1.66 .950 2015–16 SaiPa Liiga 35 18 8 — 8 2082 68 3 1.96 .921 — — — — — — — — 2016–17 SaiPa Liiga 26 8 12 — 5 1494 69 1 2.77 .898 — — — — — — — — 2016–17 EV Zug NLA 1 — — — — — — — 5.12 .808 — — — — — — — — 2017–18 SaiPa Liiga 9 2 4 — 2 480 29 1 3.63 .865 — — — — — — — — NLA totals 156 99 55 — — 9295 395 13 2.55 — 44 20 24 2685 146 1 3.26 — SM-l/Liiga totals 474 190 174 32 47 27,365 1153 40 2.53 — 36 17 17 2049 85 3 2.49 — NHL totals 128 43 47 8 7 6610 297 7 2.70 .901 7 3 3 374 14 1 2.24 .906

International Year Team Event GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA SV% 1994 Finland WJC 3 180 9 3.00 .860 1995 Finland WJC 5 2 2 1 296 18 0 3.65 .890 2002 Finland OG DNP — — — — — — — — 2002 Finland WC 7 5 2 0 429 10 2 1.40 .937 2004 Finland WC 1 1 0 0 60 1 0 1.00 .909 Senior totals 8 6 2 0 489 11 2 1.35 —

Awards and honours Award Year SM-liiga Best Goaltender (Urpo Ylönen trophy) 2000-01 2013-14 SM-liiga All-star team 2000-01 2013-14