Jari Kurri

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Position	Right Wing
Shoots	Right
Height Weight	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 198 lb (90 kg)
NHL Team F. Teams	Retired Edmonton Oilers Los Angeles Kings New York Rangers Anaheim Mighty Ducks Colorado Avalanche
Nationality	Finland
Born	May 18, 1960, Helsinki, FIN
NHL Draft	69th overall, 1980 Edmonton Oilers
Pro Career	1977 – 1998
Hall of Fame	2001

Jari Pekka Kurri (born May 18, 1960, in Helsinki, Finland) is a retired Finnish professional ice hockey right winger. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. During his career in the NHL he played for the Edmonton Oilers, L.A. Kings, New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche and Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

He began his pro career with Jokerit in the Finnish SM-liiga, played his first nine and a half NHL seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, and was then traded to the Los Angeles Kings where he was reunited with Wayne Gretzky. He was traded to the New York Rangers in 1996, where he played for a half season. He then signed with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim where he played for 1 season, before signing with the Colorado Avalanche, where he would play 1 season.

Kurri won five Stanley Cups, all with Edmonton (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1990). His best season was 1984-85 when he had 135 points and scored 50 goals in his first 50 games, however his 50th game was the Oilers' 53rd game so it does not count as an official 50 goals in 50 games. A year later, he would lead the league in goals with 68. In 1984-85 Kurri set a record for right wingers in goals when he scored 71 goals. The record lasted for five years and was broken by "The Golden Brett" Hull when he scored 72 goals in 1989-90 (Hull's 86 goals in 1990-91 is the current record).

Kurri's 19 goals in the 1985 post-season (18 games played) tied an NHL record set by the Philadelphia Flyers' Reggie Leach in the 1976 playoffs (16 games played). He also had four hat tricks in the conference finals, another feat that no player has ever equaled.

During his tenure in Edmonton, he was nicknamed the "Finnish Flash" (a title since usurped by Teemu Selänne). While he was definitely a very talented player, Kurri was helped by the fact that he often played with Gretzky (every 5th goal Gretzky scored was assisted by Kurri, while he assisted on 60% of Kurri's goals). Kurri was often the recipient of Gretzky's passes, but he turned chances into goals with his brilliant finishing ability. Kurri was not a lone sniper; he was "by far our most complete player" according to Oilers' director of personnel Barry Fraser. Although Kurri never won the Selke Trophy, he was regarded as one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL.

Following Gretzky's trade to Los Angeles in 1988, there were those who believed Jari Kurri's success would come to an abrupt end. But over the next two years, like a man on a mission, he recorded 195 points in 154 games, leading the Oilers to their fifth Stanley Cup in 1990. Jari Kurri finished his career as the highest scoring European-born player in NHL history with totals of 601 goals, 797 assists, and 1,398 points. He also finished with 106 career playoff goals and 233 playoff points, third all-time behind only Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. While he wasn't the flashiest player, Kurri was consistent and this ability alone enabled him to become an icon for thousands of fans and young players, both in Finland and throughout North America. [1]

He is the first Finn to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. His 1398 points are 18th all-time, and the second highest among Europeans behind Jaromir Jagr. He is 14th in all-time goals with 601. He is the second leading scorer in Oiler history, with 1,043 points in 754 games, behind only Gretzky. His #17 is retired by the Oilers and the Finnish national men's ice hockey team. Kurri is along with Wayne Gretzky to be considered one of the most famous legends in NHL icehockey history.

Men's Ice Hockey
Olympic medal record
Bronze	1998 Nagano	Finland

He has a trophy named after him in the SM-liiga, the Jari Kurri trophy. Kurri is currently the General Manager of the Finnish national men's ice hockey team. He married former Miss Finland, Vanessa Kurri, née Forsman, in 2004; they have two daughters, Odessa and Alissa. Kurri also has twin boys (Joonas and Ville) from his first marriage to Tiina Kurri. Gretzky is the godfather to Kurri's children — not surprising, as during their prime in Edmonton, Kurri was always closest to Gretzky, who himself has always been the first to acknowledge his teammates for their success, and frequently fed Kurri goal opportunities. Coming from "The Great One", the compliment "Jari and I see the game the same way"^{[citation needed]} is very generous.

But just once, even Kurri forgot how Gretzky could fool people. The major source of proof for this comes from the 1998 NHL All-Star Game, when Kurri played for the World Team (players born outside North America), against Gretzky (now with the New York Rangers) and another former Oiler teammate, Mark Messier (Vancouver Canucks). Kurri's defensive game had by now become his primary contribution and he was now with the Colorado Avalanche.

Even while "The Spicy Finn" scored a goal, Gretzky managed to neutralize it by slipping a pass by Kurri to Messier, where the "Moose" sealed the game for the North American Team. “Wayne still fools even me,” laughed Kurri afterward. “I told him at the face-off: ‘I back-check all those years for you, and that's how you treat me?’”^{[citation needed]}

However, Kurri had a last laugh when he faced Gretzky on ice one last time. Finland and Canada played for Olympic Bronze medal in Nagano, and the game was the last professional match for both of them as a player. Finland was the underdog against the All-star team of Canada, but eventually Finland won the match 3-2. Kurri scored the first goal of the match, and the last goal of his professional career[2], achieving Olympic medal.

Lately Kurri has worked as a GM of Finnish national hockey team, scouting players and assisting the head coach.

1 Transactions
2 Achievements
3 Career statistics
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Transactions

May 30, 1991- Traded by the Edmonton Oilers, along with Dave Brown and Corey Foster, to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Craig Fisher, Scott Mellanby and Craig Berube.

May 30, 1991- Traded by the Philadelphia Flyers, along with Jeff Chychrun to Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Steve Duchesne, Steve Kasper and Los Angeles' 1991 4th round draft choice.

March 14, 1996- Traded by the Los Angeles Kings, along with Shane Churla and Marty McSorley, to the New York Rangers in exchange for Ray Ferraro, Ian Laperriere, Nathan LaFayette, Mattias Norstrom and New York's 1997 4th round draft choice.

September 10, 1996- Signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

September 15, 1997- Signed as a free agent with the Colorado Avalanche.

[edit] Achievements

1978- European Junior Hockey Championship All-Star Team
1978- Named best forward at the European Junior Hockey Championship
1983- Played in NHL All-Star Game
1984- NHL Second All-Star Team
1985- Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
1985- NHL First All-Star Team
1985- Played in NHL All-Star Game
1986- NHL Second All-Star Team
1986- Played in NHL All-Star Game
1987- NHL First All-Star Team
1988- Played in NHL All-Star Game
1989- NHL Second All-Star Team
1989- Played in NHL All-Star Game
1990- Played in NHL All-Star Game
1991- World Hockey Championship All-Star Team
1993- Played in NHL All-Star Game
1994- World Hockey Championship All-Star Team
1998- Played in NHL All-Star Game: World Team (players born outside North America)
1998 - Ranked number 50 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the highest-ranking Scandianvian player.
2001- First Finn inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame

[edit] Career statistics

			Regular Season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1977-78	Jokerit	SM-liiga	29	2	9	11	12	6	1	7	8	2
1978-79	Jokerit	SM-liiga	33	16	14	30	12	--	--	--	--	--
1979-80	Jokerit	SM-liiga	33	23	16	39	22	--	--	--	--	--
1980-81	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	75	32	43	75	40	9	5	7	12	4
1981-82	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	71	32	54	86	32	5	2	5	7	10
1982-83	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	80	45	59	104	22	16	8	15	23	8
1983-84	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	64	52	61	113	14	19	14	14	28	13
1984-85	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	73	71	64	135	30	18	19	12	31	6
1985-86	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	78	68	63	131	22	10	2	10	12	4
1986-87	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	79	54	54	108	41	21	15	10	25	20
1987-88	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	80	43	53	96	30	19	14	17	31	12
1988-89	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	76	44	58	102	69	7	3	5	8	6
1989-90	Edmonton Oilers	NHL	78	33	60	93	48	22	10	15	25	18
1990-91	HC Milano	ITA	30	27	48	75	6	10	10	12	22	2
1991-92	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	73	23	37	60	24	4	1	2	3	4
1992-93	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	82	27	60	87	38	24	9	8	17	12
1993-94	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	81	31	46	77	48	--	--	--	--	--
1994-95	Jokerit	SM-liiga	20	10	9	19	10	--	--	--	--	--
	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	38	10	19	29	24	--	--	--	--	--
1995-96	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	57	17	23	40	37	--	--	--	--	--
	New York Rangers	NHL	14	1	4	5	2	11	3	5	8	2
1996-97	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	NHL	82	13	22	35	12	11	1	2	3	4
1997-98	Colorado Avalanche	NHL	70	5	17	22	12	4	0	0	0	0
NHL Totals			1251	601	797	1398	545	200	106	127	233	123

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Video: Gretzky to Kurri
Gretzky to Coffey to Kurri
Jari Kurri player page in Hockey Hall of Fame
Jari Kurri at nhlfinns.com

Preceded by Wayne Gretzky	NHL Goal Leader 1986	Succeeded by Wayne Gretzky
Preceded by Mike Bossy	Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy 1985	Succeeded by Mike Bossy