After more than two seasons on the sidelines after a horrific injury, 32-year-old defenceman Joni Pitkanen is back, and will be available to Karpat Oulu in Tuesday's Champions Hockey League Final.
CHL News
OULU – After weeks of speculation, Karpat Oulu have announced that Joni Pitkanen has signed a contract and will play with them after two and a half seasons away from hockey.
Pitkanen, 32, last played in the 2012–13 season with the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes. Late that season, he injured his heel racing back to beat an icing, and hasn't played a competitive game since. His hiatus will end on Saturday.
“I'm really excited about this opportunity and the fact that I get to play again with Karpat, the club I came up through the ranks with,” Pitkanen said in a club-issued press release on Friday afternoon.
Karpat play at Liiga game on Saturday in Kuopio against KalPa before returning home to host Frolunda Gothenburg in the Champions Hockey League Final on Tuesday. Karpat added Pitkanen to their CHL roster before the Quarter-Finals, so he will be eligible to play. With injuries to Markus Nutivaara and Mikko Niemela, Karpat are thin on the back end at the moment.
Karpat sports director Harri Aho is obviously pleased to add a player the calibre of Pitkanen onto his team's roster, and finds the work the veteran defenceman has put in inspiring.
“It's fantastic that Joni is in the condition that he can come back and play again, and especially in a Karpat jersey. This is certainly a wonderful thing for the whole league that a player at the level of Joni is making a comeback.”
Pitkanen was born in Oulu and came up through the Karpat system, playing for the top club from 2000 to 2003. He then spent the next decade in North America, playing mostly in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers and Carolina. He amassed 282 points (57 + 225) in 535 regular season NHL games, and added 13 assists in 39 playoff games.
Internationally, Pitkanen was named Best Defenceman at the 2003 IIHF World Junior Championship while winning a bronze medal with Finland, and also won bronze at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.