Esa Tikkanen began his career in hockey as a little boy by being a mascot for Jokerit, a team based in Helsinki, but joined another local team HJK in juniors. After spending a year in Canada in 1981–82 with the Regina Blues of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, Tikkanen returned to Finland and signed a contract with HIFK. Tikkanen was drafted in the fourth round (80th overall) by the Oilers in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. In 1984–85, he played 36 games for HIFK in the Finnish SM-liiga before joining the Oilers during their 1985 playoff run. He played briefly in the American Hockey League for the Oilers' affiliate the Nova Scotia Oilers in 1985–86, before joining the team full-time.
NHL playing career
Start in Edmonton
Tikkanen made his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers during the second game of the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs. By playing one game in the finals that year, he was eligible to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup even before playing his first regular-season game in the NHL. He soon became an important part of the Oilers, playing on the team's first line with Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri. Kurri and Gretzky's roles were to score goals; Tikkanen was the line's defensive player. Oilers coach and general manager Glen Sather once suggested that Tikkanen should be awarded the Frank J. Selke trophy (the award for the best defensive forward in the NHL). He was a finalist several times in his career, and was a three-time runner-up, but never won the award. Tikkanen excelled at distracting and confusing opponents with his Tiki-Talk and shadowed Gretzky when he was with the Los Angeles Kings.[1][2][3][4] Between 1986 and 1990, Tikkanen scored 30 or more goals three times and was on three more Cup champions. In 1991, he led the Edmonton Oilers in points in the regular season with 69 points.
The start of the NHL's 1994–95 season was delayed by a lockout, during which Tikkanen returned to Finland to play for HIFK Helsinki. After the lockout Tikkanen, played with the Blues during the shortened 1994–95 season, and appeared in 11 games in 1995–96 before a trade sent him to the New Jersey Devils.[12][13] Three weeks later he was again dealt, this time to the Vancouver Canucks.[14][15][16]
The 1996–97 season saw him involved in yet another midseason trade, back to the Rangers, on March 8, 1997.[17][18][19] Although he contributed only one goal in 14 regular-season games with New York, he came alive in the playoffs, scoring 9 times in 15 games. Of the Rangers, only Gretzky, with 10, outscored Tikkanen. The Rangers eliminated the Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils before falling to the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals.
The 32-year-old Tikkanen became a free agent in the summer of 1997, and he signed with the Panthers,[20][21] but this would also prove to be a short stay. By March 1998 he had appeared in only 28 games, and Florida traded him to the Washington Capitals for Dwayne Hay.[22] He appeared in all 21 of Washington's playoff games, as the Capitals went to the Stanley Cup finals, where they were swept in four straight games by the Detroit Red Wings. Tikkanen is remembered for missing a wide-open shot on goal that would have iced Game 2, which has been described as a turning point of the Series.[23] This was to be Tikkanen's last full season in the NHL. After becoming a free agent prior to the 1998–99 season, he signed for a third stint with the Rangers. However, he only played in 32 games before an injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.[24][25]
Before the start of the 1999–2000 season, Tikkanen attended the Oilers' training camp and was offered a role of playing coach in the minors. Tikkanen declined the offer and returned to Finland, where he played a full season with Jokerit. In 877 NHL games, he had scored 244 goals and 386 assists for 630 points, while racking up 1,077 minutes in penalties. In 186 Stanley Cup playoff games, he scored 72 goals and 60 assists for 132 points, with 275 penalty minutes.
Post NHL career
In 1999–2000, Tikkanen played a season with Helsinki-based team Jokerit, a rival team of HIFK, with whom Tikkanen had played earlier in his career. Jokerit finished in second place in the SM-Liiga. In 2000–01, Tikkanen moved to Germany, where he played what was to be his last season in a recognized professional league for Essen Mosquitoes of the DEL. He retired in 2001.
During the 2004–05 season, Tikkanen resurfaced again, this time as a player-coach for the Anyang Halla, a South Korean team in the Asia League Ice Hockey.[26] Though he predicted that he and his two linemates would finish 1-2-3 in scoring,[27] he finished tied for fourth on his team, with 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points in 30 games. He was 29th in the league in assists, and didn't crack the top 30 in goals or points. He did, however, lead Halla in penalty minutes with 58 (tied for 28th in the league). Halla finished fifth in the league and did not make the playoffs.
After one season in Korea, Tikkanen became the coach for Frisk Tigers of the Norwegian GET-ligaen. Tikkanen was head coach only for the 2005–06 season.
On 27 December 2010 Jokipojat from Joensuu, Finland, announced that Tikkanen would be the head coach of the team for the rest of the 2010–11 season. Jokipojat plays in Mestis, which is the second-highest league in Finland.
Tikkanen participated in two Canada Cups, 5 World Championship tournaments and the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Notable achievements
Tikkanen won the Stanley Cup four times as a member of the Oilers and once more as a member of the Rangers. His various acquisitions were by teams craving him for his playoff experience and success: in 877 regular season games he scored 244 goals, but in 186 playoff games he scored 72 goals which puts him 14th all time in NHL playoff scoring, and 38th all time in play-offs points with 132 points. "Tik" was known for his ability to score clutch goals, but also for his general style of play—chippy and aggressive. He was nicknamed "The Grate One" (a pun on teammate Gretzky's moniker "The Great One") for his ability to irritate opposing players, often just by talking to them in his Finnish-English "Tikkanese" or "Tiki-Talk." His regular-season totals were 244 goals, 386 assists, and 1077 penalty minutes. In the playoffs, he added 72 goals, 60 assists, and 275 penalty minutes. Tikkanen also led the Edmonton Oilers with 69 points in the 1990–91 regular season. Tikkanen holds the NHL record for scoring two shorthanded goals in the shortest time (10 seconds apart). With 436 points and 178 goals as a member of Edmonton Oilers, he is ranked 10th in points and 8th in goals in the team's history. He is also Edmonton 6th all-time scoring leader in team play-offs with 97 points, and 5th in goals with 51. He is also tied 20th all-time regular season short-handed goals leader with 29. He is also tied 4th all-time in play-offs overtime goals leader with 4 goals.
He appeared in an episode of the Trailer Park Boys: Out of the Park in 2016.
In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, the authors ranked Tikkanen at No. 85 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.[28]
Tikkanen is famous for his Finnish-English, sometimes referred to as "Tikkanese" or "Tiki-Talk." Even members of his team often did not understand what he was saying. Wayne Gretzky once commented, "He brings something special. I don't know what it is, but if you ask him, you couldn't understand his answer." Former Edmonton Oiler coach and teammate Craig MacTavish said, "Esa talks twice as much as anybody else. That's because you can understand just half what he says."
Even fellow Finn Jari Kurri had difficulty understanding Tikkanen. During their tenure with the Oilers, Tikkanen let go with a particularly colourful pronouncement, after which another player turned to Kurri and asked, "What did he just say?" Kurri simply shook his head; "I have no idea."[29]
Personal life
Esa Tikkanen has been married three times. His first wife was Swede Ann Charlotte (Lotta) Kraft and they have two daughters, Sabrina and Stephanie. The couple separated in 2000, after 17 years of marriage. He started dating Finnish model Marita Hakala in 2000; however, Hakala called off the engagement in 2002. In 2004, Esa Tikkanen married Tua Backman; the couple had three children together (two sons and a daughter) before divorcing in 2014. In 2015, Tikkanen became engaged to Tuuli, a Finnish physiotherapist from Somero;[30] the couple married in 2016.[31]
Tikkanen's number 5 was retired by Jokerit in 2001. The decision was seen by some as controversial due to Tikkanen only ever having played one season professionally for Jokerit as opposed to his four seasons spent with the local rivals HIFK. The number 5 as opposed to the number 10 Tikkanen commonly wore during his professional career stems from the sweater made by his great-grandmother that Tikkanen wore while acting as a Jokerit mascot, at the time Jokerit owner Aimo Mäkinen had promised to young Tikkanen that he would retire it someday.
