Jesse Saarinen

Jesse Saarinen
Date of birth	July 29, 1985
place of birth	Lahti , Finland
size	172 cm
Weight	83 kg
position	Left wing
number	85
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
2000-2002	Kiekko-Reipas
2002-2010	Pelicans
2010	HC Energie Karlovy Vary
2010–2012	Saimaan Pallo
2012-2015	HPK
2015-2016	KHL Medveščak Zagreb
2016-2017	Oulun Kärpät
2017-2019	Pelicans
since 2019	Helsingfors IFK

Jesse Saarinen (born July 29, 1985 in Lahti ) is a Finnish ice hockey player who has been under contract with Helsingfors IFK in the Liiga since May 2019 .

Career

Saarinen began his career in the youth teams of Kiekko-Reipas from his hometown Lahti , where he was on the ice between 2000 and 2002. In the 2002/03 season he moved to the Pelicans U20 team , where he was initially active in the junior league Jr.A SM-liiga and in the 2003/04 season for the first time some appearances for the first team in the SM-liiga , the highest Finnish league, graduated. From the 2005/06 season the attacker was then part of the Pelicans' regular squad and scored 30 points in 54 games. In the following four seasons Saarinen established himself as a strong offensive winger.

In the run-up to the 2010/11 season, the Finn decided to move to the Czech extra league for HC Energie Karlovy Vary . After only six games, Saarinen returned to Finland in October 2010 and hired first division club Saimaan Pallo . There he played in the 2011/12 season with 12 goals and 31 assists in 59 games, the season with the highest points of his professional career to date. In the summer of 2012, the left shooter moved to league competitor HPK , where he ran for three years with the shirt number 85. From 2015 Saarinen played for the Croatian club KHL Medveščak Zagreb in the Continental Hockey League , but could not build on his offensive performances there. In 2016 he returned to Finland and was signed by Oulun Kärpät .

Between October 2017 and May 2019 he was again under contract with his home club, the Pelicans, before moving to Helsingfors IFK for the 2019/20 season.

International

Saarinen was appointed for the first time in the 2007/08 season for the Finnish national ice hockey team and used in the Euro Hockey Tour . In 2014/15 and 2015/16 he also worked there for the Finnish national team.

Web links

• Jesse Saarinen at eliteprospects.com (English)