Esa Keskinen

Esa Keskinen
Date of birth	February 3, 1965
place of birth	Ylöjärvi , Finland
size	177 cm
Weight	88 kg
position	center
Shot hand	Right
Draft
NHL Entry Draft	1985 , 5th lap, 101st position Calgary Flames
Career stations
until 1981	Koo-Vee Tampere
1981-1983	FPS Forssa
1983-1988	TPS Turku
1988-1991	Lukko Rauma
1991-1994	TPS Turku
1994-1999	HV71
1999-2000	TPS Turku

Esa Juhani Keskinen (born February 3, 1965 in Ylöjärvi ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player who played for TPS Turku and Lukko Rauma in the SM-liiga and HV71 in the Elitserien from 1983 to 2000 .

Career

Esa Keskinen began his career as a hockey player at TPS Turku , for which he was active from 1983 to 1988 in the SM-liiga , the top division of Finland. During this time he was selected in the NHL Entry Draft 1985 in the fifth round as a total of 101st player by the Calgary Flames , for which he however never played. He then moved to his league rivals Lukko Rauma , for whom he went hunting for goals for three years. In the summer of 1991 Keskinen returned to his ex-club TPS Turku, for which he was another three years in the SM-liiga on the ice and in which he was awarded Finnish champions for the first time in 1993 and in 1994 as the best player in the league. Before the 1994/95 season, Keskinen was committed by HV71 from the Swedish Elitserien . During his first and only stay abroad, Keskinen was Swedish champion with HV71 in 1995 and he received the Guldhjälmen as the best player of the season in 1996 .

After five years in Sweden, Keskinen returned to TPS Turku, where he ended his career after the 1999/2000 season.

International

For Finland , Keskinen took part in the Junior World Championships in 1984 and 1985 and the A-World Championships in 1989 , 1990 , 1991 , 1994 , 1995 and 1996 . He was also in Finland's squad at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and 1994 in Lillehammer .

Achievements and Awards

1984 Fairest player in the SM-liiga 1988 top scorer of the SM-liiga 1988 Most templates ( SM-liiga ) 1989 key player (SM-liiga) 1991 Most templates (SM-liiga) 1993 Finnish champion with TPS Turku 1993 SM-liiga all-star team 1993 top scorer of the SM-liiga 1993 Fairest player in the SM-liiga 1993 Most templates (SM-liiga) 1993 European Cup win with TPS Turku

1994 SM-liiga All-Star-Team 1994 Lasse Oksanen Trophy 1994 Kultainen kypärä 1994 top scorer of the SM-liiga 1994 Most assists (SM-liiga) 1995 Swedish champion with HV71 1996 Guldhjälmen 1996 top scorer in the Elitserien 2000 Finnish champion with TPS Turku

International

1984 silver medal at the Junior World Championship 1985 top scorer of the Junior World Championship 1988 silver medal at the Olympic Winter Games

1994 bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games 1994 silver medal at the world championship 1995 gold medal at the world championship

Elitserien Statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
Main round	5	203	61	148	209	148
Playoffs	3	20th	3	14th	17th	12

Web links

• Esa Keskinen at hockeydb.com (English)
• Esa Keskinen at eurohockey.com
• Esa Keskinen in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )