Jani Lajunen
| Jani Lajunen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 2017 Channel One Cup | |||
| Born |
16 June 1990 Espoo, Finland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| NL team Former teams |
HC Lugano Espoo Blues Milwaukee Admirals Peoria Rivermen Växjö Lakers Tappara | ||
| National team |
 Finland | ||
| NHL draft |
201st overall, 2008 Nashville Predators | ||
| Playing career | 2008–present | ||
Jani Lajunen (born 16 June 1990) is a Finnish professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing with HC Lugano of the National League (NL). He was selected by the Nashville Predators in the 7th round (201st overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
Playing career
Having made his debut in SM-liiga in 2008, he made quick progress and became one of the key players with Espoo Blues. He was selected to the Finnish national team for the 2011 IIHF World Championship. At the age of 20 he scored his first national team goal against Norway in the quarterfinals at his second game of the tournament. Lajunen also scored a goal in the semifinals against Russia. Team Finland went all the way to the final game and swept Sweden 6–1, winning Finland's second IIHF World Championship gold medal to date.
19 February 2013, Lajunen was traded by the Predators to the St. Louis Blues for fellow minor leaguer Scott Ford.[1] He then played for Växjö Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League for two seasons before returning to Finland in joining Tappara on a two-year deal, commencing from the 2015–16 season.[2]
On 5 May 2017 Lajunen agreed to a two-year contract with HC Lugano of the National League (NL).[3] On December 24, 2018, Lajunen was signed to an early two-year contract extension by Lugano through to the end of the 2020/21 season.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2006–07 | Blues | FIN U18 | 28 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Blues | FIN U18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Blues | FIN U20 | 25 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08 | Blues | SM-l | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008–09 | Blues | FIN U20 | 25 | 16 | 10 | 26 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | ||
| 2008–09 | Blues | SM-l | 25 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | Blues | FIN U20 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Blues | SM-l | 46 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 34 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2010–11 | Blues | SM-l | 60 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 46 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | ||
| 2011–12 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 75 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 40 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Peoria Rivermen | AHL | 19 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Växjö Lakers | SHL | 44 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2014–15 | Växjö Lakers | SHL | 48 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 8 | ||
| 2015–16 | Tappara | Liiga | 58 | 16 | 17 | 33 | 18 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 6 | ||
| 2016–17 | Tappara | Liiga | 59 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 22 | 18 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 8 | ||
| 2017–18 | HC Lugano | NL | 42 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 20 | 16 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 8 | ||
| 2018–19 | HC Lugano | NL | 41 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | HC Lugano | NL | 49 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Liiga totals | 249 | 47 | 60 | 107 | 124 | 59 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 28 | ||||
| NL totals | 132 | 21 | 53 | 74 | 52 | 20 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 10 | ||||
International
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Finland
| ||
| World Championships | ||
 |
2011 Slovakia | |
 |
2016 Russia | |
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Finland | WJC18 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2009 | Finland | WJC | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2010 | Finland | WJC | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 2011 | Finland | WC | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Finland | WC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2017 | Finland | WC | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| 2018 | Finland | OG | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| Junior totals | 18 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 8 | |||
| Senior totals | 24 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 | |||
References
- ^ "Predators acquire Scott Ford from St.Louis". Nashville Predators. 19 February 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
- ^ "Fresh Swedish Champion Lajunen joins Tappara". Tappara (in Finnish). 6 May 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ^ "Is Jani Lajunen one of HC Lugano's new import players?". www.swisshockeynews.ch. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
 | This biographical article relating to a Finnish ice hockey centre is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1990 births
- Living people
- Espoo Blues players
- HC Lugano players
- Milwaukee Admirals players
- Nashville Predators draft picks
- Peoria Rivermen (AHL) players
- Tappara players
- Växjö Lakers players
- Finnish ice hockey centres
- Finnish expatriate ice hockey people
- Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
- Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the United States
- Sportspeople from Espoo
- Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics
- Olympic ice hockey players of Finland
- Finnish ice hockey centre stubs