Lasse Kukkonen

Lasse Kukkonen
Born	(1981-09-18) 18 September 1981 Oulu, Finland
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Liiga team Former teams	Oulun Kärpät Chicago Blackhawks Philadelphia Flyers Avangard Omsk Metallurg Magnitogorsk Rögle BK
National team	Finland
NHL draft	151st overall, 2003 Chicago Blackhawks
Playing career	2000–2020

Lasse Juhani Kukkonen (born 18 September 1981) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman. He last played for Oulun Kärpät of the Finnish Liiga. Earlier in his career, he had a four-year stint in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers. After his career in ice hockey, Kukkonen is working as a lecturer and trainer specialising in mental coaching and leadership.

Playing career

Kukkonen was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks as their fifth-round pick, 151st overall, in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He played ten National Hockey League games during the 2003–04 NHL season, after which he returned to his hometown Kärpät in the SM-liiga. Kukkonen won the SM-liiga gold medal with Kärpät in 2005.

In the 2006-07 season, Kukkonen returned to the Chicago Blackhawks and played in 54 games before he was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers along with a 3rd round draft pick in a three-way deal with the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings on 26 February 2007. With the Flyers, Kukkonen was put on a defensive pairing with Joni Pitkänen, also a native of Oulu. The two were also a pairing for 4 years in Finland. On 17 May 2007 he signed a two-year contract with the Flyers.

On 24 June 2009, Kukkonen signed a two-year deal with Russian team Avangard Omsk of the KHL.

International play

• He was named to the Finnish Olympic team at the 2006 Winter Olympics after defenceman Sami Salo was injured, and played in both the semifinal match versus Russia and the gold medal match versus Sweden.
• Kukkonen was named the Finnish national team as captain of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1998–99	Kärpät	FIN U20		22	2	9	11	14		—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	Kärpät	FIN U20		27	9	11	20	26		—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000	Kärpät	FIN.2		22	0	4	4	14		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Kärpät	SM-l		47	1	5	6	46		9	0	2	2	4
2001–02	Kärpät	SM-l		55	2	6	8	42		4	0	3	3	4
2001–02	Kärpät	FIN U20		—	—	—	—	—		1	1	0	1	0
2002–03	Kärpät	SM-l		56	6	12	18	67		15	1	4	5	16
2003–04	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		10	0	1	1	4		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Norfolk Admirals	AHL		59	3	11	14	58		8	0	0	0	8
2004–05	Kärpät	SM-l		55	5	13	18	68		12	0	2	2	6
2005–06	Kärpät	SM-l		56	11	16	27	38		11	5	7	12	8
2006–07	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		54	5	9	14	30		—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		20	0	0	0	8		—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		53	1	4	5	38		14	0	2	2	6
2008–09	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		22	0	2	2	10		—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Philadelphia Phantoms	AHL		26	0	11	11	20		4	2	0	2	6
2009–10	Avangard Omsk	KHL		53	6	6	12	34		3	0	1	1	0
2010–11	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	KHL		37	4	8	12	16		5	0	0	0	0
2011–12	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	KHL		51	4	4	8	22		10	0	1	1	4
2012–13	Rögle BK	SEL		54	2	4	6	30		—	—	—	—	—
2013–14	Kärpät	Liiga		55	12	16	28	52		16	2	8	10	16
2014–15	Kärpät	Liiga		59	11	10	21	26		12	2	3	5	2
2015–16	Kärpät	Liiga		58	6	19	25	54		14	2	3	5	4
2016–17	Kärpät	Liiga		48	7	15	22	26		2	0	0	0	0
2017–18	Kärpät	Liiga		54	3	10	13	30		18	4	2	6	10
2018–19	Kärpät	Liiga		58	6	10	16	47		17	1	3	4	2
2019–20	Kärpät	Liiga		50	2	2	4	14		—	—	—	—	—
2020–21	Kärpät	Liiga		1	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
SM-l/Liiga totals				652	72	134	206	510		130	17	37	54	72
NHL totals				159	6	16	22	90		14	0	2	2	6
KHL totals				141	14	18	32	72		18	0	2	2	4

International

Medal record
Representing Finland
Ice hockey
Olympic Games
	2006 Turin
	2010 Vancouver
	2014 Sochi
World Championships
	2011 Slovakia
	2016 Russia
	2007 Russia
	2006 Latvia
World Junior Championships
	2001 Russia
World U18 Championships
	1999 Germany

Year	Team	Event	Place		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1999	Finland	WJC18			7	1	1	2	0
2001	Finland	WJC			7	0	0	0	2
2005	Finland	WC	7th		7	0	0	0	2
2006	Finland	OG			2	0	0	0	0
2006	Finland	WC			9	2	0	2	8
2007	Finland	WC			9	0	1	1	4
2009	Finland	WC	5th		6	0	0	0	4
2010	Finland	OG			6	0	1	1	4
2010	Finland	WC	6th		6	0	0	0	2
2011	Finland	WC			9	0	0	0	0
2012	Finland	WC	4th		10	0	1	1	0
2013	Finland	WC	4th		10	0	0	0	0
2014	Finland	OG			6	0	0	0	2
2016	Finland	WC			6	0	0	0	0
2017	Finland	WC	4th		8	0	0	0	12
2018	Finland	OG	6th		5	1	0	1	2
Junior totals					14	1	0	1	2
Senior totals					99	3	3	6	40

Awards and honours

Award	Year
Liiga
Kanada-malja champion	2004–05, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2017-18
Runner-up	2002–03, 2018–19
Third place	2005–06, 2015–16
All-Star Team	2003, 2006, 2014, 2015
Matti Keinonen Trophy	2003, 2006
Pekka Rautakallio Trophy	2006, 2014
Juha Rantasila Trophy	2014
KHL
All-Star Game	2010

Other awards:

• Champions Hockey League: 2016

External links

Media related to Lasse Kukkonen at Wikimedia Commons

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Eurohockey.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database
• Brooklynite Hockey - Lasse Kukkonen