Good morning all, and welcome to your daily dose of Florida Panthers history on LBC’s brand new SB Nation United platform. It’s a new look, but you get all the same stuff, only with a better interface. For more on how the list was constructed, follow this link.
Monday we got a look at Florida’s first-ever player, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck (106-108-43, 2.58, .912). Today, we’ll take a moment to check out Florida’s top ranking forward, according to the standards set forth in this list.
Click on through to read on.
3. Olli Jokinen
Jokinen was a 6’2″ center from Kuopio, Finland. He scored 14 goals and 27 assists in 50 games for HIFK Helsinki in 1996-97 in the Finnish League. In the NHL’s annual draft soon afterward, Jokinen was selected by the Los Angeles Kings with the third overall pick. He started the 1997-98 season going scoreless in eight contests with the Kings before rejoining Helsinki (30 games, 11 goals, 28 assists).
1998-99 would see Jokinen begin his season with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons (nine games, three goals, six assists) before earning a promotion back to the Kings again. His nine games with Springfield remain as his only North American minor league experience. When he rejoined the Kings, he scored nine goals and 12 assists in 66 contests. After the season, the Kings traded him to the New York Islanders with Josh Green, Mathieu Biron and a first round pick (Taylor Pyatt) for Ziggy Palffy, Bryan Smolinski, Marcel Cousineau and a fourth round selection (Daniel Johansson).
For the Islanders in 1999-00, Jokinen played in all 82 contests for the team, scoring 11 goals and 10 assists while averaging just over 16 minutes per game. After the season the Islanders sent him to the Panthers along with Roberto Luongo for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha.
Jokinen averaged 13:23 per game for Florida in 2000-01. He skated in 78 games, scoring six goals on 121 shots with 10 assists. On October 30th, he scored a season high two goals in a 6-5 loss to the New Jersey Devils. He had a team worst minus-22 rating with a team third most 106 penalty minutes.
2001-02 would see Jokinen play in 80 games for Florida, averaging 18:05 per contest on the Panthers second (and occasionally first) line. He scored nine goals on 153 shots with a team fourth ranking 20 assists, finishing the season with a minus-16 rating and 98 penalty minutes. After totalling only one point (a goal in a 5-1 Florida loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 19th) through his first 28 games, he scored 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his next ten games.
Before the 2002-03 season, Jokinen scored a total of 35 goals. In 2002-03, he scored a team leading 36 on 240 shots, along with a team second 29 assists. He also achieved a new career high by averaging 22:02 through 81 games, a time-on-ice total that ranked him second on Florida’s forward corps. He finished the season with a minus-17 rating and 79 penalty minutes. He put up two four-point games (both two goals and two assists), first on October 12th in a 5-4 win over the Atlanta Thrashers, then later in a 4-4 tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 8th. In addition to his two four-point efforts, he had three points in three games, and 10 times put up two. He also played on his only all-star team to date.
In 2003-04, Jokinen played in every game, continuing to lead the Panthers in scoring, leading the team by putting up 26 goals on 280 shots with 32 assists. He ranked first amongst Florida forwards with 22:35 ATOI, rating at minus-16 with 81 penalty minutes. He had 14 multi-point games over the course of the season, including three (two goals, one assist) on February 4th in a 5-4 Florida victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.
When the 2004-05 NHL season was cancelled, Jokinen decided to play the field in Europe, splitting his time between Kloten of the Swiss-A League (eight games, six goals, one assist), the Swedish Sodertalje SK (23 games, 13 goals, nine assists), and his old Finnish team, HIFK Helsinki (14 games, nine goals, eight assists).
Jokinen rejoined the Panthers when the NHL resumed play for the 2005-06 season. He played in every game, playing 20:29 per contest while centering Florida’s first line. He led the team with 38 goals (on 351 shots), nine game winners, 51 assists, and 89 total points. His plus-14 rating ranked third on the team, while 88 penalty minutes ranked him fourth. He had a very respectable 27 multi-point efforts, including nine three point games. He scored his first career hat trick for the Panthers on November 25th as the Panthers took care of the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-3.
In 2006-07, Jokinen appeared in every Florida game for the third consecutive NHL season. He set career highs and led the team in most offensive categories, including 39 goals on 351 shots, 52 assists, and 91 points. He was second on the club with a plus-18 rating and was fifth on the team with 78 penalty minutes. He had 28 multi-point games, nine three-point games. On October 11th, he scored two goals with two assists as the Panthers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-3. November 16th would see him score his second Panthers hat trick in a 5-1 Florida victory over the Montreal Canadiens. He also collected hat tricks on January 10th (Florida 5, Penguins 2) and on February 27th (Florida 6, Washington Capitals 5). On March 17th, he put up a career high six points (two goals, four assists) as the Panthers took care of the New York Islanders, 8-5.
2007-08 would see Jokinen again play in all 82 games for Florida. Although he finished last on the team with a minus-19 rating, he led the team with 34 goals on 341 shots with 37 assists. He averaged 19:54 per contest, with 67 total penalty minutes. He had 16 games with two or more points. After the season, Florida traded him to the Coyotes for Keith Ballard, Nick Boynton, and a second round pick (Jared Staal).
Olli Jokinen Tribute (via italianstalion33)
After spending part of a season with the Coyotes (57 games, 21 goals, 21 assists), he was sent to the Calgary Flames with a third round pick (Josh Birkholz) for Matthew Lombardi, Brandon Prust, and a first round pick (Brandon Gormley). He played parts of four seasons with the Flames (236 games, 59 goals, 106 assists), punctuated by a short stop with the New York Rangers (26 games, four goals, 11 assists). After the 2011-12 season, he signed on with the Winnipeg Jets for two years / $9,000,000.
This one never gets old.
OLLI JOKINEN WAFFLE UFO 🙂 (via sharkieQue)
Jokinen had skill, stamina, and toughness in spades. He is Florida’s all-time leader in game winning goals, with 36, and should still head up Florida’s leaderboard in goals after next season, as he is still 38 ahead of fourth place Stephen Weiss.
All-Time Statline: Seven seasons, 567 games (fourth all-time), 188 goals (all-time leader), 231 assists (second all-time), 419 points (all-time leader), minus-58 rating, 597 penalty minutes (sixth all-time), 42.0 APS.
Thanks for joining us for today’s episode of “name that Panther.” Make sure to check us back again tomorrow morning as we check out a defenseman from Slovakia in the number two spot on our all-time list.