Jarmo Kekäläinen

Jarmo Kekäläinen
Date of birth	3rd July 1966
place of birth	Tampere , Finland
size	181 cm
Weight	80 kg
position	striker
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
1983-1985	KalPa Kuopio
1985-1987	Ilves Tampere
1987-1989	Clarkson University
1989-1991	Boston Bruins Maine Mariners
1991-1992	KalPa Kuopio
1992-1993	Tappara Tampere
1993-1994	Ottawa Senators Prince Edward Island Senators
1994-1995	Västerås IK

Jarmo Kekäläinen (born July 3, 1966 in Tampere ) is a former Finnish ice hockey player and official who played for the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators in the National Hockey League from 1983 to 1995 . He has been General Manager at Columbus Blue Jackets since 2013 .

Career

Jarmo Kekäläinen began his career as a hockey player at KalPa Kuopio , for whose professional team he was active in the second-rate I divisioona from 1983 to 1985. Then the attacker played for two years in the SM-liiga for Ilves Tampere , before he attended Clarkson University from 1987 to 1989 , for whose team he played in the ECAC hockey . During his time in the ECAC, he was elected to the league's first all-star team.

On May 3, 1989, Kekäläinen signed a contract as a free agent with the Boston Bruins , for which he made his debut in the National Hockey League in the 1989/90 season . In his rookie year he scored two goals in eleven games and provided as many assists. In parallel, he came in 18 games for Boston's farm team Maine Mariners in the American Hockey League for use, for which he scored 16 while points scorer. After he had played in parallel for both teams in the following season and could not prevail in the NHL, the national player returned to Finland, where he spent a year for his ex-club KalPa Kuopio and Tappara Tampere in the SM-liiga stood on the ice.

On August 13, 1993, Kekäläinen was hired as a free agent by the Ottawa Senators , who had started playing in the NHL a year earlier. For the Canadians he scored one goal in 28 games and gave another five assists. The breakthrough in the NHL he did not succeed in the second attempt, so he ran 18 times for Ottawa's AHL farm team Prince Edward Island Senators , for which he contributed twelve points. The Finn finally spent the 1994/95 season at Västerås IK in the Swedish Elitserien , where he then ended his active career at the age of 29.

Immediately after his playing career, the former NHL player became General Manager at HIFK Helsinki . Under his leadership, the capital club became Finnish champions in 1998 . Between 1999 and 2006 he was a scout for the NHL clubs Ottawa Senators and St. Louis Blues for three years . He was then promoted to Assistant General Manager at the St. Louis Blues. He held this post for five years until 2010. From the 2010/11 season he was General Manager for Jokerit Helsinki from the SM-liiga.

Kekäläinen has been General Manager at Columbus Blue Jackets since February 13, 2013 , replacing Scott Howson . He is the first European in this position in the history of the NHL.

International

For Finland Kekäläinen took part in the Junior World Championship in 1986 and in 1991 in the Canada Cup .

Achievements and Awards

• 1989 ECAC First All-Star Team
• 1998 Finnish Champion with HIFK Helsinki (as General Manager)

statistics

	Seasons	Games	Gates	Assists	Points	Penalty minutes
NHL Regular Season	3	55	5	8th	13	28
NHL playoffs	-	-	-	-	-	-
AHL regular season	3	47	13	21st	34	28
AHL playoffs	1	1	0	1	1	0

family

Jarmo Kekäläinen's father Kari and his brother Janne were also professional ice hockey players.

Web links

• Jarmo Kekäläinen at hockeydb.com (English)
• Jarmo Kekäläinen at legendsofhockey.net (English)
• Jarmo Kekäläinen at eliteprospects.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ iltalehti.fi, Jarmo Kekäläinen Jokerien toimitusjohtajaksi!
2. ↑ bluejackets.nhl.com Blue Jackets name Jarmo Kekalainen General Manager , NHL.com, February 13, 2013